Things to Know

• Producers can create lower third banners before or during an event in Elite Studio, so they're ready to be pushed to the audience in the Media Player at the right moment.
• Lower third banners can be removed by a Producer at the desired time after they have served their purpose in the presentation.
• Lower Third Banners are only available in live video events or the live portion of Simu-live events.
  • To use them in Simu-live or on-demand events, copy or import from a live event archive.
• When running a Forums event, the Lock Aspect Ratio toggle must be turned on in the Media Player Attributes.

All banners created will be included in the replay when you create a copy of the event.

Note: When using lower third banners, select the single webcam layout. The lower third banner applies to the Media Player.

Set Up

Banners can be created before or during an event, and you can create multiple banners.

To add a lower third banner, log into Elite Studio as a Producer and open the Setup tool.

Click the Lower Third icon on the Setup navigation menu, then click Add Lower Third Banner.

Choose one of the Banner Design options.

Click on the Banner Text to open a customization window.

Enter the desired text, then choose the banner color, opacity, and font styling.

The single row full-width banner design can be configured as a small, medium, or large banner size. If you are using the double row banner, you can configure each row's styling individually.

After changes are complete, click outside the editor to close it. Once all changes for that banner have been made, click Save.

When pushing a banner, it will scale with the Media Player's size.

Best Practices

Typically, most companies will have designated brand guidelines around lower third banners. Check with your company guidelines first and use those instructions when available. In the absence of specific requirements, we recommend the following best practices.

Webcam Setup

• When using lower third banners, be sure your presenters adjust their webcam to show themselves in the top of the visual area.
• When lower third banners are pushed, they can cover the speaker's face if adjustments aren't made.

Typography

• Readability is incredibly important for lower third banners.
• Avoid cursive or ornate fonts – instead, choose a sans-serif font like Lato, Segoe, Helvetica Neue, or Avenir.
• If your brand has a specific font that works well, this is a great way to have a cohesive look throughout the event.

Color

• When selecting colors, it’s usually best to select colors that won’t distract from the video you’re working on. Many lower thirds are as simple as black text on a white background, sometimes with a slight opacity.
• If you’re working on a commercial or brand video, remember to use your company’s established color scheme. Lower third text is often added onto a background color for readability, but not always. If your lower third does have a background, make sure it provides a significant contrast to the text (e.g., if your text is white, using a black or dark color background will provide good contrast).
• Colored text can be challenging to read, so if you use it – be sure to maximize readability by using a simple background for contrast. For dark text colors, a white background is usually best.

Length

• Remember that typography on screen is different than typography in print. Your audience will only see the text on screen for a brief time, usually between 3-6 seconds.
• It's best to keep the text in the lower third banner as concise as possible by shortening long titles and other information (e.g., CEO instead of Chief Executive Officer).

Placement

• Lower thirds must be placed in the Title Safe area of the video.
• Be sure to not cover important graphical information or people’s faces.

Using Lower Thirds

Once the event has started, Producers can push lower third banners in Elite Studio. Add the Lower Third Banners tool to the right panel by clicking Menu, then Lower Third Banners.

When you're ready to push a lower third out, click Push next to a banner to activate it. A green check mark will appear when it has been pushed to the Media Player. Click Remove to remove the banner from the Media Player. 

You can also click Push on a different banner to replace the currently displayed banner with a new one.

Throughout the live webinar, use the Media Player in Elite Studio to monitor the look of the lower third banner.

Countdown Timer

Note: This is an Account Level setting that must be requested by submitting a Support ticket.

A default countdown timer of either 10, 20, or 30 seconds can be applied to lower third banners for all events in an account with this account-level setting.

Once a lower third banner has been pushed, the Producer will see a countdown timer appear for that lower third banner. They'll also see a Remove button next to the timer, allowing them to remove the banner from the Media Player before the timer expires if needed.

Audience Experience

The images below show different display options for lower third banners and how they display in the audience console during an event.

Small Media Player	Medium Media Player	Large Media Player