Many filmmakers want their videos to be as close to the picture in their heads as possible. But often translating what’s in your mind to the editing process can be difficult. This can lead to a cycle of never being fully satisfied with what we make, and constantly trying to tweak things.

This is one of the key reasons that filmmakers are always looking for ways to save time, effort, and money. If you can find a usable shortcut without sacrificing the quality of your work, it might just be a tool or technique that’s worth adding to your video editing overlays.

This is where overlays come in. They are basically the best way to save time and effort, especially if post-production takes a lot of time to complete. Although editing is one of the biggest parts of video production, it shouldn’t be something you dread, and this is where overlays can take the effort out of the process. 

If you take advantage of resources like after-effects overlays, then chances are that you’ll enjoy the best of both worlds. Your footage will look incredible, without you having to experiment to get the scene just right. Making the process a whole lot sooner. 

What Are Overlays?

An overlay can mean a lot of things to different people, even in the same industry. This term is used in video production in a few different ways, but here we mean video overlays in post-production and video editing. 

So what is an overlay? An overlay is any visual effect that alters the appearance of the footage without changing the footage itself. 

Where do you get an overlay? You can find these overlays in different places, this can be free downloads with companies such as Free Visuals, paid for on Patreon or on your favourite YouTube channel, to name a few.

Are overlays free? Sometimes. You can often find free overlays, and as long as you follow the usage rights, you can use them without any risk. There are also paid overlays that can range heavily in pricing. Sometimes overlays even come with paid software for free.  

In this case, using an overlay is like adding a new visual layer on top of your timeline without having to manually key in all the adjustments slowly on your own. Some examples of overlays include smoke effects, light effects, film grain and glitch effects. 

Why Use Overlays? 

Even if you want to shoot a whole film in back and white, you may not have the complex gear or experience to make it happen. To make a style happen on film you need to adjust ISO, check exposure all the time, desaturate the footage in the post and change lighting, overall a lot of work. 

Overlays on the other hand are not a lot of work. It means you can shoot your video normally and apply a black and white overlay to the footage right in your timeline. 

Another super popular overlay is film grain, and this is because the look of 16mm film is so unique, but also very hard to find, and has to be edited by hand. So you don’t have to spend the hours needed to get costumes, locations, lighting and camera settings lined up to get that 1970’s era short film. You can just press film grain on your overlay in the edit and get the best look for your project. 

To make matters even better, you can use overlays easily. Just add them into your video timeline after you’ve cut together all the footage and you’ll see the style change right before your eyes. All you need to do is familiarise yourself with the different overlays and which ones you enjoy and where they will work for you. 

Once you know what you want, applying it is as easy as just clicking and dragging. 

Pick Free Visuals

When you understand the value of overlays, you can then use them effectively in all your video editing projects to save time, enhance consistency and give yourself an edge over the competition. 

If you want free overlays, Free Visuals is the best place to choose. They allow you to adjust these overlays in terms of size, position and light. This usability paired with the high-quality nature of the overlays mean they are the top choice for video editors worldwide.

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