How to Make Stream Overlays and a BRB Screen

Step by step

1. 1

   List what your stream needs

   Be Right Back Screen covers breaks, with scrolling hazard bands and bouncing dots. Stream Alert Card marks a new follower with a burst of rings. Webcam Frame puts chasing corner brackets, a name tag and a live badge around your camera. Sub Goal Bar and Stream Ending Outro cover the rest.

2. 2

   Add your channel details

   Be Right Back Screen takes Title, Subtitle, Speed, Thickness and Variation. Stream Alert Card takes Title, Subtitle and Icon. On Webcam Frame, Title is your handle and Subtitle is the badge text. Sub Goal Bar takes Title and Subtitle only, because its fill and target come from the preset. Reuse one color set across all five.

3. 3

   Size each piece for its slot

   The alert runs 4 seconds, the goal bar 5, and the break screen, frame and outro 10. Webcam Frame draws its border around the whole canvas, so export at the aspect ratio of your camera crop, such as 16:9 or 1:1, and resize the source in your layout. Use 9:16 for a vertical stream.

4. 4

   Use WebM for live overlays

   The alert, goal bar and frame ship transparent, and WebM with alpha is the format OBS reads directly. Be Right Back Screen and Stream Ending Outro fill the frame on a solid color, so MP4 suits them. If you recut stream highlights in Premiere Pro, export overlays as a PNG sequence instead, since it cannot open WebM without a plugin.

5. 5

   Set them up in OBS

   In OBS, add a Media Source, choose your file and tick Loop for the break screen and webcam frame. Drag the frame above your camera in the Sources list and resize it to match. For the alert, leave Loop off and turn on Restart playback when source becomes active, then show the source when needed.

Where it is used

• Long gaming sessions

  A streamer switches to a looping Be Right Back Screen during a short break, with a Subtitle that says how long they will be, so the channel still looks active.

• Live tutorials and workshops

  A teacher streaming a coding or art session uses Webcam Frame with their handle in Title around a small camera window, so viewers can tell the presenter from the shared screen.

• Closing a broadcast

  A weekly live show ends on Stream Ending Outro, with handles and links typed into Labels, giving viewers a few seconds to note where to follow before the stream stops.

Presets

5

Default length

4 to 10 seconds

Best export

WebM with alpha for overlays; MP4 for full-frame screens

Aspect ratios

16:9, 9:16, 1:1, 4:5

Which format should you export?

Transparent WebM, always. OBS and every other streaming tool takes an alpha WebM as a browser or media source and composites it over the game with no keying.

Format

MP4 · WebM · PNG sequence

Alpha

WebM or PNG sequence

Resolution

720p to 8K

Aspect

16:9 · 9:16 · 1:1 · 4:5

License

Commercial use included

Three tips that make it look intentional

• Use one accent color across every overlay so the channel reads as a brand.
• Keep alerts under four seconds; they interrupt gameplay.
• Loop the BRB screen so a short break does not end in a freeze frame.

Three things people get wrong

• Building the overlay at 16:9 and letting the software scale it, which softens the type.
• Putting an alert where the game puts its own HUD.
• Running a looping animation permanently in the corner, which is the fastest route to viewer fatigue.

Frequently asked