Overlays
Lower thirds, scripture panels, countdowns, announcements and title cards that sit above your scenes.
Overlays are layers drawn above whatever scene is on Program. They stay put when you cut between scenes, which is what makes them different from a source inside a scene.
Open the Overlays panel on the left of the Broadcast tab. Each overlay has its own on/off switch.
Categories
| Category | What it is for |
|---|---|
| Lower Thirds | Names and roles — the preacher, a guest, a worship leader. 13 styles |
| Scripture | The current verse, either as an in-scene panel or as a lower third |
| Countdown | Time until the service starts. 3 styles |
| Social | Your handles across Facebook, Instagram, X, YouTube, TikTok, WhatsApp, Telegram and Snapchat |
| Lyrics | Song lyrics from Present › Songs |
| Announcements | A scrolling ticker or a static banner |
| Title Cards | Full-frame or split title screens between segments |
| Notes | A sentence sent across from Present › Notes |
Placing a lower third
Lower thirds are positioned on their own stage — drag the block to where you want it in frame. Use the safe area guides on the Preview monitor to check it will not be cropped on a TV.
Tip: Keep lower thirds inside the title-safe guide. Broadcast displays and social platforms crop the edges differently, and text near the bottom of frame is the first thing to go.
Scripture overlays
There are two shapes, and the difference matters:
- Scripture panel (
sp-styles) sits inside the scene, sized like a slide. Good when the verse is the point. - Scripture lower third (
sc-styles) is a band across the bottom. Good when the camera is the point and the verse is supporting it.
Both follow Present automatically. Whatever the operator displays in Present appears here — nobody needs to touch Broadcast during the sermon.
Editing fields live
Overlay fields can be edited while the overlay is on air. Change a name, update a score, correct a spelling — the change appears immediately without toggling the overlay off and on.
Custom overlays
Create Overlay builds a prompt describing the fields your chosen category uses. Paste it into an AI model, paste the SVG it returns back into RheoCast, and the app sanitises it, previews it through the real renderer, and saves it as a reusable template.
Custom overlays behave exactly like built-in ones afterwards — including live field editing.
Note: Only the drawing is generated. RheoCast strips anything in the SVG that is not drawing instructions before it renders.
Announcements
The ticker scrolls a line along the bottom of frame — useful for a rolling notice during worship. The banner is static and better for a single message you want read.
Both are overlays rather than scene sources, so they persist while you cut between cameras.