If you’ve developed a love for video and you don’t know about overlays, you need this article. For those who already know, and are searching for the perfect overlay, we’ve got you covered.

Overlays are
indispensable building blocks for adding visual variety and power to videos. Whether you want to add a vintage film quality, money raining down from
the sky or the intensity of a blizzard, you’re bound to find the perfect clip
from the thousands at VideoHive.

To get you started,
I’ve selected 25 of the most awesome overlays available. They are
compatible with any non-linear software that supports Blending Mode, like After
Effects, Premiere Pro, Sony Vegas, Apple Motion, Final Cut Pro, Avid Media
Composer, and more. 

They can be added to footage simply by dragging and
dropping the selection and setting the blend mode to add, screen, multiply, or
whatever you prefer.

Vintage Film Effects

1. Light Leaks

With the advent of
Instagram and its collection of filters, a whole new generation has embraced what used to be considered the negative effects of early film
photography. 

One of those negative effects was light leaking into the camera
and spoiling parts of the film. This effect is now considered cool and
vintage. 

If you want to bring a bit of old-fashioned charm to a video
project then this pack of 15 Light
Leaks is for you. They can be used alone or combined with each other.

2. Old
Film Look Pack

Light leaks aren’t
the only problem to which film was susceptible. This collection of five Old
Film Look overlays features some of
the other problems filmmakers used to battle with in the early days of
filmmaking. Film was susceptible to dust, stains, hair, scratches, and
vignetting. 

Like light leaks, these
problems are now viewed as charming features that add a feel of artisanal
imperfection to the cold electronic perfection of video. You can use these
overlays separately or all together to bring a wonderfully old-fashioned touch
to a video project.

3. Real Film Roll

The advent of video put an end to those cool holes that
rolls of film have on either side, but as we have seen with all things film,
there is a great nostalgia for the look of film. 

So of course there is an
overlay designed to reproduce the look of a roll of film. 

As with the other
overlays featured here, just drag and drop the Real Film
Roll overlay over any footage, use the multiply blend mode, and the look
of a roll of film is yours.

4. Film
Leader Countdown Clock

Another throwback to the early days of filmmaking, the
countdown clock is a perennial
favourite among videographers. 

Film
Leader Countdown Clock promises an authentic rendering of an
original film leader countdown with three separable sound elements included: projector,
soundtrack damage, and the beeping tone at the end of the clip.

5. Elegance Bokeh Overlays

Bokeh is the circular
out-of-focus areas in the background of a photographic image created by certain
lenses, and Elegance Bokeh Overlays has harnessed this rather appealing effect in
15 gorgeous overlays. 

It’s ideal for use in projects where you want to
communicate certain elegance, softness and dreaminess like beauty, fashion, and
lifestyle or wedding videos.

6. Real Lens Flares Pack

Real
Lens Flares Pack is built on another effect created by the camera lens.
This is lens flare, that occurs when you take a photograph with the camera pointed towards the light source, be that sun, floodlights, or something else. 

The light hits the
inside of the lens and flares to create colourful light beams and rings in the
photo. 

This used to be considered a flaw, but today it’s become fashionable,
hence the Real Lens Flares Pack that gives you 53 choices of different lens
flares to add to video footage.

7. Camera
Flashes

Camera
Flashes simulates a series of six different camera flashes to bring a bit of
paparazzi glamour to your video footage. 

Some versions contain the sound of the
shooting camera, while others don’t, and all can be used as loop.

Nature

8. Snow

Snow contains 35 realistic clips of falling snow. They are grouped based on
how far away the camera is from the falling snow, from very far to close. 

They’re further subdivided into light, normal, and heavy snowfall. The clips can be
mixed and are looped so you can repeat them as long as needed.

9. Rain with Alpha Channel

Rain with Alpha Channel Pack has harnessed the beautiful look and sound
of rain and created 6 loop versions of rain with alpha channel and sound
effects so that you can add rain to any scene in a video that you
choose. 

10. Lightning Pack

Lightning Pack gives you a choice of eight different clips
of lighting strikes, ranging from the realistic to the over-the-top.

11. Raindrops on Window Pack

The fascination of watching raindrops on a windowpane has engaged us all at sometime.

Now for
those projects when you need this awesome effect you have the Raindrops
on Window Pack, 21 clips that range from light to heavy rain, all on alpha
channel to enable easy blending with any footage.

12. Dust in Motion 3

If you want to add a
wonderfully atmospheric quality to your videos, you’ve got to get Dust
in Motion, a collection of clips featuring floating particles caught in
light which will add a sense of vibrancy to any footage.

13. Smoke Pack 4in1

Smoke Pack 4in1 captures the mesmerising dance of smoke from
a cigarette, candle, or campfire. These four different smoke effects can be used
as standalones or together. 

Each clip is a loop, and you just drag and
drop, and set the blend mode to lighten.

Celebration

14. Colorful Bubbles Loop Overlay

The Colorful Bubbles Loop Overlay is all about adding a touch of the whimsical
to a video. It features a very realistic field of multi-coloured bubbles which
rain softly down from the top to the bottom of the screen, some bursting along
the way, as one would expect.

15. Realistic Fireworks Pack

Sometimes you see a
gorgeous night scene and you know that just adding some fireworks would make it
perfect. This is where the Realistic Fireworks Pack comes in. 

It features 15 beautiful fireworks
that you can add to your footage to give it that touch of drama you’re looking
for.

16. Confetti Overlays

For those times when
you want to create a real air of celebration or fun in your videos there is Confetti Overlays, four different clips of colourful confetti
exploding in the air and then slowly falling down.

17. Money Falling

Imagine hundred-dollar bills raining down from the sky. If you’re working on a
clip or project that communicates financial abundance—or the dream of financial
abundance anyway—then Money Falling is probably the right choice for you. 

The
best part is you can loop the overlay by overlapping the clips on each other.
One caveat: the bills are in US currency, so may not be suitable unless you
live or do business there.

18. Magic Glitter

This may be a hard
sell for some palettes, but the Magic Glitter overlay is quite tastefully executed and in
the right project will bring a whole lot of glitter and a hint of the magical
to your video title, logo, or any text you want to highlight. 

Creative

19. Television Interference 20

Television Interference 20 is definitely one of the edgiest overlays on
this list. With its glitches, fuzzy broken lines and interrupted grids, this
overlay definitely brings to mind a television on the blink—but in the best way
possible.

20. 63 Film Grime Overlays Collection

If you’re a grunge
fan, Film Grime Overlays Collection will take your videos to a whole new level. With
63 unique overlays to choose from, the collection will allow you to bring a wide
variety of grungy, dirty and damaged looks to the footage.

21. Grid Overlays

Grids are cool. Grid Overlays features 25 beautifully designed grids that
add a bit of dynamism and interest to your video footage. 

Drop it over
some current footage and use the add or screen blend modes. You can use them as
stand-alones or mix them together as you please.

22. Codes
Textures 2

Codes
Textures 2 does what it says on the
tin. It uses the language of code to create pretty wonderful overlay textures.
It would be ideal for projects dealing with technology or modernity.

23. Digital TV Signal Distorted Noise &
Glitch Overlay

These six Digital TV Signal Distorted Noise &
Glitch Overlays simulate a
TV signal being disrupted by bad reception, glitches, or a weak antenna signal. 

Drag and drop one or more clips on top of your footage to bring a little
disruption to any video.

24. Paper Overlay Textures

Paper Overlay Textures provides
users with a collection of eight individual paper textures animated in stop-motion
style that can be used to add a bit of arts and crafts texture to the footage.
 

25. Clean Animated Motion Mattes Pack 4

The Clean Animated Motion Mattes Pack 4
is a bit different from the other overlays featured on this list. With it you
can slice and dice your video into a variety of pretty cool and amazing shapes.
This set of four contains a total of 15 animated mattes.

Conclusion

These 25
overlays for video are just a small
selection of the thousands of amazing overlays we have available at VideoHive,
so if none of them quite fits your needs, there are plenty of other great
options to choose from.

And if you want to
improve your skills building motion graphics yourself, then check out some of
the ever-so-useful 3D
and motion graphics tutorials we have on offer.