Lower thirds—the text overlay in the bottom portion of the screen identifying speakers, displaying lyrics, or highlighting key points—transform a plain video feed into a polished production. vMix includes a built-in title system called GT (Graphics Toolkit) that lets you create and animate titles without external graphics software.
For churches, this is powerful. Create a lower third with your pastor’s name, scripture references, song lyrics, or offering information—all directly in vMix without touching Adobe After Effects or Photoshop. This guide walks you through designing lower thirds, customizing them for your church’s branding, and triggering them smoothly during service.
Accessing the vMix Title Designer
vMix’s built-in title system is accessed through the GT interface. Click the “GT” button at the top of vMix and a new window opens with template options. vMix includes default templates for lower thirds, full-screen graphics, scoreboards, and more. Browse the templates and choose one that fits your aesthetic.
Select a “Lower Third” template to start. vMix opens the template with editable text fields. The template shows placeholders like “Headline” and “Subheading.” Replace these with your text. If you’re introducing a speaker, type their name in the main field and their title in the secondary field. The template automatically applies your chosen font, color, and animation.
vMix applies your church’s color scheme from Settings, so the title defaults to your branding colors. If you need to customize colors, fonts, or layout, the template editor lets you adjust every element.
Creating Speaker Lower Thirds
The most common use case is identifying speakers. Open a lower third template and enter the speaker’s name in the main field. Enter their role (Pastor, Worship Leader, Guest Speaker) in the secondary field. You can now add this title to your vMix production.
To add the title to your stream, click the “Live” button in the GT window. The title instantly appears on your stream output (in the lower third of the screen) with a smooth entrance animation. The title remains visible until you click “Clear” to remove it.
Setup this title before the speaker comes on stage. While they’re walking to the microphone, click “Live” to display the title. Once they’re speaking, the title is already visible—no scrambling mid-speech to add it.
You can customize the entrance and exit animations. In the GT template editor, look for Animation settings. Choose from fade-in, slide from left/right, or other effects. Most churches prefer subtle animations—a quick slide or fade feels professional; spinning or rotating text feels amateurish.
Displaying Song Lyrics and Scripture
Create a template specifically for lyrics. Open a blank lower third template and configure it to be wider (lyrics need more horizontal space). Type the lyrics in the main text field. Now whenever you’re performing that song, you can click “Live” to display the lyrics.
For churches using ProPresenter for lyrics, you won’t need vMix lyrics overlay—ProPresenter sends lyrics via NDI. But for worship teams without ProPresenter, or for displaying key scripture verses, vMix’s title system is valuable.
Scripture references are easily displayed using the same approach. Type the verse text and reference (like “John 3:16”) and add it to your production. Switch titles rapidly: after each verse, clear the previous scripture and display the next one.
Some churches pre-create a set of titles for an entire service, then click through them in sequence during the service. This requires planning (you need to know which verses you’ll reference in advance), but it feels polished when executed well.
Managing Multiple Titles
Create a library of titles for frequent use. Your pastor’s name and title. Your church’s core values. Prayer request graphics. Offering messages. Save each as a separate template in GT. During service, quickly load whichever title you need.
vMix lets you save custom templates. Once you’ve designed a title you like, click “Save as Template.” Name it descriptively (“Pastor John Lower Third,” “Prayer Request Graphic”). Next week, you can reload the same template and simply update the text.
Over time, you’ll build a collection of templates. Your team can access them instantly, making productions smooth. A volunteer can quickly display a title for a guest speaker without fumbling through design.
Animating Titles During Service
Lower thirds typically animate in with the speaker and animate out when they’re done. This is done with entrance and exit animations. Set your entrance animation to “Slide from left” (quick, about 300 milliseconds). When the speaker appears on camera, click “Live” and the title slides in smoothly. Viewers see the title appear naturally alongside the speaker’s appearance.
For exit, use a fade-out animation (about 300 milliseconds). Click “Clear” when the speaker is done, and the title fades away smoothly.
More complex animations are possible. You can create staggered animations where different elements of the title animate in at different times. But for church services, simplicity is usually better. A clean slide-in/fade-out is professional without being distracting.
Full-Screen Graphics
While lower thirds are overlays, vMix also supports full-screen graphics. Create a template for offering, prayer requests, or announcements that fills the entire screen. During the offering, switch your main video output to this graphic. Viewers see a polished announcement graphic with your church’s branding while audio plays over it.
This is a cleaner approach than displaying a graphic as an overlay while a camera shows the congregation. A dedicated full-screen graphic commands attention and feels intentional.
Customizing for Your Church’s Brand
vMix’s GT system pulls colors from your Settings. Go to Settings → Colors and choose your church’s primary color scheme. All new titles automatically use these colors. You can customize fonts (choose a font your church uses elsewhere), size, and effects.
Some churches maintain brand guidelines: “All titles use Montserrat font, primary color only (no gradients), white text on colored background.” Document your guidelines in a simple one-page sheet for your team. When volunteers create new titles, they follow the guidelines and all titles feel consistent.
Consistency matters. If one title is red with blue accent and another is green with yellow accent, your production feels chaotic. Define your title style and maintain it. Your viewers will unconsciously feel the professionalism.
Practical Workflow During Service
Before service, decide which titles you’ll need. Create them all in GT and save them. During service, your director or a designated “graphics operator” watches for moments where titles should appear. When the pastor introduces a speaker, the graphics operator clicks “Live” on the appropriate title. When the speaker finishes, they click “Clear.”
Some churches assign this role to a volunteer who watches a script or rundown and knows exactly when titles should appear. Other churches keep it flexible—the director clicks titles intuitively.
If you’re using vMix’s Remote feature, you can control titles from a tablet or phone anywhere in your building. Your graphics operator doesn’t need to stand at the vMix computer—they can be in the sanctuary watching the speaker, triggering titles remotely based on what they see happening in real-time.
Lower thirds are one of the easiest vMix features to implement and one of the most visible. Spend an hour learning the title system and creating a few templates, and your productions instantly feel more professional. Your viewers will notice the polish, even if they don’t consciously think about titles.