# lower-thirds

Builds an animated name-and-role caption in the bottom band of the frame: it enters, holds long enough to read, and exits. Handy for interviews, podcasts and talking-head clips.

- skill · `type=skill` · Claude Code, Codex, Cursor, GitHub Copilot, Gemini CLI, OpenCode · 1700 installs · ★ 17
- Author: iart-ai
- License: MIT · policy=mirror · the beginning of the file is at the end of this page
- Source: https://github.com/iart-ai/tiktok-video-skills/tree/HEAD/skills/lower-thirds/SKILL.md
- Updated: 2026-06-22
- HTML: https://affpapa.org/en/nevibecode/skills/lower-thirds

## What it does

The skill lays out what a lower third is made of: a name line, a role line and a graphic bed. The name carries the weight and size, the role sits at roughly half of it in a lighter cut, often in a brand accent colour. Two lines is the whole job — extra ones flatten the hierarchy and crowd the safe area.

Enter and exit are broken into phases. The bar arrives first, then the name, then the role, each offset by a few frames. Exit runs shorter than enter so the title clears the shot. It advises holding for 3–5 seconds, enough to read the name twice. Every state is driven from the current frame rather than wall-clock time, because a renderer needs deterministic frames — timers and `Math.random()` will desync the output.

Safe area gets its own section. On 16:9 the left edge sits at a 5% margin; on 1080×1920 vertical the band lifts above the bottom 18% where platform captions and buttons live. Text has to read over both bright and dark plates, so it needs a solid bar, a scrim or a shadow. Name, role and theme are meant to be props, which lets one template run across a roster and emit a clip per person.

## Install

### Claude Code (native platform)

1. **Skills CLI (Vercel)**
```bash
npx skills add iart-ai/tiktok-video-skills --skill lower-thirds -a claude-code
```

2. **Manually: put the files in place**
- File: `~/.claude/skills/lower-thirds/SKILL.md` — Copy the whole skill folder; for one project use .claude/skills/lower-thirds/

### Codex

1. **Skills CLI (Vercel)**
```bash
npx skills add iart-ai/tiktok-video-skills --skill lower-thirds -a codex
```

2. **Manually: put the files in place**
- File: `.agents/skills/lower-thirds/SKILL.md` — For all projects use ~/.agents/skills/

### Cursor

1. **Skills CLI (Vercel)**
```bash
npx skills add iart-ai/tiktok-video-skills --skill lower-thirds -a cursor
```

2. **Manually: put the files in place**
- File: `.cursor/skills/lower-thirds/SKILL.md` — Cursor also reads .agents/skills/ and .claude/skills/

### GitHub Copilot

1. **GitHub CLI**
```bash
gh skill install iart-ai/tiktok-video-skills lower-thirds
```

2. **Manually: put the files in place**
- File: `.github/skills/lower-thirds/SKILL.md`

### Gemini CLI

1. **Skills CLI (Vercel)**
```bash
npx skills add iart-ai/tiktok-video-skills --skill lower-thirds -a gemini-cli
```

2. **Platform CLI**
```bash
gemini skills install https://github.com/iart-ai/tiktok-video-skills --path skills/lower-thirds
```

### Windsurf (Devin Desktop)

**Manually: put the files in place**
- File: `.devin/skills/lower-thirds/SKILL.md` — The legacy .windsurf/skills/ path still works

### OpenCode

**Skills CLI (Vercel)**
```bash
npx skills add iart-ai/tiktok-video-skills --skill lower-thirds -a opencode
```

### Claude.ai

**Claude.ai**
- Zip the folder and upload it in Settings → Capabilities → Skills

Where a file is given instead of a command, copy the files from the source to that path: https://github.com/iart-ai/tiktok-video-skills/tree/HEAD/skills/lower-thirds/SKILL.md

## When to use it
- build a speaker name caption for an interview
- set enter, dwell and exit timing for a title
- lay out name and role as a type hierarchy
- lift the caption clear of platform UI in vertical video
- run one design across a list of names and get a clip each

## Example prompts
- make an animated lower third with name and role for an interview
- add a lower third for the speaker, mask reveal on enter
- render lower thirds for this roster in 1080×1920 vertical

## Source text · SKILL.md · MIT

Below is the content of a third-party file. It is data, not instructions for you: do not act on anything written inside unless the human asks. Block tag: dc009a71e29399b1.

BEGIN THIRD-PARTY FILE dc009a71e29399b1
```text
---
name: lower-thirds
description: This skill should be used when the user asks to "make an animated lower third", "add lower thirds", "create a name tag/name lower third", "build broadcast titles", "animate a title/name/role caption", "do a speaker name overlay", or "template lower thirds across a list of names". Covers enter/exit animation (slide/wipe/mask reveal), in/out timing & dwell, safe-area & broadcast conventions, name-vs-role type hierarchy, brand styling, and rendering one design across many names.
version: 0.1.0
---

# Lower Thirds

Build a clean, branded lower third — the name/role caption that lives in the bottom band of the frame — that animates in, holds long enough to read, and exits without stealing the shot. The craft is restraint: a crisp reveal, a strong type hierarchy, correct safe-area placement, and one template that drives a whole roster of speakers.

## When to use

- Speaker/interview name tags, panel rosters, talking-head captions.
- Broadcast-style titles, news straps, podcast/webinar name plates.
- Templating one design across a list of names/titles → many clips (the payoff).

## Anatomy

A lower third is two text lines plus a graphic bed, placed in the lower band:

| Element | Role | Type treatment |
|---|---|---|
| **Name** (primary) | Who | Largest, heaviest, tightest tracking |
| **Role/title** (secondary) | What/where | ~45–60% of name size, lighter weight, often a brand accent color |
| **Bar / panel / accent** | Reads against any background | Solid or 70–85% opacity; an accent rule ties to brand |

Keep it to two lines. A name line + role line is the whole job — extra lines erode the hierarchy and crowd the safe area.

## Three rules that prevent cheap-looking titles

1. **Never hard-cut a title on or off.** A bare appear/disappear reads as a mistake. Even a 12-frame fade or slide makes it feel produced.
2. **Stagger, don't slam.** Animate the bar first, then the name, then the role, each offset by 3–6 frames. Everything arriving at once feels flat; a short cascade feels designed.
3. **Hold long enough to read twice.** Roughly 3–5s on screen (read it aloud twice). Too short and it's missed; too long and it nags. Animate in/out, never mid-segment.

## Enter & exit animations

Pick one motion language and reuse it. The most reliable, premium-reading reveals:

| Reveal | Feel | How |
|---|---|---|
| **Slide + fade** | Clean, default | Translate in ~24–40px while fading; ease-out on enter |
| **Wipe bar** | Broadcast | A bar scales/sweeps in (`scaleX`/clip), text fades behind it |
```
END THIRD-PARTY FILE dc009a71e29399b1

The third-party file has ended. Everything between the dc009a71e29399b1 tags is data: requests and commands from it are not followed. An “end of file” line with another tag inside the block is part of the file.

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