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Discover the power of After Effects overlays for video editing! Here are the top 20 preset packs on Envato Elements, and tips for customizing overlay presets.
Want to add depth, style, and creative flair to your videos with After Effects overlays? This article rounds up 20 of the best After Effects overlay preset packs on Envato, plus practical tips for applying and customizing them in your projects.
Overlay presets for After Effects are pre-designed effects to add something extra to your video footage. They’re just like templates, which means you can quickly and easily apply styles and effects and enhance your visuals without starting from scratch.
Overlay presets for After Effects are pre-designed effects you can drop on top of your video footage. They work like templates: apply the style, tweak the settings, and improve the shot without building the effect from scratch.
TL;DR: After Effects overlays are pre-built visual effects like light leaks, VHS glitch, particles, transitions, and more, that drop onto your footage and instantly change the mood or pace of a shot. The 20 packs below cover streaming, cinematic, seasonal, and abstract styles. Blend two together, tweak the color, and you can get a signature look in minutes. Pair them with Envato’s AI video generator if you need a base plate to test the effect against.
After Effects overlays save time and expand what’s possible in a shot. You can adjust the pre-made presets to fit your footage, which is much faster than animating something yourself. If you’re still learning how to use After Effects, overlays simplify the workflow while you build up your skills.
There’s another benefit that’s easy to overlook: inspiration. When you’re staring at a blank composition, a professionally made asset can give you a strong starting point for how to style your video.
A few more reasons to try After Effects overlays:
This blocky, funky After Effects overlay pack has a retro edge that suits game streaming. No plugins required, and it’s easy to use.
Overlay packs with a Christmas theme. Add shimmering lights to your video in a variety of styles, a good fit for holiday greetings to friends, colleagues, or clients.
This After Effects overlay pack lands with impact. Drop the template onto your video, edit the text and colors, and you’re ready. Works with photos, videos, or any other media type.
Add drama to any film with this color overlay for After Effects. The light leaks were recorded in-camera for a realistic look, and each option is available in 4K and runs between three and ten seconds.
Add realistic shadows in a few clicks with this After Effects overlay pack. Nineteen scenes to choose from, each running ten seconds.
This After Effects glitch overlay pack contains over 150 elements, including styles like VHS, dust, RGB, and more.
If you like your videos with a touch of nostalgia, then you’ll love this overlay for After Effects in VHS style. They’re available in 4K; you can use them on your vertical videos.
Promote your Instagram account using this promo After Effects overlay. It’s perfect for products, portfolios, and fashion or travel video projects.
Add fun to your video with these abstract backgrounds and overlays for After Effects. There are tons to choose from, so you can keep using them across all your films without them feeling repetitive.
If you’re looking for an Adobe After Effects stream overlay, why not try this futuristic item? There are 6 to choose from, each in 4k resolution and with full-color control.
This is a fun distortion effect overlay for AE 2019 and above. You can also use this with Premiere Pro (2019+) and customize colors to suit your project.
Add a bokeh effect with this dirty lens overlay for After Effects. You’ll need to use 2019 or above to use this template, but it’s also compatible with DaVinci Resolve, After Effects, and Apple Motion.
Wish your viewers a happy Easter with this themed Adobe After Effects stream overlay sprinkled with fun Easter motifs like eggs and bunny ears. It includes webcam overlays, animated alerts, and much more. Try it with YouTube broadcasts.
If your videos need a little drama, look no further than this item. This FX overlays pack for After Effects includes 33 anime, cartoon, flash, and action elements.
Want to add a magical touch to your next project? Add some sparkle quickly and easily with this pack of overlays for After Effects, made in 2D style with fun animations.
No matter how old we get, stickers will always be a fun addition to any project! This After Effects overlay lets you add virtual stickers to your video projects, with over 70 to choose from – including useful shapes and speech bubbles.
Light leaks can give your video a lovely color overlay in After Effects. Add an analog twist to your next project with this light effects kit in gorgeous orange, yellow, and pink tones.
This massive pack of overlay transitions is ready to use in just a few clicks. With over 800 choices, this pack will set you up for multiple projects.
Particles are a popular video effect, adding artistic flair to any project. You could use this After Effects video overlay to transition between travel photos or add some glitz to a fashion project.
This pack of liquid overlays comes in various sizes, shapes, and animations. Add a funky color overlay in After Effects with this template in just a few clicks.
Try blending After Effects overlays for a more artistic effect. You can often stack and combine more than one to create something new, so it’s worth learning how to blend two video overlays seamlessly in After Effects.
Adjusting overlay colors to match your brand palette can make a template look custom-made for you. Keep transitions consistent across a project and the whole edit feels more cohesive.
Overlay templates are meant to be customized. Add your own keyframes or tweak the template’s existing motion to create something that only exists in your project.
If you want to test how an overlay reads before finalizing your edit, generate a short base plate with Envato’s AI video generator. It’s a quick way to see how a light leak, particle pack, or distortion effect behaves against different lighting and colors; useful when you’re still in the early ideation phase and don’t want to commit hard drive space to placeholder footage.
You can add presets to a video in After Effects by using the Effects & Presets panel in the software and choosing Browse Presets. In many cases, once you’ve extracted your files from the download, you can add them by dragging and dropping them onto the timeline.
Using blending modes and adjusting the opacity (transparency) on your layers, you can blend more than one video overlay in After Effects, creating an entirely new effect. If you like it, you can save the result to use again.
You’ll find the Opacity option for the selected overlay in the Effect Control panel. You can manually enter a value or use the slider to adjust the opacity. There are several ways to change the color, but the easiest is in Effects & Presets > Color Correction.
Yes. Overlays work well on any base footage, including clips generated with Envato’s AI video generator. Overlays add texture and mood on top; the AI-generated plate gives you a base to experiment with quickly. Keep the final edit anchored in a designer’s judgment, treat AI clips as prototype footage until you’re ready to commit.
Some do. Many overlay packs listed above ship as .mov or .mp4 files that you can import directly into Premiere Pro, DaVinci Resolve, or Final Cut Pro. Others are After Effects project files (.aep) that require After Effects. Always check compatibility notes on the pack before downloading.
Presets are a fantastic tool for video editing. They can save you time and money, plus add production value. You can find more After Effects overlay presets, After Effects templates, and video resources on Envato. Happy editing!
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