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OverlayVideo[background,o]

gives the result of overlaying o onto a background video or image background.

OverlayVideo[background,{o1,o2,…}]

gives the result of overlaying o1, o2, ….

OverlayVideo[background,{interval1o1,…}]

overlays each oi during the time interval intervali.

Details and Options
Details and Options Details and Options
Examples  
Basic Examples  
Scope  
Basic Uses  
Time Specification  
Position Specification  
Options  
FrameRate  
VideoPadding  
Applications  
See Also
Related Guides
History
Cite this Page

OverlayVideo

OverlayVideo[background,o]

gives the result of overlaying o onto a background video or image background.

OverlayVideo[background,{o1,o2,…}]

gives the result of overlaying o1, o2, ….

OverlayVideo[background,{interval1o1,…}]

overlays each oi during the time interval intervali.

Details and Options

  • OverlayVideo is also known as picture in picture.
  • Video overlay is typically used to give a talking head together with a presentation, add logos and other graphics onto a video, or replace a background with another video.
  • The background can be a video or an image.
  • The overlays oi can be any of the following:
  • imagean Image or Graphics placed at the bottom-right corner
    videoa Video object placed at the bottom-right corner
    texta string or styled text
    expran arbitrary expression, rasterized at its normal display size
    Placed[expr,pos]an object placed at pos
    Placed[expr,{pos,opos}]places position opos in expr at position pos
    Placed[expr,{pos,Inherited}]uses specified position pos for opos
    fan arbitrary function generating any valid overlay
  • The position pos in background or the position opos in overlay can be specified in the following ways:
  • {x,y}absolute pixel offset from the bottom-left corner
    Scaled[{sx,sy}]scaled position from 0 to 1 across the object
    posfuncan arbitrary function returning a position
    {posx,posy}named positions Top, Bottom, Left, Right or Center
  • Time intervals intervali can be any of the following:
  • {t1,t2}starting at t1, ending at t2
    t1starting at t1, ending when overlay or background ends
  • OverlayVideo always gives a video with the same pixel size as background.
  • By default, OverlayVideo places the new video under the "Video" directory in $WolframDocumentsDirectory.
  • Options to control properties of the output video are:
  • CompressionLevelAutomaticcompression level to use
    FrameRate Automaticthe frame rate to use
    GeneratedAssetFormatAutomaticthe format of the result
    GeneratedAssetLocation$GeneratedAssetLocationthe location of the result
    OverwriteTargetFalsewhether to overwrite an existing file
    VideoEncodingAutomaticvideo encoding to use
    VideoPadding Automaticpadding scheme to use for frames at the end
    VideoTransparencyFalsewhether the output video should have a transparency channel
  • Audio and subtitle tracks of all input video objects are copied over to the resulting video.

Examples

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Basic Examples  (2)

Overlay an image onto a video:

Wolfram Language code: OverlayVideo[Video["ExampleData/rule30.mp4"], [image]]

Overlay a video on another video:

Wolfram Language code: v = Video["ExampleData/rule30.mp4"]; o = Video["ExampleData/fish.mp4", RasterSize -> 120];

Overlay the videos and display the result:

Wolfram Language code: OverlayVideo[v, o]

Scope  (8)

Basic Uses  (2)

Overlay a video on top of an Image:

Wolfram Language code: OverlayVideo[[image], Video["ExampleData/fish.mp4", RasterSize -> 120]]

Overlay two images on top of a video:

Wolfram Language code: OverlayVideo[Video["ExampleData/rule30.mp4"], {[image], [image]}]

Time Specification  (1)

Specify the time interval at which an overlay will be displayed:

Wolfram Language code: OverlayVideo[Video["ExampleData/rule30.mp4"], {.5, 1} -> [image]]

Position Specification  (5)

By default, the overlay is placed at the bottom-right corner of the background:

Wolfram Language code: OverlayVideo[Video["ExampleData/rule30.mp4"], [image]]

Specify a position for the center of the overlay:

Wolfram Language code: OverlayVideo[Video["ExampleData/rule30.mp4"], Placed[[image], {200, 100}]]

Specify a named position for the center of the overlay:

Wolfram Language code: OverlayVideo[Video["ExampleData/rule30.mp4"], Placed[[image], {Right, Top}]]

Specify which point of the overlay aligns with the specified background position:

Wolfram Language code: OverlayVideo[Video["ExampleData/rule30.mp4"], Placed[[image], {{Right, Top}, Inherited}]]

Specify a scaled position for the center of the overlay:

Wolfram Language code: OverlayVideo[Video["ExampleData/rule30.mp4"], Placed[[image], Scaled[{0.2, .5}]]]

Options  (2)

FrameRate  (1)

If the background and overlay have different frame rates, the background frame rate is used by default:

Wolfram Language code: v = Video["ExampleData/fish.mp4"]; o = Video["ExampleData/rule30.mp4", RasterSize -> 120];
Wolfram Language code: Information[#, "FrameRate"]& /@ {v, o}
Wolfram Language code: Information[OverlayVideo[v, o], "FrameRate"]

Specify the output frame rate:

Wolfram Language code: Information[OverlayVideo[v, o, FrameRate -> Quantity[30, "Frames"/"Seconds"]], "FrameRate"]

VideoPadding  (1)

By default, the the overlay is extended to the duration of the background using transparent frames:

Wolfram Language code: v = Video["ExampleData/fish.mp4"]; o = Video["ExampleData/rule30.mp4", RasterSize -> 120];
Wolfram Language code: Duration[{v, o}]

Overlay the videos and display the result:

Wolfram Language code: ov = OverlayVideo[v, o]; Duration[%] VideoExtractFrames[ov, Mean@Duration[{v, o}]]

Extend the overlay by repeating its final frame:

Wolfram Language code: ov = OverlayVideo[v, o, VideoPadding -> "Fixed"]; VideoExtractFrames[ov, Mean@Duration[{v, o}]]

Applications  (1)

Add a logo as a watermark on every frame of a video:

Wolfram Language code: v = Video[ResourceData["Sample Video: Citrus in Water"], RasterSize -> 300]
Wolfram Language code: OverlayVideo[v, [image]]
Wolfram Research (2021), OverlayVideo, Wolfram Language function, https://reference.wolfram.com/language/ref/OverlayVideo.html (updated 2024).

Text

Wolfram Research (2021), OverlayVideo, Wolfram Language function, https://reference.wolfram.com/language/ref/OverlayVideo.html (updated 2024).

CMS

Wolfram Language. 2021. "OverlayVideo." Wolfram Language & System Documentation Center. Wolfram Research. Last Modified 2024. https://reference.wolfram.com/language/ref/OverlayVideo.html.

APA

Wolfram Language. (2021). OverlayVideo. Wolfram Language & System Documentation Center. Retrieved from https://reference.wolfram.com/language/ref/OverlayVideo.html

BibTeX

@misc{reference.wolfram_2026_overlayvideo, author="Wolfram Research", title="{OverlayVideo}", year="2024", howpublished="\url{https://reference.wolfram.com/language/ref/OverlayVideo.html}", note=[Accessed: 12-June-2026]}

BibLaTeX

@online{reference.wolfram_2026_overlayvideo, organization={Wolfram Research}, title={OverlayVideo}, year={2024}, url={https://reference.wolfram.com/language/ref/OverlayVideo.html}, note=[Accessed: 12-June-2026]}