Effects & Overlays

Effects are everything VPE puts on your stream: overlay animations, sound effects, music changes, and text notifications. When something exciting happens, VPE fires the right combination of effects to match the moment.

A single effect can do multiple things at once. A 'Big Donation' celebration might show a confetti overlay, play a celebration sound, and display the donor's name as a ticker — all triggered together as one package.

VPE comes with 40 pre-built effects out of the box, covering alerts, reactions, celebrations, transitions, and tickers. You can customize them, create new ones, or install effect packs for complete themed setups.

Effects are organized into four channels, each handling a different type of output: overlay (videos, images, and textures displayed on screen), sound effects (short audio clips), music (background audio), and text (tickers and notifications).

Each channel manages its content independently. An overlay playing doesn't block a sound effect from firing, and a text notification doesn't interfere with the music. They all work in parallel.

You can also use a custom channel to send arbitrary commands directly to OBS — useful for advanced setups like controlling specific scene items or triggering OBS scripts.

VPE automatically manages what's on screen so your stream never looks chaotic. Each channel has smart rules about how effects interact when multiple arrive at the same time.

Overlays work on a 'newest wins' basis — when a new overlay fires, it cleanly replaces the current one. If the current overlay is marked as protected (like a major celebration), it can't be interrupted until it finishes.

Sound effects queue up and play in order, up to 4 deep. This means rapid-fire events like a donation train produce a satisfying sequence of sounds rather than a cacophonous blast. Text notifications can stack, so multiple messages display simultaneously without conflict.

Every effect has a priority from 1 (subtle) to 10 (showstopper). When two effects compete for the same space, the higher priority wins.

You can mark critical effects as 'protected' so they can't be interrupted no matter what. A raid celebration with protection enabled will play to completion even if a higher-priority event comes in — the new effect waits its turn.

For sound effects, higher-priority items jump ahead in the queue but won't cut off whatever's currently playing. This gives you responsive reactions without jarring audio cuts.

The Effects tab in the dashboard is your visual editor. Create new effects by choosing layers (overlay, sound, text), uploading assets, setting durations, and assigning priorities.

You can preview any effect before it goes live. Hit the preview button and VPE shows you exactly what it'll look like on stream — without actually broadcasting it to viewers.

Fire effects manually at any time using the 'Fire' button. This is great for testing, for manual celebrations, or for moments when you want to trigger something outside of automation.

Effect packs bundle multiple effects with their assets (videos, sounds, images) and matching automation rules into a single installable package.

Installing a pack gives you a complete themed setup instantly. A 'Halloween Theme' pack might include spooky overlays, eerie sound effects, and themed text styles — all pre-wired to the right triggers.

Multiple packs can be active at once. If two packs define effects for the same trigger, VPE's priority system resolves the conflict automatically. Switch your active pack to change your entire stream's visual identity in one click.

Effects reach your stream through the OBS integration. VPE sends commands to OBS via its WebSocket connection, controlling scenes, sources, filters, and audio in real time.

You can connect multiple output tools simultaneously. For example, OBS receives the visual effects while a debug console logs everything that fires — useful for troubleshooting your setup.

VPE handles all the timing. When an overlay's duration expires, VPE hides it automatically. When a queued sound finishes, the next one starts. You don't need to manage any of this manually.