Lottie Overlay

AI-placed timed Lottie animations overlaid on video.

Overview

The Lottie Overlay node uses Claude Sonnet (configurable via the model selector — any of the shared LLM registry’s models) to interpret a prompt and select, position, and time Lottie animations from a built-in library. The AI determines which animations to use, where to place them on screen, and when they should appear and disappear. The result is rendered using @remotion/lottie with delayRender/continueRender for each overlay.

Reasoning-capable models additionally show an Effort selector next to the model picker (Auto by default — the vendor default, no charge change). xhigh/max bill one tier up, same rule as every other LLM-backed node — see the Generate Text node’s Reasoning effort section for the exact formula and worked examples.

The built-in animations are self-hosted on the Nodaro CDN (https://cdn.nodaro.ai/lottie-catalog/<name>.json) — there is no third-party dependency. Plans authored before the catalog moved to self-hosting (which referenced the old third-party URLs) heal automatically at render time, so saved workflows keep working without any edit.

Built-in catalog (12 animations)

Group	Animations
Celebration	Confetti burst, Fireworks, Party popper, Stars sparkle
Social / Reactions	Heart pulse, Thumbs up, Fire emoji
UI / Indicators	Loading spinner, Checkmark success, Arrow pointer
Ambient / Decorative	Floating particles, Glowing ring

Ambient and continuous effects (stars, heart, fire, spinner, arrow, particles, ring) loop; one-shot effects (confetti, fireworks, party popper, thumbs up, checkmark) play once.

Configuration

Field	Type	Default	Description
Overlay Prompt	string	""	Natural language description of desired overlay animations and their placement.
FPS	number	30	Frames per second. Options: 24, 30, 60.
Duration	number (seconds)	10	Duration of the output. Range: 1–300 seconds.

Inputs & Outputs

Inputs:

• in – Source video to overlay animations onto.
• lottie – Optional Lottie asset input. Connect a Motion Graphics node running its Lottie engine here: its authored Lottie animation is supplied as a placeable asset (via the Motion Graphics lottie output handle), letting you position and time an AI-authored animation over the video instead of relying solely on the built-in catalog.

Outputs:

• composition – Overlay plan (JSON). Connect to a Render Video node for final output.

  Factory presets & prompt variables

The node ships a factory preset catalog (see Node Presets) in four folders: Connected Graphic (place the wired graphic — overlay it centered, stretch it full-canvas for lower thirds/titles, intro/outro stings, looping corner bug, reaction pop), Celebration & FX, Reactions & Social, and Emphasis & UI (built-in catalog effects).

Preset prompts use the {variable || default} reference syntax for their timing and placement levers, e.g.:

Overlay the connected graphic {position || centered} over the video, starting at
{start time || 1 second}. Play it {play mode || once at its natural duration, then remove it}.

Run it unedited and the defaults apply; type your own value over a token; or connect a node whose label matches the variable name (e.g. a Text node labeled start time) and its output fills the slot at execution time. Unresolved tokens that reach the planner directly (e.g. via the API) are still read as their defaults — the braces never end up in the plan.

Best Practices

• Be specific about where overlays should appear (e.g., “confetti falling from the top during the first 3 seconds”).
• Reference timing relative to your video content to ensure overlays align with key moments.
• Keep the duration consistent with the source video.
• A graphic authored on a full transparent canvas (a Motion Graphics lower third or title) is best placed full-frame (x 0, y 0, width 100, height 100) so its internal layout decides where content sits — the Full-Canvas Graphic preset does exactly this.
• Use this node for decorative or informational overlays, not for text-heavy content (use Motion Graphics for that).

Common Use Cases

• Adding celebration animations (confetti, sparkles, fireworks) to highlight moments.
• Overlaying animated icons or indicators at specific timestamps.
• Enhancing social media videos with eye-catching animated elements.
• Adding animated transitions or accent elements to presentations.

Tips

• The AI selects from the built-in, self-hosted Lottie animation library (the catalog above). You do not need to provide Lottie files manually unless you want custom animations.
• Each overlay instance uses delayRender/continueRender to ensure proper loading before rendering.
• The output is a plan – connect to Render Video to produce the final composited video.
• For best results, describe both the visual effect and the timing (e.g., “arrow pointing down at 0:05 for 2 seconds in the bottom-right corner”).