Stinger Transition

A stinger transition (or simply a stinger) is a short animated transition that plays on top of the picture when a stream or video switches from one scene to another. It sweeps in, covers the whole screen for a moment, and sweeps out. The switch happens while the screen is covered, so viewers see the animation instead of the cut. Streamers use them between a webcam scene and gameplay, podcasts between camera angles, and broadcasts before replays.

A stinger switching a video podcast from one camera to the other. It covers the screen, the camera changes underneath, and it clears.

Why it is called a stinger

In broadcasting, a stinger is a short burst of sound or graphics used as a bridge: a few notes before a segment, or the animated logo before a replay in sports coverage. Streaming software took the name for any short animation that covers a scene change.

How a stinger transition works

• Transparent at both ends. The stinger starts and ends see-through, so the old scene is visible as it sweeps in and the new one as it sweeps out.
• Fully covered in the middle. For a moment the animation hides the whole frame.
• A transition point. The software switches scenes at a set moment inside that covered stretch. In OBS Studio it is entered in milliseconds (Transition Point Type: Time) or as a frame number.
• Optional sound. A whoosh or hit can be part of the file; the software plays it with the transition and dips or crossfades the stream audio around it.

A 1.6-second gaming stinger on its own, on a checkerboard: see-through, then fully covered, then see-through again.

File formats

• WebM with an alpha channel (VP9 or VP8): the common format for streaming software, small and played with its transparency by OBS.
• ProRes 4444 or QuickTime Animation (.mov): keep transparency too, but the files are much larger; more common in video editing than in live streaming.
• Track matte: since OBS Studio 27, a stinger can carry a black-and-white matte beside the picture instead of an alpha channel.
• MP4: cannot carry transparency, so an MP4 stinger covers the whole screen from its first frame.

Stinger vs. related terms

• Cut or fade: the built-in transitions; nothing covers the switch, the picture just changes or dissolves.
• Wipe: one scene replaces the other along a moving edge; a stinger covers both with its own graphic instead.
• Bumper: a short branded clip before or after a segment, played as its own scene rather than over the switch.
• Lower third: a graphic that identifies a speaker in the lower part of the frame and stays on screen for several seconds; a stinger covers the whole frame for a moment.

How to make a stinger transition

Stinger packs give you ready-made designs, and free stinger makers let you recolour a few preset animations. To have one drawn for your channel, describe it in iArt's stinger transition maker: say it is a stinger for OBS, give your channel name and the look, and Claude Opus 5.5 draws it in code, with your name as real text. It exports as a transparent WebM, and the agent gives you the transition point. For the OBS setup step by step, see how to add a stinger transition in OBS.

Related: lower third, motion graphics, animated lower thirds.