Add an overlay to TikTok LIVE
A vertical stream is watched on a phone held upright, with the platform interface drawn over your video. The overlay needs a different position and a larger size than on Twitch.
What changes on a vertical stream?
The canvas is portrait, usually 1080 × 1920. Your gameplay is horizontal, so at full width it fills only a band of about a third of the screen. The rest holds your facecam, your overlay and the TikTok interface, which covers part of everything you send.
Which software should I use?
- TikTok LIVE Studio: add a layer, choose Web Source and paste your overlay link. It works like a Browser Source in OBS.
- OBS with a vertical canvas: set the canvas to 1080 × 1920 in Settings, Video and add the overlay as a Browser Source, as in the setup guide.
The overlay link is the one you use on Twitch. Only its position and size change.
Which parts of the screen does TikTok cover?
| Area | Covered by | For the overlay |
|---|---|---|
| Top | Your name, viewer count, close button | Avoid the first strip |
| Right side | Like, share and gift buttons | Keep away from the edge |
| Bottom third | Comments, gifts, input field | Avoid |
| Middle | Nothing | Best place |
The exact layout changes with the app version and the viewer's phone, so treat these areas as margins rather than pixel values.
Where do I put the overlay, and how big?
Put the facecam at the top, below the first strip, the gameplay in the middle band, and the overlay centered right under the gameplay, above the comment area. Make it about half the width of the canvas, 500 to 600 pixels on a 1080 pixel wide canvas; on a phone, anything smaller is hard to read. Here is an example for Rocket League, from top to bottom:
| Element | Position | Size |
|---|---|---|
| Free strip for the TikTok header | 0 to 160 pixels | Nothing important here |
| Facecam | 160 to 600 pixels | Full width, cropped to the face |
| Gameplay | 620 to 1230 pixels | 1080 × 608, the 16:9 image at full width |
| Controller overlay | 1250 to 1560 pixels | About 560 pixels wide, centered |
| Comment area | From about 1560 pixels | Leave empty |
Placement on horizontal streams is covered in Place your overlay.
How do I check it before going live?
Start a test stream, or record a short clip, and watch it on your own phone with the TikTok interface visible. Scroll the comments and, if you can, send a gift from a second account. If anything covers the overlay, move it up.
Can every account go LIVE on TikTok?
No. According to TikTok's LIVE help page (checked in October 2026), you must be 18 or older and have 1,000 followers to go LIVE, and the follower threshold can vary by region. Sending or receiving gifts also requires being 18, or 19 in South Korea. Access to LIVE Studio on PC is granted separately and also varies by region. Check the LIVE option in your app before building a vertical scene; until you are eligible, OBS with a vertical canvas lets you prepare and record your layout.
Can I stream horizontal and vertical at the same time?
Yes. In OBS, the Aitum Vertical plugin adds a second, vertical canvas that streams alongside your usual one. Add your overlay link to both canvases: they share the same OBS browser, so the link counts as one device. Streaming twice costs more upload bandwidth and encoder power, so check the Stats dock during a test.
Design it once for free, then place it in your horizontal and vertical scenes with the same link.
Create my overlay