The short version
- A starting soon screen is a 1920×1080 holding slide you broadcast before the show begins, while you are already live.
- Put a status, a start time with the time zone, and the subject of the stream in the centre of the frame.
- Do not bake a countdown into a looping file, because the number resets every cycle and looks broken.
- Export a silent seamless loop as MP4 or WebM for the scene, and a still from the same design for reduced motion and offline banners.
- Be right back and ending screens should reuse the same background and type, with only the status line changed.
On this page
A starting soon screen is the 1920×1080 holding slide you play in the live player before the show begins. Say that you are about to start, when, with the time zone, and what the stream is. Keep those words in the centre, and let any motion be a slow seamless loop rather than a countdown that resets.
Use it for the minutes when you are already live and not yet ready. It is not the picture a platform shows when the channel is dark. On Twitch that job is the offline screen, a still you upload. This screen is video you send yourself, at the same size as the show.
What to put on a starting soon screen
Early viewers want three answers: who this is, when it starts, and whether it is the stream they meant to open. Answer them, then stop.
- Status. One line: "Starting soon", "Be right back" or "Thanks for watching".
- A true time. "8pm UK". A time with no zone is three different hours.
- The subject. One phrase, such as "The shop rebuild, part two".
- One action. Chat, one question you will read, or a single follow. Not five icons.
Status, a real start time with its zone, and one thing to do while waiting, at the stream size.
A YouTube premiere uses YouTube's own waiting room. This slide is for a live stream you send from streaming software, so any promise printed on it is yours to keep.
Name the stream on the slide. Early viewers decide whether to stay from this line, not from the listing title.
Starting soon screen size
Design the slide at 1920×1080 pixels, 16:9, the usual 1080p canvas. YouTube's encoder settings recommend 14 Mbps for H.264 at 1080p and 30 fps, and 17 Mbps at 1080p and 60 fps, progressive, with square pixels. Fast grain and type that never sits still spend that budget on noise, and the wait looks blocky.
Size
File
When it shows
Size
File
When it shows
Size
File
When it shows
Size
File
When it shows
Size
File
When it shows
Starting soon 1920×1080
1920 × 1080
Thumbnail 1280×720
1280 × 720
Channel art 2560×1440
2560 × 1440
Shorts cover 1080×1920
1080 × 1920
Set the streaming canvas to 1920×1080 before you build the scene, or the software scales the type on the way out. Panels and the other scenes belong to one set, covered in stream backgrounds. YouTube's banner is another shape: YouTube banner size.
Where the words should sit
Player controls sit along the bottom, and a phone shows a smaller crop of the same frame. Put the promise in the centre. Cover the edges of the preview with your hands: if the time disappears, move it inward.
YouTube's chat sits beside the player, so leave a gap only for things you place on the video, usually your camera. Do not tuck the time under that camera. The camera moves. The time should not have to dodge it.
Avoid
- A clock that resets every loop
- The start time in a corner, under the live badge
- A background that does not match your thumbnails
- Fast particles behind small type
- Five icons and a paragraph of rules
Do
- Status, time with zone, and the subject
- Those three lines in the centre
- The same ground as the rest of the channel
- Slow motion, or none
- One action: chat, a question, or one link
Pick type in a colour that already contrasts with the ground. A shadow or a blur around the letters fails as soon as the background moves. Auto ink is that idea: light or dark, chosen from the ground itself. If you cannot read the time when the preview is about the width of a phone, it is too small.
Be right back is the same design with a new status line, so a pause does not change the channel's clothes.
A seamless loop, plus a still
The background has to survive a long wait. A seamless loop joins its last frame to its first, so nobody sees a blink each cycle. How to check that join is in seamless loop video. How long to make the clip is in video loop length.
Export a silent MP4 or WebM for the scene and a JPG or PNG still. Keep music as its own source so you can fade it, rather than baking a track you cannot duck. A GIF bands a smooth gradient, as GIF versus MP4 explains. On a page, see looping video backgrounds.
- 1
Set the frame
Open a 1920×1080 canvas and match the streaming output.
- 2
Write the three lines
Status, time with zone, and subject, centred. Leave a gap only for a camera.
- 3
Match the channel
Reuse the background, type and accent from your thumbnails and offline screen.
- 4
Export two files
A silent seamless loop as MP4 or WebM, plus a still of the same frame.
- 5
Make three scenes
Starting soon, be right back, and ending. Same ground, new words. Switch scenes rather than restarting.
In Gradiently the background is a Mark: the calmest area sits behind the words, and auto ink picks light or dark type. Video export is part of Pro, at 30 fps, as MP4 or WebM depending on the browser. See exporting a loop. Explore has a Stream starting soon scene: a preview of a Mark as this slide, not a design you can edit or drop a logo into.
Reduced motion, on the stream and on your site
On stream, keep the loop slow. A 30 fps file is enough for a holding slide, even if the show goes out at 60 fps. On your site, play it only when the visitor has not asked for less motion, using prefers-reduced-motion. Reduced motion shows how to test it.
<div class="holding">
<video class="holding-loop" autoplay muted loop playsinline
poster="starting-soon.jpg" width="1920" height="1080">
<source src="starting-soon.webm" type="video/webm">
<source src="starting-soon.mp4" type="video/mp4">
</video>
</div>
<style>
.holding { background: url(starting-soon.jpg) center / cover; }
.holding-loop { width: 100%; height: auto; display: block; }
@media (prefers-reduced-motion: reduce) {
.holding-loop { display: none; }
}
</style>Go live on the holding scene
Make a scene with the loop full frame, your camera if you use one, and your mic. In YouTube Studio, create the stream and paste the server URL and stream key into the software. Go live on the holding scene, then switch to the show when you are ready. The recording stays one file.
Check a test on your phone before you announce the time. Build be right back and the ending with the holding slide. Twitch streamer branding covers the wider kit, and YouTube thumbnail design covers the listing image.
When the time changes, update the words and export the still again. A slide that still says 8pm after you moved to 9pm is worse than no clock.
Questions people ask
What size is a starting soon screen?
1920×1080 pixels, 16:9. Set the streaming canvas to the same size so the type is not scaled.
Should a starting soon screen be a video or a still?
Use a silent seamless MP4 or WebM loop in the scene, plus a still from the same design. Leave GIFs off the stream: they band a smooth gradient.
What should I write on a starting soon screen?
A status, a start time with the time zone, and the subject, in the centre. Keep any countdown out of the looping file.
Is a starting soon screen the same as a Twitch offline screen?
No. The offline screen is a still for when you are not live. The starting soon screen is a scene you broadcast while you are live and waiting to begin.
How do I handle reduced motion on a starting soon screen?
Keep the loop slow on stream. On your website, show the still when the device asks for reduced motion.
Can one starting soon screen work on YouTube and Twitch?
Yes for the live scene, at 1920×1080. Twitch also needs a still offline banner, and YouTube's thumbnail and channel art are different sizes.
Written by Gradiently
The team behind Gradiently, a design tool built around Marks: living gradients that make everything you design look like yours.
See our profile