In the Workspace Panel in the center of the screen, the video will be displayed. To begin the redaction process, select the ellipse or rectangle masking element to mark the object to be redacted.
Draw either an ellipse or a rectangle around the object to be redacted. Spotlight automatically creates the object layer and adds a keyframe, displayed at the bottom of the screen.
Spotlight also creates a generic name for the object layer. It is good practice to rename the layer at this point and assign a more intuitive name, like "Driver's face", instead of the generic name of "Ellipse.2".
NOTE: This layer name label is only to assist the editing process and will not appear in the final exported video product.
Spotlight starts tracking the object automatically. The tracking is represented by a yellow dotted line appearing after the first keyframe. The tracking is performed seven (7) seconds forward from the current seeker position.
Tracking "Ghost" is the distance from current seeker position. Play the video and notice that the tracking is chasing the Ghost.
If the tracker path requires adjustment, simply drag the ellipse or rectangle to correct the tracker path as necessary.
Spotlight automatically adds a keyframe and completes the tracking. You will note that the question mark sign disappears from the object name in the player as the tracking is now complete.
Repeat the redaction process for more objects, but note that Spotlight can track only three (3) objects simultaneously. You can redact more than three objects in your video but not all objects will be tracked at the same time.
In the example below, we are redacting the driver’s face, the driver’s license, and the passenger's face. All three objects will be tracked simultaneously.
By using the Tools Panel on the right side of the application window, you can change the video masking element properties. Options include blur, block and solid color. To prevent a redaction from being reversed, we recommend using the solid color option to redact faces and objects. The solid color option permanently changes the pixel values in the redacted area. For example, the driver’s license is masked by the solid blue color set in the video masking element properties panel on the right side of the screen.
For objects that appear briefly in the scene, we recommend using the Keyframe Visibility feature. In our example, we drew the rectangle around the driver’s license at the moment it entered the scene and added another keyframe at the point when it is no longer visible. We then clicked the second keyframe and turned off visibility in Keyframe properties in the Tools Panel. Keyframe Visibility can be turned on if the object reappears.
TIP: Do not create a new object layer for an object that reappears later in the video. Just create a new keyframe in the original layer and visibility will be automatically turn on.
