When editing a video, one of the key things that you need to consider is to add a watermark or not. A watermark can cover the whole of the video’s dimension, be at the center or fit well in a corner.
Transparent watermarks are preferred because they reduce video interference, although opaque ones are still used. A watermark can take the form of a portion of text or recognizable image that can be seen by viewers and they need not be so intrusive.
The meaning of video watermarks
A video watermark is an embedded overlay constituting a logo or a text on a video or a copyright disclaimer. It identifies the video content and discourages unauthorized users from accessing or using it. The copyright disclaimer cannot entirely prevent the unauthorized use of the video but it poses a challenge to those who may claim the work as belonging to them.
Watermarking is an excellent approach to embed subtle branding in online videos. For instance, you can add tag lines or logos as a way of promoting your business. A simple website URL can be effective in allowing you to win your viewers’ minds. The watermarked videos cannot easily be ripped off. It protects and identifies the video content’s ownership.
If you spend so much time planning, creating, and editing a video, it could be so discouraging to have someone claim its ownership. The watermarked videos cannot easily be ripped off and the ownership of the content is protected and identified.
Video watermarking to protect copyrights
One of the major problems facing many content creators, including video producers is piracy. This undermines the development of models that offer entertainment or educational materials to consumers, making it difficult for businesses to attain their goals.
Modern automated formats can be employed for video content to restrict access to that content and limit the chances of unauthorized copying. Parties wishing to copy and redistribute the watermarked video illegally are required to circumvent the video protection systems to get a copy of the decrypted content.
After a decrypted copy is released, the technology used to protect the content no longer applies in restricting access to it. As such, the decrypted video can be used limitlessly or be subjected to copying or even redistribution.
Video content can be protected using digital watermarking. This offers additional security in the chain to prevent unauthorized access and use of the content. The embedded watermarks identify the permitted content uses.
If the embedded watermarks show that the use of the content is unauthorized, the copying or playback is stopped immediately and a message explaining the reason for this can be displayed.
Effective video content security helps owners in the following ways:
- Ensures that the content is secured through diverse media and automated file formats.
- Protects the video content throughout the release windows.
- Communicates ownership of the copyrights and rights to the usage of that content
- Safeguards the content without interfering with the entertainment experience of the consumers.
- Safeguards the content against possible threats such as copying, camcorder recording, format conversion, peer-to-peer sharing, encoding, and more.
Video watermarking as a branding tactic
Social media continues to evolve, causing many businesses, regardless of size and type of business, to leverage the presence of existing and potential customers therein.. Video streaming and produced videos have found a place in organic reach and viewer engagement.
In today’s digital age, creating a video is easy. However, after creating the video, you can use it further to promote your brand through watermarking and remain competitive in the marketplace. A video content logo will look professional and allow the content viewers to find, get in touch and conduct business with you.
Adding watermarks to the videos starts by creating a professional logo. A logo in jpg format is easy to convert into a background that is transparent so that it can be seen on your video while maintaining the viewers’ experiences. You can create a file in PNG format for your logo through photoshop or getting a person to design it for you.
Embed the PNG logo that is transparent into your video. The approach you use brand videos with a logo depends on the machine you are using and your general preferences.
In choosing a watermark image, you can channel an icon or a logo. Some channels adopt a logo as a branding watermark, making this approach reinforce your brand. This is because when a person watches your video, they will see the logo on the screen.
If your ultimate watermarking goal is to gain more subscribers on YouTube, choose a watermark that looks like the subscriber button for YouTube. The users will understand that they can use your watermark to subscribe to your channel, and this may lead to conversions. As you record videos, remember that you need to have a watermark for branding on the final video’s screen. So, avoid putting helpful information at the bottom of your shot.
Watermarks for preventing web scraping
Adding watermarks to video content can be done manually or online. The most important thing is to safeguard the security of the content. Whereas a watermark can prevent unauthorized people from accessing or copying the video content, there are still possibilities of web scraping. Web scrapers, especially third-party aggregators, can steal data to make profits, a move that can compromise your profits.
Users can scrape data such as video, text, and images from websites for personal gain. They can also use it for carrying out business activities like market research, price monitoring, and website migrations. For example, if you upload several images to your website, a visitor can grab the photos with no watermarks and use them without permission.
An effective way of protecting your content against web scraping is by embedding a watermark. When you embed rather than overlaying a watermark, the content is likely to be safer.
Restricting editing and cropping
You can take an embedded watermark a notch higher by making it intrusive enough to ensure that the content can be used with minimal modifications. If the watermark appears only on some part of the image or is so transparent, it can be removed by basic editing or cropping.
For example, if you share some assets with a franchise, every asset has a watermark embedded at the bottom. When the franchise owner wants some image approval from your team, they can easily remove the watermark and make the marketing material available to the public.
Whereas you may want your asset to be easily accessible and viewable, keeping it secure is also paramount. Create an ideal watermark to cover a large part of the asset. Consider a workaround to ensure advanced watermarking options to prevent the content from unauthorized access.
How to add a watermark to your video online
The simplest way to get started is by selecting a template for a watermark or uploading the video. You can add the watermark by uploading a file in PNG format or conducting a search under the “images.” Use special digital tools to make the background of the video transparent.
Drag the layer of the watermark to put it in the right position and resize it appropriately. If your video is accompanied by text or image, stylize the watermark’s appearance by editing color, rotation, outline, and opacity.
Save the exported watermarked video, ready for social media publication. The digital tools can help protect your brand and content by enhancing the simplicity of placing the watermark on the content.
Conclusion
With watermarking practices, it is possible to prevent the unauthorized access, use, and redistribution of video content. Additionally, you can use it as a branding tactic to prevent web scraping and restrict editing and cropping. Automated watermarking is more effective than manual watermarking because it enhances better content security and is more efficient. Some special software programs have a watermarking option to simplify the process of watermarking content without relying on experts.
