Masking areas on video at export

In exported videos, you can either hide any object by masking it, or hide the area around the selected object.

In order for the masked area to be displayed in the exported video file, select the export with recompression in the AxiExport utility – see Select export mode. The masked area will not be displayed if the export is performed in any other way.

You can set the mask as follows:

1. Go to the archive playback mode 

2. Select Export - Hide exporting area in the camera's functional menu.
   

   Note.

   Later, when viewing the archive, you can uncheck or check the Show hidden areas checkbox to hide or show the mask when playing the archive.
3. As a result, the Hide area window opens, and an area with anchor points will be displayed in the viewing tile. 
   
4. Find a frame on which the object appears for the first time. You can search for videos using one of the methods described in the Archive browsing section.
5. Set the required position and size of the mask by dragging an area with anchor points across the viewing tile (1).

6. Click Add in the Hide area window (2). As a result, the date and time of the beginning of the mask display is added to the table, and the position of the area is saved in the internal database.
   

   Note.

   To delete a time interval, click Delete in the corresponding row of the table.

7. Start archive playback. If the hidden object moved, repeat steps 4-6 to set the new mask position. The mask will smoothly move between the specified points to follow the object movement.

8. Repeat steps 4-7 until the object disappears from the frame.

   Note.

   You can set mask only in the first frame and in the last frame where the object is visible. However, the more points you set, the more precisely the mask hides the object.

   Note.

   For the convenience of tracking an object, you can hide the mask using the Hide area button (3). When the area is hidden, the Add button is disabled.

9. If necessary, you can enter a comment in the text box in the Hide area window.

10. If in the exported file it is necessary to hide the area around the selected object, then set the Inverted masking checkbox (4). As a result, the specified mask will be displayed on the video, and the area around it will be masked.

11. If, when viewing a live or archive video in the Surveillance Monitor, as well as during export, it is necessary to completely hide the screen before and after the selected segment with inverted masking, set the Hide screen completely before and after mask checkbox (5). If at the same time it is necessary that the screen is not hidden before and after when playing a live video, then set the WholeScreenHideMode key (see Registry keys reference guide).

12. By default, the area is masked with solid black color. You can change the value of the Method of hiding switch (6) so that the mask looks like a blurred or pixelated area.

    Note

    The selected method of hiding is applied in the exported file. When viewing the archive in the Surveillance Monitor, the area is masked in black.

13. After completing the settings for masking areas, click the Save button (7).

To change the previously created masking area, select Export - Edit exporting area in the camera's functional menu:

As a result, an editing window will open, in which the masked area is shown in the form of a grid:

To edit a previously created area, repeat the steps 4-13.