Tip #63Kinesense LE

How to name annotations and use the annotation timeline

Name annotations, see audio waveforms, change arrow opacity, use Review shortcuts on the annotation timeline, and trim clips from the right-click menu.

Patricia McCabeSoftware Engineer

In 3.3 we’ve made a number of improvements and changes to annotations in the hopes of making your life a little bit easier.

Naming annotations

An annotation named Suspect 1 on the annotation timeline.

You can now add a name to your annotation. This should make it easier to keep track of which annotation is which.

The annotation name box under the selected spotlight, with the name Suspect 1 being typed.

To do this, double click on the name under the selected annotation in the annotation toolbar on the right hand side. An unnamed annotation will just have <no name> as a place holder. A text box will appear, type in the name you want and check Save Changes Save Changes button. The name will now appear in the annotation timeline beside the annotation.

Audio wave form

An audio annotation on the timeline showing the audio waveform.

Adding an audio annotation will now add an accurate depiction of the audio in that clip. That will make it easier for you to see where spikes in audio are.

Arrow opacity

A semi-transparent arrow annotation pointing at a person on a street.

You can now change the transparency of an annotation arrow. The opacity slider

Opacity slider

lets you decrease or increase the transparency.

Timeline shortcuts

The annotation timeline keyboard shortcuts listed in the Settings Editor.

We’ve added some of the shortcuts that could be used in Review to the annotation timeline. To learn more about how to edit these short cuts check out our previous blog post on keyboard shorts

New context menu options

The annotation right-click menu with the new Video: Start Here and Video: End Here options.

Some new options where added to the menu that appears when you right click on an annotation.

Video: Start Here – this allows you to change where the clip starts. This is like a cut down version of what you can do in the Video Report tab

Video: End Here – like Start Here, you can now end the clip at the point you’ve currently selected.

Edit Gap: Is you right click on a gap you can now edit it. This means that the end of the gap will be removed and you’ll be able to select a new end point

Format support

3000+ video formats

Anything playable in Windows Media Player, VLC or FFmpeg is supported, without the manufacturer's original player. Have a format that isn't listed? Our engineers have 17 years experience of dealing with difficult formats.