The best way to protect your video content is to watermark it. This article will offer recommendations for creating the most secure watermarks that can trace a leak to its source and deter leaks to begin with. To learn more about securing your content, please see MediaSilo Security Best Practices.
- What type of watermarking should I use?
- What type of visible watermark should I use?
- How should I format a visible watermark?
- Where should I place a visible watermark?
What type of watermarking should I use?
MediaSilo offers two types of watermarking:
- Visible watermarking allows you to display a viewer’s name, a viewer’s email address, or custom text (such as “Property of My Studio”). You can display one, two, or all three of these watermarks at once. More than just an overlay, a visible watermark is burned into the video itself.
- Forensic watermarking is an invisible form of watermarking that hides the viewer’s identifying data. Like a visible watermark, a forensic watermark is burned into the video itself so it cannot be extracted.
For the most secure viewing experience, we recommend applying both visible and forensic watermarking to your content. While forensic watermarking can trace a leak to its source, a visible watermark acts as a deterrent. The following sections will provide best practices for creating visible watermarks.
A project with both visible and forensic watermarking enabled.
What type of visible watermark should I use?
A visible watermark can display a viewer’s name, a viewer’s email address, or custom text. We recommend displaying both the name and email address of the viewer. Custom text should only be used in combination with a name and email. You can reserve custom text for displaying your studio’s name or conveying a message to viewers, such as “Do not distribute.” By itself, custom text does not contain personally identifiable information, so it may not identify the viewer of leaked content.
You can add different types of visible watermarks to a single template.
How should I format a visible watermark?
- The text size for a visible watermark should be at least 25 pixels. The bigger the better.
- You should avoid a watermark that is too faint by setting the opacity to at least 50%. The higher the better.
You can adjust a visible watermark’s settings from the SafeStream tab in Administration.
Where should I place a visible watermark?
Place a visible watermark in a spot that will make the content useless if someone attempts to blur it or crop it out. We recommend placing the watermark in the middle or as close to the middle as possible. This way, if a user attempts to capture a part of the screen without a visible watermark, the screen capture is essentially ruined.
A viewer can snap a picture above the visible watermarking, since it is small and placed along the bottom of the screen.
A viewer can’t get a good shot without revealing the identifying watermarks.