Redaction Studio Quick Start Guide

Redaction Studio is a powerful tool designed to protect privacy and sensitivity in video and audio evidence. It offers a range of redaction capabilities that allow you to anonymize visuals and audio in your evidence files. With features like manual redaction, object tracking, audio redaction, and Redaction Assistant, Redaction Studio simplifies the process of preparing evidence while ensuring sensitive information stays confidential.

Get started with Redaction Studio

  1. Locate and select the video evidence you wish to redact to open it in the evidence details page.
  2. Select the Redactions tab.
  3. Select + Create redaction to launch Redaction Studio.
  4. Select the type of redaction mask you wish to use from the following options:
    • Manual Mask: For specific areas in the video
      manual mask icon
    • Object Tracker: For following moving objects
      object tracker mask icon
    • Audio Mask: For muting selected audio portions
      audio mask icon
    • Redaction Assistant: Our powerful AI can swiftly scan through footage and pinpointing sensitive info. Select Start for accurate, real-time results.
      Note

      Redaction Assistant is only available for certain agencies. For more information on using masks, see Redaction Studio Mask Types.

  5. Customize your video further by continuing to create and adjust elements as needed for redaction:

    • Create a mask: With a mask type selected, select, hold, and drag over the area of the video you wish to redact.
    • Move or resize a mask: Select and drag an existing mask to move it, or adjust the corners to resize. You can also use keyboard shortcuts.
    • For audio redaction: Select the audio waveform at the point where you want the redaction to begin, drag to the desired endpoint, and then choose an audio mask type from the dropdown menu to specify Mute or Short bleep. You can search via the transcript and right-click to add an audio mask over specific words or phrases.
    • Add text: Select the Text button, place your cursor on an area of the video where you wish to add text, and then enter your text. If you choose to add text, you can also increase or decrease the font size as needed.

      Note

      While multiple mask types can be used within the same redaction, it’s recommended to limit processing to three at a time.

  6. Play through the video to review the masks and ensure all sensitive information is properly covered.

  7. Select Extract and then choose your extraction method and options:

    • Add a title: The default is to add extraction before the evidence name, but you can edit the name to match organization standards.
    • Select a file type: Choose a video (.mp4) or audio (.m4a) file
    • Add an optional disclaimer: Select a disclaimer from the list to add it to the start of your video.

  8. Select Extract to start the redaction process. A confirmation window confirms that your evidence extraction is underway.

  9. Upon completion, you receive an email notification, and the redacted file is available under the My Evidence tab in Axon Evidence.

  10. Select Close (X) to exit Redaction Studio and return to the evidence detail page.

    Note

    It is recommended to review the entire video after processing to ensure all content has been correctly redacted.

Redaction tips

  • If you have a long video and only need to share a redacted portion, it is recommended that you first create a clip, extract a video from the clip, and then redact the extracted video.
  • For redactions where there are multiple masks on a video, complete the redaction work for one mask before working with a different mask.
  • Use the Start and End time field inputs to precisely set mask segment start and end times. This is especially useful when setting the length of audio masks.
  • The selected blur level is applied to the complete mask segment. If you need to change the blur level for only a portion of a mask segment, you should add another mask.