Metadata Overlays

Metadata overlays provide the ability for you to add evidence metadata onto video evidence while viewing the evidence and extract copies of the evidence with the metadata information embedded. This is accomplished by overlaying the metadata in the upper left section of the evidence display.

Metadata overlay functionality is available for Axon Body-Worn Camera (BWC) videos, Fleet videos, and converted third-party videos. Metadata overlays for multicam videos and other evidence types are not supported in the initial release.

The types of metadata that can be displayed and embedded depend on the type of evidence:

Axon BWC video: Organization name, evidence ID, recorded on date and time, and Assigned To officer information (Officer name, Officer Badge ID, or both).
Axon Fleet/Fleet 2 video: Organization name, evidence ID, recorded on date and time, Assigned To officer information (Officer name, Officer Badge ID, or both), and vehicle speed.
Axon Fleet 3 video: Organization name, evidence ID, recorded on date and time, Assigned To officer information (Officer name, Officer Badge ID, or both), Recorded By officer information (Officer name, Officer Badge ID, or both), recording activation reason, vehicle speed, when the vehicle lightbar is on, when the vehicle siren is on, and when the vehicle brakes are being applied. RADAR information is available if the RADAR Integration is enabled.
Converted third-party video, non-Axon videos, clips, extractions, and redactions: Organization name, evidence ID, recorded on date and time, Assigned To officer information (Officer name, Officer Badge ID, or both), and vehicle speed (if available).

Fleet videos that have two assigned officers will show badge ID information for both officers. The lightbar, siren, and brake status are only available it those options are enabled in your organization's Fleet 3 configuration.

Your organization administrators can set which information is shown by default using Evidence Playback Settings.

The organization name displayed is the same as name shown on the Axon Justice sign in page. The Assigned To information shown is set by your administrators using Evidence Playback Settings and can be configured to show a badge ID or first initial and last name or the first initial, last name, and badge ID.

Display evidence metadata with a metadata overlay

The metadata overlay information can be shown on evidence from the evidence details page and while viewing evidence in Review Mode. Some overlays may be enabled by default. Check with your organization administrator for more information on which overlay information is shown by default.

Select the More Settings (gear) icon.
Select Overlays.
From the Overlays menu select the metadata options you want to view on the evidence.

Adding overlays

Selecting a metadata option displays the information in the upper left of the evidence. The metadata is displayed in the same order, top to bottom, as is shown in the overlays menu. If options that are higher on the list are not selected, the lower selected options are moved up the display list.

The information shown in the metadata overlay is only a preview. If you leave or refresh the Review Mode or evidence details page, the metadata is no longer shown when they return. To permanently embed the metadata, you must extract a copy of the evidence while the metadata overlay is shown.

Extract evidence with a metadata overlay

If you have permission to edit the evidence, you can extract a copy of the evidence with the metadata overlays from the evidence details page.

Open the evidence and select the overlays you want to show in the evidence. Then select the Overlays tab under the evidence player.
Select Extract with Overlays.
Select Extract to confirm the extraction. Axon Justice creates a copy of the evidence with the selected metadata overlays. The extraction is logged in the evidence audit trail and includes information about which metadata overlays were selected for the extraction.

Once extracted evidence is ready, you will receive an email confirmation with a link to the new evidence.

Extracted evidence files can be used to create clips, redactions, and add markers.

Share evidence and metadata overlays

The ability to use and view metadata overlay information in shared evidence files depends on how the evidence is shared.

Manage Access Inside My Agency: Users added to the Internal Access Control List have access to the evidence and are able to review evidence with metadata overlays. Extraction with metadata overlays is controlled by user’s permission to edit evidence.
Manage Access Outside My Agency: Users added to the External Access Control List can view evidence with metadata overlays, but cannot create extractions.
Manage Access Outside My Agency using a Download Link: The metadata overlays cannot be used during evidence playback. To share evidence with the metadata overlays, an extraction would need to be created and shared.
Sharing Evidence through a Case: When sharing evidence within in a case, included metadata is not displayed by default. When the original video is shared with a partner organization, all overlays available to the original organization will also be available to the partner organization. However, ‘Assigned To’ and ‘Vehicle Information’ (such as vehicle name, vehicle speed, radar, etc.), which get a new value in the partner organization due to the change in video assignment, will not be displayed when sharing through copy flow. In situations where only limited overlays should be available or when certain overlays must be embedded in a video, it is recommended that you create a video extraction with the overlays. This allows partner agencies to independently manage the overlays on extracted videos.

When extracted evidence files are shared, the metadata overlays are visible to the viewer and cannot be changed.

Frequently Asked Questions

Which Role permissions are needed for different overlay actions?

Overlays do not have special permissions and rely on your view, edit evidence, and admin access permissions to control display, extraction, and enabling default overlay settings:

Edit Agency Settings permission under Admin Access section controls access to Evidence Playback Settings
Edit permission under Evidence Management section controls access to option to extract evidence with overlays
View Unrestricted Evidence and Access Restricted Evidence (and other view related permission) control user’s access to evidence viewing options.

Can overlays be added to any type of evidence?

Metadata overlay functionality is available for Axon body-worn camera (BWC) videos, Fleet videos, and converted third-party videos. Metadata overlays for multicam videos and other evidence types are not supported in the initial release.

How do you enable overlays for playback?

The option to view overlays and extract evidence with overlays is enabled to all agencies by default. A More Action (gear) icon has been added to the player. When you select the icon and select Overlays, a menu with all available overlays for that type of evidence is shown. You can select any of the overlays to be displayed during playback.

This selection is not saved. The next time you load this evidence or when evidence is shared, you would have to select the overlays shown.

Which data can be added as an overlay?

Type of Evidence	Available Overlays	Notes
Axon Body Worn Camera videos	Agency name Evidence ID Recorded On on date and time Assigned To officer information (Officer name, Officer Badge ID, or both)	The organization name displayed is the same as name shown on the organization’s Axon Justice sign in page.
Axon Fleet/Fleet 2 videos	Agency name Evidence ID Recorded On on date and time Assigned To officer information (Officer name, Officer Badge ID, or both) Vehicle speed	The organization name displayed is the same as name shown on the organization’s Axon Justice sign in page. Fleet videos that have two assigned officers will show badge ID information for both officers.
Axon Fleet 3 videos	Agency name Evidence ID Recorded On on date and time Assigned To officer information (Officer name, Officer Badge ID, or both) Recorded By officer information (Officer name, Officer Badge ID, or both) Recording Activation reason Vehicle speed Lightbar status Siren status Brake status RADAR information (if integration is enabled)	The organization name displayed is the same as name shown on the organization’s Axon Justice sign in page. Fleet videos that have two assigned officers will show badge ID information for both officers. The lightbar, siren, and brake status are only available it those options are enabled in your organization's Fleet 3 configuration.
Converted third-party video, non-Axon videos, clips, extractions, and redactions	Agency name Evidence ID Recorded On on date and time Assigned To officer information (Officer name, Officer Badge ID, or both) Vehicle speed (if available)	The organization name displayed is the same as name shown on the organization’s Axon Justice sign in page.

How do you share evidence with overlays?

Depending on the goals and preferred sharing method we support both: sharing original evidence (with an option for the receiving party to stay flexible and enabled/disable overlays by choice), or sharing derivative evidence with embedded overlays (to guarantee that receiving party always reviews evidence with selected overlays).

Sharing original evidence with overlays

The ability to use and view metadata overlay information in shared evidence files depends on how the evidence is shared.

Manage Access Inside My Agency: Users added to the Internal Access Control List have access to the evidence and are able to review evidence with metadata overlays. Extraction with metadata overlays is controlled by user’s permission to edit evidence.
Manage Access Outside My Agency: Users added to the External Access Control List can view evidence with metadata overlays, but cannot create extractions.
Manage Access Outside My Agency using a Download Link: The metadata overlays cannot be used during evidence playback. To share evidence with the metadata overlays, an extraction would need to be created and shared.
Sharing Evidence through a Case: Metadata information included in the evidence is included when the evidence is shared in a case, but it is not displayed by default. When the original video is shared to a partner organization, all overlays available to the original organization will also be available to the partner organization. The only exception is the Assigned To overlay, which gets a new value in the partner organization since the video assignment changes. In situations when only limited overlays should be available or when certain overlays must be embedded in a video, it is recommended that you create a video extraction with the overlays. Partner agencies are able to independently manage the extraction of videos with overlays.

Sharing derivative evidence with embedded overlays

Sharing derivative evidence with embedded overlays is recommended when it’s important to guarantee that specific overlays are displayed every time evidence is being reviewed. When extracted evidence files are shared, the metadata overlays are visible to the viewer and cannot be changed.

How do I create videos with embedded overlays?

You can create videos with embedded overlays by selected the metadata that they want to display and extracting the video.

Can I set overlays to be always shared?

No, this is not a supported option. Organization's can enable overlays to be displayed by default, extract with those overlays, and share the derivative evidence to make sure specific overlays are available after sharing.

Can I set overlays to always be displayed?

Organization administrators with access to the Evidence Playback Settings page can enable any of the overlays to be always displayed by default organization-wide. This setting only applies to evidence when reviewed within the organization. After sharing, overlay display will depend on the corresponding settings in the receiving organization except for the situations when video is shared with embedded overlays.

When overlays are enabled by default, you can still manually disable overlays during playback, or enable overlays that haven’t been set by default.

How do I download a video with overlays?

In order to download video with overlays you need to extract the video with embedded overlays and then download the extracted video.