Pimloc Redact: Video Timeline Overview
The timeline shows everything Pimloc Redact has found in your video, and when it's on screen. The timeline is at the bottom of the video editor. If you're new to the editor, start with How to use the video editor.
Each orange bar is a Track
Boxes that follow the same person or object across frames form a Track. A moving person or object can end up with several Tracks. Pimloc Redact tries to keep them in one row, and you can group any that it misses.
The colour of a bar tells you how it will be exported:
Orange = redacted
Grey = not redacted
Blue = Inverse blur applied. See How to use Inverse Blur.
Each row is one person or object
A row holds every track for one person or object. When the same person leaves the video and comes back, each appearance is a separate track in the same row.
The name on the left of the row is its label, for example "Face 13". To rename it, double-click the label, type a new name and press Enter. Press Esc to cancel.
Rows start in the order their tracks first appear. New tracks you add appear at the top.
To select tracks and rows:
Click a bar to select that track. Its box is selected on the video too.
Click a row's label to select the whole row.
Shift-click another label to select every row in between.
Press Ctrl + A (Cmd + A) to select every row. Press it again to select none.
To clear the selection, click an empty part of the timeline or another part of the window.
Each row has buttons next to its label:
Pin = Keeps the row at the top of the timeline. Hover over the row to see it. Pinned rows stay pinned until you close the browser tab.
Redact / Unredact (the eye) = Redacts or unredacts every track in the row (keyboard shortcut: R).
Previous / next track edge = Jumps to the start or end of the row's previous or next track (keyboard shortcut: Alt + Left/Right).
Timeline Overview
While the video plays, the timeline moves with it so you can always see the current frame. Move around the Timeline by:
Jump to a moment by clicking anywhere on the timeline. The video moves to that frame.
Zoom in or out by holding Ctrl and scrolling, or by pinching on a trackpad. You can also hold Alt or Cmd and scroll.
Scroll up and down the rows with your mouse wheel.
Scroll along the timeline by swiping sideways on a trackpad, or by dragging the bar along the bottom of the timeline. Drag either end of that bar to zoom.
Timeline Toolbar
The Timeline Toolbar is the row of buttons above the timeline, on the right. If the timeline is narrow, the buttons show icons only. Hover over a button to see its name and shortcut.
Split (keyboard shortcut: S)
Splitting cuts a track in two at the current frame. Use it when a track has moved from one person to another, or when you only want to redact part of a track.
Pause the video.
Select the track.
Move to the frame where you want to cut it.
Click Split or press S.
Everything from the current frame onwards becomes a new track in the same row. Split only works when one track is selected and the current frame is inside that track.
N.B.: You can't shorten a track by dragging its end. Instead, split it where you want it to end, select the part you don't need and delete it.
Zone (keyboard shortcut: Z)
Zone lets you redact a fixed area for parts or all of the video. See more here.
Tracker (keyboard shortcut: T)
Tracker lets you track a new object throughout the video. See more here.
Delete (keyboard shortcut: backspace)
Select one or more tracks, or a whole row, and click Delete. Check the message, then click Delete or press Enter.
Deleted tracks can't be recovered. To keep a track but show what's under it in the export, unredact it instead.
To delete a single box on one frame instead of a whole track, select the box on the video and use its own delete button in the box’s toolbar.
Bulk Actions
Bulk Actions lets you redacts or unredact every track of the types you choose, such as every face.
Click Bulk actions.
Choose Redact or Unredact.
Under Detection type, choose one or more types, such as faces or licence plates.
Click Apply action.
This changes every track of those types in the video, even ones hidden by a filter.
Search and Filter the Timeline
To find a row by name, type in the Search box above the row labels.
To show only some tracks, click Filter and choose from:
State: redacted or unredacted tracks.
Track settings: tracks using inverse blur or a particular redaction style.
Track type: for example faces or licence plates. This only appears when the video has more than one type.
When a filter is on, the Filter button turns orange and shows how many filters you're using. Click Clear to remove them.
Fill in the gaps between Tracks
Sometimes a track stops before the person or object leaves the video, for example when they turn away or are partly hidden. Filling in the gaps between tracks extends the track so it covers those frames too.
Hover over the start or end of the bar in the Timeline until the pointer changes.
Drag the end to where you want the track to reach. The video moves with you, so you can see the frame you're dragging to.
Let go. Pimloc Redact tracks the person or object into the new frames. The new part shows as a yellow band.
Check the yellow band, then accept it. The buttons above the band are there whether or not you've selected it:
Apply suggestion accepts all of it.
Accept to this frame accepts it up to the current frame. Click the band to select it, then move to a frame inside the band to use it.
Cancel suggestion discards it.
A track can only be extended as far as the next track in the same row, or the start or end of the video.
Move a Track to another row
When the same person has been given two rows, you can move a track from one row into the other. Both tracks then belong to the same person, so they share a label and are redacted together.
Click on the track and drag it up or down.
The row under the pointer lights up. Drop the track onto the row you want it in.
The track moves straight away. If it was the last track in its old row, that row disappears.
To put many tracks of the same person into one row at once, use the Merge tool. See How to merge tracks of the same person or object.