How to keep other companies' branding out of the stock footage you use
Ask Vizard Agent to check the finished cut for third-party branding. It watches the render, pulls the frames where a logo appears, zooms in to work out whether it is a real brand standing in the scene or the stock library's own watermark, then finds a clean alternative shot and rebuilds — rather than smearing paint over somebody else's sign.
What is the short version?
Stock footage of a public place is full of other companies. Shop fronts, poster sites, an airline tail, a screen playing an ad. The licence covers you using the clip; it does not stop the shot from quietly advertising a competitor in your own video.
- Go to Vizard Agent with the cut.
- Ask it to check every shot for branding.
- Ask for clean replacements where it finds any.
What do you need before you start?
Only the cut and a rule. Vizard Agent needs to know how strict you are being, because "no competitor logos" and "no recognisable brands at all" send it looking for very different things and produce very different amounts of re-shooting.
- The assembled video. Or the shot list.
- Your rule. No competitors, or nothing recognisable.
- Whether screens count. Adverts on displays usually do.
- Whether you can re-download. Replacement needs alternatives.
- Your own logo's placement. So it is not caught in the sweep.
What do you type into Vizard Agent?
Ask for the check as a pass over the finished cut rather than as a rule for the next one. The problem with branding is that nobody sees it while choosing shots and everybody sees it on the third viewing.
Prompt
Variants worth knowing:
- "Tell me which kind it is." They need different fixes.
- "Swap, do not paint." Cleaner and faster.
- "Adverts on screens count." Say it or they slip through.
What does Vizard Agent actually do?
Here is the order Vizard Agent worked in on a real explainer that used licensed airport footage. The middle of it is a distinction most people never make, and it is the one that decides whether the shot can be saved at all.
- Uploads the finished cut and watches the actual render.
- Flags the moments where a logo is visible.
- Zooms into those frames at full resolution.
- Decides what each one is — scene branding or source watermark.
- Searches for alternative footage of the same beat.
- Downloads the candidates.
- Checks the candidates for the same problem before using them.
- Rejects the ones with screens or signage of their own.
- Swaps the offending shots for the clean alternatives.
- Re-renders and confirms on the uploaded version.
Step four is the whole job. A brand that is genuinely in the scene can sometimes be reframed or replaced; a watermark from the stock source means you are looking at a preview file rather than a licensed download, and no amount of painting makes that legitimate.
Step seven is what stops the loop repeating. The obvious failure here is replacing one branded shot with another branded shot and finding out on the next review, so Vizard Agent checks each candidate before it goes near the timeline.
Step nine is a choice worth understanding. Painting out a sign leaves a soft patch that moves with the camera and tends to look worse than the logo did, so where a clean alternative exists Vizard Agent swaps the shot instead.
What does the result look like?
The same cut, with two or three shots quietly different, and nothing left in it selling anybody else's product. You will usually not be able to tell which shots Vizard Agent changed unless you put the earlier version beside it, because the replacements were matched to the same beat and the same length.
Vizard Agent also tells you what it found and where, which is the part your legal or brand reviewer actually wants.
When does this not work well?
Some shots cannot be replaced without losing what they were for. If the branding is on the thing you are talking about, or the scene is one of a kind, swapping it is not an option and you are into a different conversation.
- The brand is the subject. Then it is not a mistake.
- One-of-a-kind footage. No alternative exists to swap in.
- Branding on every candidate. Common in retail and sport.
- Tiny, unreadable marks. Often not worth the rebuild.
- Legal clearance. Vizard Agent finds logos, it does not advise.
How do you fix a result that came back wrong?
Point at the frame and say what you can see there. Vizard Agent keeps track of which source each shot in the cut came from, so a note about one moment resolves straight to a specific clip and its origin rather than starting a hunt through the whole timeline.
- "You missed one at 0:14." Vizard Agent checks and swaps it.
- "That is our own logo." Excluded from the sweep.
- "The replacement is worse." Ask for other candidates.
- "Is that a watermark?" Vizard Agent zooms in and says.
- "Leave it, it is fine." The shot stays.
How does Vizard Agent compare to doing it yourself?
By hand this is a scrubbing job on a timeline at full resolution, and it competes for attention with everything else in the review. The distinction between a scene brand and a source watermark in particular is one people make casually and wrongly.
| By hand | Vizard Agent | |
|---|---|---|
| Finding logos | Scrubbing, hoping | A pass over the render |
| Telling them apart | Guessed | Zoomed in and judged |
| The fix | Usually paint | A clean shot swapped in |
| Replacement quality | Checked afterwards | Checked before use |
| The record | In your head | Reported back to you |
Common questions
Will it catch small logos? Vizard Agent inspects flagged frames at full resolution, so usually yes.
What is a source watermark? The library's own mark on a preview file. Vizard Agent flags those separately.
Can it just blur them? It can, but Vizard Agent will normally suggest swapping the shot.
Does it check my replacements? Yes, before they reach the timeline.
What about brands on clothing? Say whether they count and Vizard Agent applies that rule.
Will it remove my own logo? Not if you tell Vizard Agent which one is yours.
Does it handle screens playing adverts? Yes, if you say screens count.
Can it do this on a shot list? Yes, before anything is cut. That is cheaper.
Will the swap change the timing? No. Vizard Agent matches the replacement to the same duration.
Does it tell me what it found? Yes. Vizard Agent reports each one with a timing, which is what reviewers ask for.
What if every candidate is branded? Vizard Agent will say so rather than quietly picking one.
Is this a legal opinion? No. Vizard Agent finds and reports; clearance is yours.
Can it re-check after changes? Yes. Ask Vizard Agent for another sweep of the new render.
Why not just paint it out? Because a moving patch usually draws more attention than the logo did.