How to make a video that follows strict rules about what may be shown

Last updated 2026-08-31 · 8 min read

What is the short version?

Plenty of audiences have rules about imagery — a religious community, a children's channel, a regulated industry, a brand with a written content policy. The mistake is treating those rules as a review step at the end. They belong in the search.

1. Go to Vizard Agent and upload the recording.
2. Write the prohibitions: what must never appear, in plain terms.
3. Write the permissions: the imagery that does qualify.

What do you need before you start?

The rules, written out, and examples of both kinds. Vizard Agent screens candidate footage against what you supply, so a list that says only what is forbidden gives it far less to work with than one that also names what is acceptable.

• The recording. A talk, a lesson, a message.
• The prohibitions. Specific, not implied.
• The permissions. What counts as acceptable imagery.
• A style reference. A channel or a film that gets it right.
• The language. Including which way its script runs.

What do you type into Vizard Agent?

Write the rules as rules. Vizard Agent applies them to every search and every review pass, so a flat list of prohibitions and a flat list of acceptable subjects is worth more than a paragraph of description about the audience.

Prompt

Variants worth knowing:

• Name a reference channel. It carries the rules implicitly.
• Say "only". A permission list is stronger than a ban list.
• State the subtitle language. Direction and wrapping follow from it.

What does Vizard Agent actually do?

Here is the order Vizard Agent worked in on a real lesson cut for a community with explicit imagery rules. The rules shape steps six through nine: every stock search is run against them, and each returned clip is reviewed before it is downloaded rather than after.

1. Reads the project history to see what has already been produced.
2. Researches the reference channel's style to understand its editing conventions.
3. Analyses the recording and extracts frames to see the speaker's setup.
4. Generates a word-timed transcript in the recording's own language.
5. Checks which fonts are installed that support that script, and downloads a suitable one.
6. Runs concurrent stock searches for compliant B-roll only.
7. Runs further searches for the specific permitted subjects.
8. Reads the search results and selects against the rules.
9. Downloads the approved clips in parallel and organises them by name.
10. Searches the music library for a suitable instrumental bed.
11. Generates the subtitles, points them at the correct font, and compiles the cut.
12. Extracts frames across the finished video and reviews the layout.
13. Re-renders with corrected overlay timings and reviews again.
14. Adjusts the music level, re-wraps the subtitle lines to fit the frame, and re-renders.

Steps six to nine are the whole discipline. Vizard Agent never searches for generic footage and then filters it — the constraint goes into the query, which is why the clips that come back are usable.

What does the result look like?

The lesson this page is written from measured 1920x1080, H.264, roughly 30fps and ran 624 seconds — about ten minutes of source material for a short vertical cut. Two finished videos were produced from it across the course of the session.

Every B-roll clip in the finished piece was chosen against the stated rules; the subtitles were wrapped to a fixed character count so no line ran off the frame, and the music level was adjusted twice on the client's ear rather than left at a default.

When does this not work well?

Content rules constrain what the stock libraries can supply, and sometimes they constrain it to nothing. Vizard Agent reports an empty search rather than relaxing your rule to fill the gap, which is the behaviour you want but does mean some briefs come back short.

• Very narrow permission lists. The library may hold nothing.
• Rules you have not written down. It cannot infer them.
• Judgement calls. Dignified is your definition, not a setting.
• Generated imagery. Needs reviewing against the rules too.
• Final approval is yours. Especially where the rules are communal.

How do you fix a result that came back wrong?

Point at the shot and say which rule it breaks. Vizard Agent keeps the searches, the reviewed candidates and the render script, so a non-compliant clip is replaced from the approved set without the whole edit being rebuilt.

• "That shot breaks the rule." Replaced from the approved candidates.
• "The music is too quiet." Re-mixed at a stated level.
• "Subtitles run off screen." Re-wrapped to fit the frame.

How does Vizard Agent compare to doing it yourself?

By hand this means searching stock libraries whose filters do not understand your rules, rejecting most of what comes back, and then re-checking the finished cut frame by frame because one clip slipped through. Vizard Agent puts the constraint in the query and reviews before downloading.

Common questions

How specific should the rules be? Very. Vizard Agent applies exactly what you write, so "no other religious symbols" beats "keep it respectful".

Should I say what is allowed? Yes, and it helps more than the bans. Vizard Agent searches for permitted subjects directly.

Does it check generated imagery too? Yes. Vizard Agent reviews generated frames against the same rules before using them.

What if nothing compliant exists? It tells you. Vizard Agent reports the empty search rather than substituting something close.

Can it match a reference channel? Yes. Vizard Agent researches the channel's editing conventions and works to them.

What about subtitles in another script? Handled. Vizard Agent checks which installed fonts support the script and fetches one if needed.

Will the subtitles fit? They are wrapped to a fixed width. Vizard Agent sets a maximum characters-per-line so nothing runs off frame.

Can it use my own footage only? Yes. Vizard Agent skips the stock libraries entirely if you say so.

How is the music chosen? Against the same brief. Vizard Agent searches for the instrumentation you specify rather than anything with a beat.

Can I set the music level? Yes, precisely. Vizard Agent takes a level and re-renders rather than approximating it.

Do I still need to approve it? Always, and particularly here. Vizard Agent applies the rules you wrote, but whether a shot is appropriate for your community is a judgement only your community makes.

Does this only apply to religious content? Not at all. Vizard Agent handles brand safety lists, children's content standards and regulated-industry restrictions the same way.

Can it produce more than one cut? Yes. Vizard Agent reuses the approved footage set for further videos rather than searching again.