How to put your own name strip over the one already burnt into the footage

Last updated 2026-09-10 · 8 min read

What is the short version?

Clipping an episode means inheriting the show's own lower third. Covering it with your nameplate is the obvious move, and the obvious mistake is sizing that nameplate to look good rather than to cover what is actually there.

1. Go to Vizard Agent with the clips.
2. Say the source has its own name tag along the bottom.
3. Ask it to size the cover by measurement.

What do you need before you start?

The clips and a look at the bottom of the frame. Vizard Agent finds the graphic itself, but it helps to know whether the tag appears throughout or only in some shots, because a cover that is on screen the whole time when the tag is not draws attention to itself.

• The clips. As cut, before dressing.
• Where the source graphic sits. Usually along the bottom.
• When it appears. Throughout, or in some shots.
• What your nameplate says. Its size follows its content.
• The format. A vertical crop moves the graphic.

What do you type into Vizard Agent?

Tell Vizard Agent what is underneath, not just what you want sitting on top of it. Asked for a nameplate you will simply get a nameplate; told there is an existing graphic that has to be covered, Vizard Agent measures the thing first and designs to that measurement second.

Prompt

Variants worth knowing:

• "Its true extent." Not what it looks like.
• "Including the soft edge." Where it usually fails.
• "The brightness just above." The second problem.

What does Vizard Agent actually do?

Here is the sequence on a real batch of five vertical clips cut from one episode. The nameplate went on early and the last dozen steps are all about whether it actually covers what it is supposed to.

1. Finds where the show's name tag appears across the clips.
2. Measures the on-screen tag at full resolution.
3. Scans the keep area for any other burnt-in graphics.
4. Places the nameplate over it.
5. Verifies the cover on rendered frames.
6. Checks the bottom of the frame specifically.
7. Measures the graphic's true extent when something shows.
8. Looks closely at the graphic's edge.
9. Isolates the leftover and identifies its shape.
10. Fixes the cover and re-checks.
11. Measures brightness right above the nameplate.
12. Confirms the text reads against that strip.

Step seven is the step that ends the loop. A graphic's visible box and its actual extent are different things — there is usually a gradient, a shadow or an anti-aliased edge beyond what you would draw a rectangle around — and a cover sized to the visible box leaves a line.

Step eleven is a different problem that appears once the first is solved. Your nameplate now sits against whatever is directly above it, and if that is a bright part of the picture the top edge of your own text stops reading, so Vizard Agent measures rather than assuming.

Step three is worth asking for while it is looking. A source that has one burnt-in graphic usually has others — a handle, a topic bar, a timestamp — and finding them in the same pass is much cheaper than finding them one at a time across five clips.

What does the result look like?

Clips that look like yours rather than like somebody else's episode with a sticker stuck on it. There is no sliver of the original tag along any edge, and your own text stays legible against the picture immediately above your plate.

Vizard Agent also reports the measurements it used, which saves the whole pass when the next batch comes from the same show.

When does this not work well?

Covering is not always the right answer. A tag that moves, animates in and out, or sits over something you need means a cover is either impossible or costs you the shot, and reframing to exclude it may be better.

• Animated tags. They change size as they enter.
• Tags over important picture. The cover costs you the shot.
• Semi-transparent bars. The picture behind is tinted.
• Tags that move. One placement will not hold.
• Very tall graphics. Your plate becomes the frame.

How do you fix a result that came back wrong?

Say which edge shows. Because Vizard Agent measured the graphic rather than guessing at it, a note about a line along the bottom is an adjustment to a known boundary rather than another attempt at the whole plate.

• "A line still shows below." The extent was under-measured.
• "The plate is too big now." Tightened, once the extent is known.
• "My text is hard to read." The strip above is too bright.
• "It is not there in every shot." Timed to when the tag appears.

How does Vizard Agent compare to doing it yourself?

By hand the nameplate is designed first and placed second, which means its size comes from the design rather than from the thing it has to cover. The leftover line is found on a phone, after the batch is delivered.

Common questions

Why does a sliver show? Because the graphic's real extent is larger than the box it looks like.

Can Vizard Agent find the tag itself? Yes, across all the clips, and it reports where it appears.

Should I cover it or crop it out? Cropping is cleaner when the frame allows. Vizard Agent will say.

What if the tag is animated? Then one cover will not hold; Vizard Agent will tell you that.

Will my plate look pasted on? Not if Vizard Agent designs it as your graphic rather than as a patch.

Does it check the other edges too? Yes, Vizard Agent scans the whole keep area for burnt-in graphics.

What about a semi-transparent bar? Harder, because the picture behind is tinted. Vizard Agent will flag it.

Can it time the plate to the tag? Yes. Vizard Agent keeps it off screen when there is nothing to cover.

Will the same measurement work next time? Usually, for the same show. Vizard Agent reports it so you can reuse it.

Does it affect my captions? They sit above the plate; Vizard Agent checks for collisions.

What if the tag moves in a vertical crop? The crop changes where it sits, so Vizard Agent measures it again.

Can it match my brand? Yes, though Vizard Agent still holds legibility against what sits above it.

Does this work on a batch? Yes, and having Vizard Agent do all five at once is rather the point.

Why did mine look fine in the edit? Because a one-pixel edge is invisible until somebody watches on a phone.