Top 8 Video Annotation Tools to Enhance Your Visual Data

Whether you are working on computer vision projects or dealing with machine learning systems, AI video annotation tools are part of the standard practice.

Video annotation tools, as their name suggests, are specialized tools that help users add additional info to a video. This addition of information is known as ‘annotation’, and users can annotate a video either during the recording session or before/after they have recorded the video.

The right video annotation tools can empower you to annotate your video in minutes. They contribute a great deal to improving the algorithm by giving it more context. Besides that, they increase the efficiency of visual learning.

If done correctly, annotating a video can boost engagement by making your videos more interactive and smartly segmenting them so one can retrieve them without wasting any time.

Moreover, annotating your videos, i.e., adding visual cues like captions, notes, etc., to your videos can enrich your audience’s viewing experience. While numerous video annotation tools are available in the market today, not all of them are as capable as they claim to be.

In this article, we have curated some of the top video annotation tools to enhance your visual data and eliminate any confusion. Read on to find out.

What Is a Video Annotation Tool?

Video annotation is the process where a user labels or tags video clips to make it possible to train computer vision models or detect objects. As mentioned earlier, video annotation tools are tools that help annotators annotate a video with ease.

Proper annotation on videos can give birth to an accurate reference database. With such a database at their disposal, AI-powered systems will be capable of identifying objects like cars, humans, animals, etc., way more quickly and precisely.

Key Features to Look Out for a While Choosing a Video Annotation Tool

Before choosing a video annotation tool, you should ensure the presence of these must-have features:

#1. Multiple Annotation Types

Your video annotation tool should support various annotation types, such as bounding boxes, semantic segmentation, rapid annotation, polygon annotation, key point annotation, etc.

#2. User-Friendly UI and Ease of Access

The tool should have a simplistic, intuitive UI that is easy to navigate. If users have to spend ages getting familiar with a tool, it isn’t the one.

#3. Easy Sharing

A good video annotation tool must allow users to share their videos with their team and make timestamped notes on them in real-time. This ensures each team member stays on the same page and produces the best possible result.

#4. Integration

The tool should easily integrate with other platforms and tools. This lets the software go beyond its limits and increase its efficiency.

#5. Dynamic Classifications

An ideal video annotation tool should let you categorize frames and events. Such action-based or event-based classifications help annotators describe what an object is doing over a set number of frames.

Now that you are aware of a few things about video annotation tools and what to look for while choosing one let’s see some of the best options among them:

VEED

VEED’s online video editor can be your ideal choice if you are looking for an easy way to annotate your videos, and that too online, without creating any account.

Its easy-to-use video editor lets annotators draw and add text, circles, progress bars, arrows, and more within a few minutes.

It even lets you add images to your videos. Besides annotations, VEED’s online video editor empowers users to add subtitles, BGMs, translations, etc., to their videos as well.

Being a web-based tool, you don’t need to download VEED on your device. Simply access VEED from your preferred web browser and begin annotating. The tool supports numerous video platforms, such as .mp4, .avi, .mpeg, etc.

Moreover, this video editor is compatible with PC (Windows, Linux, macOS, etc.) and mobile platforms. All you need is a stable internet connection, and you are ready to roll anytime, anywhere.

VEED’s online video editor has a free plan for short, quick, and one-off projects. For more features, you can purchase their paid plans starting at 18 USD/user/month.

Adobe Premiere Pro

Adobe Premiere Pro is a great tool for automatically adding captions to your videos. It helps users reach a wider audience by enhancing accessibility and boosting engagement.

Adobe Premiere Pro utilizes voice recognition to generate captions. These captions are fully customizable. Hence, you can alter them at will.

Using its voice-to-text technology to recognize speech, Premiere Pro transcribes audio in your video files in an instant. Its AI-backed speech recognition algorithm can accurately transcribe 14 different languages.

After necessary changes (if needed), you can create captions from that transcript with a single click. Besides, you can stylize your captions by adjusting fonts, selecting colours, and more.

At present, Adobe Premiere Pro offers premium plans starting at 20.99 USD/month. However, for uncertain customers, they offer a 7-day free trial before purchasing.

Flixier

Flixier lets annotators write on videos with ease directly from their browsers. They can draw on their videos and add text, motion titles, images, shapes, and whatnot using Flixier’s video annotation tool.

As Flixier is incredibly intuitive and minimal, even individuals with zero video editing experience can get the hang of the web-based tool after a while. The precise annotation on videos makes sure that user engagement increases, and you can convey info to your viewers with more efficacy.

Interestingly, Flixier gives users the freedom to pick from a plethora of brushes, fonts, and customizable shapes. Users can add their own fonts too. If the video you wish to annotate is already uploaded on YouTube, you can import it to Flixier by simply copy-pasting its link.

Plus, it supports all major video formats, including .mp4, .avi, .mkv, etc. Currently, Flixier is available to all users for free.

Labelbox

Labelbox is an easy way to annotate a video for machine learning systems. Labelbox’s video editor allows you to label entire videos or particular frames. The annotation tool has everything necessary – polylines, bounding boxes, segmentation masks, and more.

Its video segmentation tool is ideal for precisely annotating objects in a video. Plus, you can copy-paste masks across frames for a precise, hassle-free AI development workflow that saves time.

Also, Labelbox’s automation features make labeling an effortless process. Besides, you can add texts, images, overlays, custom HTML widgets, etc.

At the time of publication, Labelbox offers a free plan with limited features. For advanced needs, they offer various paid plans based on your uploading and usage.

VGG Image Annotator (VIA)

VGG Image Annotator is a manual, open-source annotation tool that can assist you in your video annotation needs. As it is a web tool, users don’t need to install or configure any software.

Interestingly, the entire VGG Image Annotator tool comes as an HTML page that is not even 400 KB. Plus, it works offline in almost all major browsers.

Using VIA, you can easily annotate your videos in minutes. For your info, Visual Geometry Group (VGG) – the developers of the VIA tool – released it under the BSD-2 clause license. Thus, you can utilize its annotation tool for academic and commercial projects.

Presently, you can access VGG Image Annotator without spending a penny.

MarkUp.io

MarkUp.io allows you to comment on your videos as if it’s a cakewalk. It lets you drop comments on your video content and share it for review. The immediate visual feedback is perfect for avoiding noise and saving time.

MarkUp.io’s feedback tool decreases the likelihood of review loops by 80%. This empowers your team to focus more and bring their A-game every time.

No matter whether you are just starting and adding the finishing touches to a build, MarkUp.io makes feedback and collaboration a simple, straightforward process. Also, it has a Chrome extension that lets users launch MarkUp.io directly from their Chrome browsers.

At present, MarkUp.io has a free plan with limited features. If you want more features, you can buy their paid plans starting at 59 USD/month.

Deepen AI

Deepen AI’s video annotation tool is a smart way to annotate a video for producing top-notch training data. From bounding boxes to polylines to semantic segmentation to scenario labeling – Deepen AI supports every unique case you can think of.

This video annotation tool ensures the highest standard by verifying the labeled data quality.

Plus, it lets users assign and manage multiple team members on a single platform. Besides, one can easily track and monitor how the annotation work is going on and how your workforce performs in real-time.

If you want to get a quote, feel free to reach them via email or phone call. You can also utilize the contact form provided on their website, and they will reply within two working days.

Filestage

Filestage is a multipurpose video review and collaboration tool that lets users share their videos and gather feedback with automated timestamps. The automated timecode capture makes jumping to a specific frame easier by simply clicking on a comment.

By annotating directly on top of videos, you can make feedback clearer and more precise. Reviewers can track each approval and change request in real-time with just one click.

Needless to say, this saves a lot of time and hassle and makes the whole process effortless. Keep sharing new versions until you get approval to produce the best outcome possible.

Filestage offers a free trial, after which you can opt for their premium plans starting at 24 USD/seat/month.

Final Words

To conclude, there are numerous video annotation tools out there nowadays. Here, we carefully assessed and curated top video annotation tools to enhance your visual data. These tools include both free and paid options.

Make sure you refer to our article before opting for your ideal tool. Consider the features, efficiency, and everything else, and only then go for a particular tool. Choosing the right video annotation tool is essential, as it can make or break your video. And as you already know, proper annotation is a surefire way to boost engagement and give your audience a better viewing experience. So, good luck!

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