Effects list

In CaseGuard Studio, you can choose from dozens of preset effects that let you transform the look and feel of your redaction.

CaseGuard’s effects have intuitive sliders that allow you to easily set your redaction to your liking.

Shapes overview

To get started, make sure you’re working in one of the three redaction modes (Manual Redaction, Object Tracking, Automatic Detection) on your video or image file.

To choose the shape, select the shape from the dropdown in the Tool Properties Panel. Within CaseGuard, five shapes are available:

  1. Rectangle
  2. Triangle
  3. Circle
  4. Ellipse
  5. Diamond

CaseGuard Select shape with effect

Optionally, you can set the effect options. Click the inverted arrow next to the effect buttons to view additional options for each tool.

Effects overview

Blur Effect

The Blur tool blurs hard edges in an image. It makes it easy to blur the image or the video of a given object.

Rectangle Shape

CaseGuard Blur Faces Effect
CaseGuard Faces Redaction Original
CaseGuard Blur Faces LightCaseGuard Blur Faces Level Light
CaseGuard Blur Faces 
CaseGuard Blur Faces Level Strong

Circle Shape

CaseGuard Blur Faces Effect
CaseGuard Faces Redaction Original
CaseGuard Blur Faces 
CaseGuard Blur Faces Level Strong

Ellipse Shape

CaseGuard Blur Faces Effect
CaseGuard Faces Redaction Original
CaseGuard Blur Faces 
CaseGuard Blur Faces Level Strong

Pixelate Effect

CaseGuard Pixelate Faces Effect

Add pixel division of a given object.

CaseGuard Faces Redaction Original
CaseGuard Pixelate Faces LightCaseGuard Pixelate Faces Level Light
CaseGuard Pixelate Faces 
CaseGuard Pixelate Faces Level Strong

Sharpen Effect

CaseGuard Sharpen Faces Effect

Sharpen – Pixel improvement of a given object.

CaseGuard Faces Redaction Original
CaseGuard Sharpen Faces LightCaseGuard Sharpen Faces Level Light
CaseGuard Sharpen Faces 
CaseGuard Sharpen Faces Level Strong

Contrast Effect

CaseGuard Contrast Faces Effect

Contrast – Change in the brightness of different colors of a single or series of objects or persons.

CaseGuard Faces Redaction Original
CaseGuard Contrast Faces LightCaseGuard Contrast Faces Level Light
CaseGuard Contrast Faces 
CaseGuard Contrast Faces Level Strong

Magnifier Effect

CaseGuard Magnifier Faces Effect

Magnifier – Enhancement of selected imagery, providing a “closer” view of a person, object, or activity under review.

CaseGuard Faces Redaction Original
CaseGuard Magnifier Faces LightCaseGuard Magnifier Faces Level Light
CaseGuard Magnifier Faces 
CaseGuard Magnifier Faces Level Strong

Rotate Effect

CaseGuard Rotate Effect

Rotate – Allows for the rotation of a selected segment within the video.

CaseGuard Faces Redaction Original
CaseGuard Rotate 90CaseGuard Rotate 90
CaseGuard Rotate 180
CaseGuard Rotate 180

Flip Horizontally Effect

CaseGuard Flip Horizontally Effect

Flip Horizontally – Allows for a selected segment within the video to be flipped upside down.

CaseGuard Faces Redaction Original
CaseGuard Flip Horizontally

Flip Vertically Effect

CaseGuard Flip Horizontally Effect

Flip Vertically – Allows for a selected segment within the video to be swapped in the opposite direction.

CaseGuard Faces Redaction Original
CaseGuard Flip Vertically

Empty Effect

CaseGuard Empty Effect

Empty – Provides for a hallowed shape to surround a given person or object.

CaseGuard Faces Redaction Original
CaseGuard Empty

Filled Effect

CaseGuard Filled Effect

Filled – Provides a shape that has been colored in full, typically to redact an object or person.  Color selection can be made in the Border & Fill Properties column.

CaseGuard Faces Redaction Original
CaseGuard Filled

Text Effect

CaseGuard Text Effect

Text – Provides a box that you can type into to mark case numbers, dates, suspect information, etc.

CaseGuard Faces Redaction Original
CaseGuard Text

Gray Scale Effect

CaseGuard Gray Scale Effect

Gray Scale – Provides gray scale of the selected area within frame.

CaseGuard Faces Redaction Original
CaseGuard Gray Scale

Invert Colors Effect

CaseGuard Invert Colors Effect

Invert Colors – Inverts the given colors of the selected area within frame.

CaseGuard Faces Redaction Original
CaseGuard Invert Colors

Dilate Effect

CaseGuard Dilate Effect

Dilate – Provides a “bleaching” effect within the selected area of all colors.

CaseGuard Faces Redaction Original
CaseGuard Dilate LightCaseGuard Dilate Level Light
CaseGuard Dilate StrongCaseGuard Dilate Level Strong

Erode Effect

CaseGuard Erode Effect

Erode – Provides a darkening effect within the select area of all colors.

CaseGuard Faces Redaction Original
CaseGuard Erode LightCaseGuard Erode Level Light
CaseGuard Erode StrongCaseGuard Erode Level Strong

Color Correction Effect

CaseGuard Color Correction Effect

Color Correction – Provides automated and minor color correction.  Many people refer to this correction as a “softening” of the colors within the selected area.

CaseGuard Faces Redaction Original
CaseGuard Color Correction LightCaseGuard Color Correction Level Light
CaseGuard Color Correction StrongCaseGuard Color Correction Level Strong

Color Equalizer Effect

CaseGuard Color Equalizer Effect

Color Equalizer – Provides an equalization of the various pixels in the selected area.  This is used routinely with video from low-light/no-light environments, where it’s harder to establish objects and activities through traditional video review.

CaseGuard Faces Redaction Original
CaseGuard Color Equalizer Light

Add Color Effect

CaseGuard Add Color Effect

Add Color – This is used to add more color from the RGB scale in the selected area.

CaseGuard Faces Redaction Original
CaseGuard Add ColorCaseGuard Add Color
CaseGuard Add ColorCaseGuard Add Color

Subtract Color Effect

CaseGuard Subtract Color Effect

Subtract Color – This is used to remove color from the RGB scale in the selected area.

CaseGuard Faces Redaction Original
CaseGuard Subtract ColorCaseGuard Subtract Color
CaseGuard Subtract ColorCaseGuard Subtract Color

Remaining Color Effect

CaseGuard Remaining Color Effect

Remaining Color – This is used to produce solid coloring around dense objects, to establish their full pattern within the selected area.  This enhancement uses a concept whereby it evaluates the selected area on the RGB scale and decides of the values of the colors present, and then provides a sliding scale for each color for you to adjust until you achieve the desired effect.

CaseGuard Faces Redaction Original
CaseGuard Remaining ColorCaseGuard Remaining Color
CaseGuard Remaining ColorCaseGuard Remaining Color

Gaussian Blur Effect

CaseGuard Gaussian Blur Effect

Gaussian Blur – A blurring effect that emphasizes image noise and detail reductions within a selected area.

CaseGuard Faces Redaction Original
CaseGuard Gaussian BlurCaseGuard Gaussian Blur
CaseGuard Gaussian ColorCaseGuard Gaussian Blur

Median Blur Effect

CaseGuard Median Blur Effect

Median Blur – A blurring effect that removes fine edges, and very dark portions of a given color scheme within a selected area.

CaseGuard Faces Redaction Original
CaseGuard Median BlurCaseGuard Median Blur
CaseGuard Median ColorCaseGuard Median Blur

Emboss Effect

CaseGuard Emboss Effect

Emboss – An effect that provides a “stamping” effect, while also using Gray Scale to enhance fine line detail in the selected area.

CaseGuard Faces Redaction Original
CaseGuard Emboss

Edge Effect

CaseGuard Edge Effect

Edge – An effect that uses Black Scale to distort imagery.  This is a tool routinely used in redaction operations.

CaseGuard Faces Redaction Original
CaseGuard EdgeCaseGuard Edge

Canny Effect

CaseGuard Canny Effect

Canny – An effect that identifies all edges within a selected area. This effect has an X and Y axis tool that populates to the right of the Effect column, that can be used to eliminate edge noise in the selected area so that you can focus on the specific items you need to highlight with enhancement work.

CaseGuard Faces Redaction Original
CaseGuard Canny StrongCaseGuard Canny Strong Level
CaseGuard Canny LightCaseGuard Canny Light Level

Adaptive Equalizer Effect

CaseGuard Adaptive Equalizer Effect
CaseGuard Faces Redaction Original
CaseGuard Adaptive Equalizer LightCaseGuard Adaptive Equalizer Light Level
CaseGuard Adaptive Equalizer StrongCaseGuard Adaptive Equalizer Strong Level

Enhance Details Effect

CaseGuard Enhance Details Effect
CaseGuard Faces Redaction Original
CaseGuard Enhance Details LightCaseGuard Enhance Details Light Level
CaseGuard Enhance Details StrongCaseGuard Enhance Details Strong Level

Automatic Detection

Automatic method detection

The method provides the type of Automatic Detection you would like to employ.  They are:

Exact Matching

Exact Matching – Follows the pattern of the imagery you have selected within the given area, and follows that imagery throughout the frame to apply the selected effect.

Image Analysis

Image Analysis – Follows the exact imagery, frame for frame.  This is best used in the video where movement is static.

Zoom Analysis

Zoom Analysis – Searches for matching points within the selected area, and uses those points to confirm the presence of the object or person being highlighted.

The last prompt in this column is Memory and is a numerical value-based prompt, that relates to using previous frames to search for objects or persons in future frames.

This prompt can hold up to ten frames in memory, and compare those to each frame moving forward in the video, as you enhance and redact people and objects.  Keep in mind that the frames held in memory will remove themselves at a ratio of one to one, as you move forward in the video.

To the right of the Effect column, customization tools for each effect will populate as you select them.  The set of customization tools for each effect differ from one another.

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