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May 4, 2022

Top 10 Best free and paid video annotations tools

May 4, 2022

What is a video annotation tool?

Video annotation tools are text or drawing tools that help in including information, be it a text, an image, a database or any other piece of content.

10 best free video annotation tools

This post highlights the 10 best free video annotation tools. These tools are designed to enhance note editing, summarizing relevant information, and editing images and videos.

a)   Markup

Markup is a free video annotation tool. It is the perfect video annotation tool for business professionals. Yet, it is also popular in the student community especially amongst those who must edit and summarize their work. With Markup, you are at liberty to work on a plethora of things including PDF files or website content creation. Markup is easy to use, it has sufficient features on the free version and it is completely free.

b)  Clickup

Clickup permits you to edit and create most files including PDF documents and even Google Docs. Its most prominent features include commenting on documents, editing, and syncing calendars. I find Clickup very impressive because it has over 100 exclusive features. Most users also prefer Clickup because it is an annotation app that has screen-sharing options like the Zoom and Microsoft teams. Even though Clickup is free, it can be upgraded to an unlimited package.

c)   Markup Hero

This is another free annotation tool with interesting features. It doubles as an annotation and screenshot tool. The main aim of the Markup Hero app is that it improves communication and productivity. Some of its key features are screen shooting, cropping and resizing CANVA. It can easily be integrated with Chrome, Google Drive and Slack App. Just like the Clickup, the Markup Hero can also be upgraded to a pro version.

d)  Note Ledge

Note Ledge is well known for its digital notebook. The digital notebook is a way to find inspiration, and it is ideal for creating exciting mood boards.  It is highly used by content creators for similar purposes as it has a flexible workspace that allows you to arrange your content however you want. It is free and very affordable.

e)   Annotate

Within the Annotate app, you can directly draft documents. It permits collaboration with others through the writing process. A key feature of Annotate is the easy-fact checking system. With Annotate, you can paste information from other documents, after which it will provide a link to the original source, thereby making it easy to credit your references. Annotate provides a secure and private space for groups to share, discuss and bring up novel ideas for a project. Most of its functions and features are free although it can be upgraded to a paid version.

f)   Nimbus

Nimbus is an effective communication and collaboration tool in the classroom among teachers, students, and peers. It is widely described as an innovative screencast tool for instructors. Nimbus has very easy to use features and it has a free first plan. You should be rest assured that each of its options either paid or free, has enough features that you can make good use out of it.

g)   Docanno

This is a commercialized data annotation tool. Docanno’s specialty is in-text annotation and functions as a select tool for machine learning practitioners. Some of the key features on this app include text analysis, labeling and text summarization and each of these features has its own efficient output format.

h) Screenlight

With Screen light, you can easily share your work. It has the following features: video uploading, images, audio speech tools, commenting and link sharing. Screen light is a free annotation app although you can upgrade to a paid version. Also, it has tools that can be easily collaborated.

i) isahit

Isahit has developed a free SAAS labelling tool to allow teams of data scientists to initiate their computer vision projects internally and to monitor them at scale throughout the project.

j)   Zoho Annotator

Besides its affordability, Zoho Annotator allows you to add your web snapshot by using the drawing tool that comes with the software. Zoho Annotator helps you to exclude certain words or sentences that you want to keep private. Zoho Annotator allows integration with other apps such as LinkedIn and Facebook.

10 Best paid video annotation tools

a)   Adobe Pro

Adobe Pro is a popular video annotation tool. It is well known for accessing PDF documents and comments. Among the things you can do on Adobe Pro are editing, sharing, and adding virtual sticky notes. Also, you can easily convert MS Word, Excel, and PowerPoint documents into PDF and vice versa. It has many PDFS conversion options. Adobe Pro is a paid annotation tool.

b)  Filestage

Filestage is popular for online proofing (reviewing and approving) of files such as PDF, images, videos, and audios. It has important features such as commenting tools, storing all files all in one place and tracking the progress of your files. With Filestage, you can share multiple files to as many people as possible. Thus, sending feedback and approval to everyone becomes very easy. It can also be easily integrated with other essential apps such as Zoom, Google Drive and Dropbox. 

c)   PDF Annotator

If you are in search of an annotation tool that can handle all PDF documents, then the PDF Annotator is the most effective. It has features such as editing, reviewing, commenting and enhancing all PDF documents. PDF Annotator should be your number one option if you are in search of an annotation tool that allows you to highlight, write notes, add texts and images, and add signatures. I must add that you can view your edited PDFs in any PDF software. PDF Annotator comes in highly preferred because it is easy to use and it is capable of tackling many PDF purposes.

d)  Wipster

Content Creators particularly love Wipster because of its video proofing tools. With Wipster, you are able to invite an unlimited number of viewers and reviewers. You have the option to choose who views your project and how they view your project. It has an effective privacy setting. Like other video annotation tools, Wipster allows easy integration with Adobe, Vimeo, Slack and Dropbox. Some of Wipster’s prime features include fasting editing capabilities. 

e)   Dropbox

One of the main goals of Dropbox is to ease organization, and make it easy to access your documents at any time. As such, it is one of the most popular annotation tools. It can be used for personal and business-related projects. Dropbox handles cloud content, multiple web shortcuts and traditional files. An exciting feature of Dropbox is that you can access all your files at any time. You can also backup your lost files.

f)  Drawboard

Drawboard has two main tools: Drawboard PDF and Drawboard Projects. The Drawboard Projects has features that are more applicable for team work. Some of the features include editing, drawings and markups. It is believed that Drawboard Project features are helpful to those that work in the industry such as engineers and architects as they need precise details to be added to house plans and other details. The Drawboard PDF provides you with everything you need to edit and review documents with ease. Additionally, it is highly easy to navigate.

g)   Red Pen

The purpose of this app is for visual collaboration. Teams are able to share and edit files with each other. Red Pen has live comments and users are able to view comments as they appear on the page. On Red Pen, you can invite as many people as you want to review your project. Although Red Pen is paid, there is a free trial option.

h)  GoVisually

For Video Creators, Designers, Creatives and Marketing Teams, Go Visually comes highly recommended. This is because both teams (marketing and design) can work together on a project and provide timely feedback. Using this software or platform involves a quick and seamless process as there is no need for lengthy mails.

i) nTask

NTask has unique features that aids streamlining and managing resources of a project. Also, it aids in providing useful budgets and financial summaries to keep track of all figures. Its Kanban Boards is a project management visualization tool. With nTask, you can share your work with ease. Uploading videos, audio speech tools, link sharing can all be done on nTask. It has a time-coded comment which is a brilliant feature. Though it is a paid version, its first plan is totally free to use.

 j) Screenlight

It gives you the ability to easily share your work. Some of Screenlight’s share files features are uploading video, audio speech tools, images, link sharing, reviewing, and complete commenting tools. Once you have uploaded your files, Screenlight makes sure to develop preview files for you to choose from and enhance your projects. Formatting issues are a thing of the past with this collaborative tool. Screenlight places an emphasis on its simplicity and time-coded comments that can be entered alongside the video where readers do not have to wait for the comment at a later stage. Its time-coded comments are a brilliant feature that more sharing tools should offer.

k) isahit

If you want to go further in your projects, annotate larger volumes or benefit from a workforce that speaks more than 17 languages, meet isahit's team and discover their different labelling solutions !

Video annotation allows intelligent systems to recognize and identify objects, patterns, and more, based on the labeled data provided to them. 

What is video annotation for machine learning?

Video annotation for computer vision and AI learning is absolutely necessary. An instance it can be used is for training a self-driving car. From training autonomous vehicles to detecting roadblocks, pedestrians, and obstacles are good at determining poses and activities, video tagging has a role to play in training almost any vehicle model. This is perceptual AI. Machine learning and computer vision models can learn using the labeled datasets, eventually used to train the algorithms.

How does video annotation outsourcing work?

Just like image annotation, video annotation is used to build AI and machine learning models to be able to recognize real-world objects. But unlike images, its static counterpart, collecting video data can be much more complex. One way that you can ensure the quality of datasets is human-assisted data-labeling. It is always best to outsource this task to professionals who specialize in video annotation. With a human involved, practical insights can be quickly generated, leading to greater efficiency 

Types of video annotation services

1. Semantic segmentation:

If you want to develop more targeted and accurate computer vision AIs, you might consider semantic segmentation, which is about classifying images at the pixel level.

2. Polygon annotation:

This technique is best used for verticals that require a flatter approach to labeling features. It is used to annotate pipelines, roads, railways and datasets regarding road markings, lanes etc

3. Bounding boxes:

Arguably the most reliable video tagging technique, Bounding Box annotation is all about the idea of imaginary rectangles for detecting objects.

- 2D bounding boxes:

This basically involves creating rectangular boxes for object identification, categorization and labeling. When doing this, annotators need to manually draw boxes around the object in focus.

-3D bounding boxes:

This is quite similar to 2D bounding boxes. In this type of video annotation is applied to get a more realistic 3D visualization of a specific item. With 3D bounding boxes, you get more accurate results as it can also help you define the breadth, length, and depth of the object, even when it is in motion.

4. Landmark annotation:

This is often used to identify even the least visible of shapes, postures, or objects. This method involves creating dots all through an image and then linking them to create a skeleton of the object across each frame, key point, and landmark. This method is most suitable for detecting facial features, postures, face recognition, etc.

Top video labeling services

1. Isahit:

Isahit is a world class outsourcing platform with a team of expertly trained annotators for your projects, who are meticulously supervised by specialists. Isahit is perfectly able to give you the high-quality training data you need to deploy the world-class models that your business requires at scale. In addition, isahit creates a positive social impact on its community and is, as of the end of 2021, the first European ethical AI company with the B Corp.

2. V7 labs:

They are the makers of a computer vision platform that helps AI teams “automate” and ensure the future of their training data workflows as advances in AI continue. They offer a very accurate pixel-perfect image segmentation labeling tool that works on any object. Their software automates labelling, enables a high level of control of your annotation workflow, helps you spot quality issues in your data, and it also integrates easily into your workflow. 

3. Appen:

Appen is an outsourcing company that employs a human in the loop system for their video annotation processes which can cover the short-term and long-term demands of your team and your organization.

The need for high-quality video annotation for AI training and machine learning has never been greater than it is now. It is quite important that you outsource to professional firms to enable you get the best predictive and automated annotation technology with top tier data annotation and subject matter experts that will be able to deliver the data you need to get to production, and deliver it fast.

What is video annotation? 

Video annotation is a process of training the computer to recognize objects. It forms part of the wider Artificial Intelligence field of Computer Vision. It teaches the computer to imitate the perspective traits of the human eye. Video annotation may include comments, shapes or drawings placed on or over a video frame.

 

What is a video annotation tool? 

A video annotation tool is a text or drawing tool that helps you to add information to a text, an image, database, or any other piece of content. An annotation tool performs a lot of other functions. It can be applied to other formats as PowerPoint Presentation to annotate the selected content of interest. Annotating complicated and sophisticated videos with high levels of accuracy, precision, and context is the main aim of a video annotation tool. They are important because it allows you to easily define the frames per second according to your peculiar needs.

 

Top 10 video annotation tools for computer vision in 2022

There are a myriad of video annotation tools for optimal computer vision. However, the top 10 annotation tools for computer vision in 2022 are listed below. In no order they include:

  • V7: V7 is an automated annotation platform. It can automatically complete task labeling by combining image and video annotation, dataset management and autoML model. V7 enables teams to annotate, store, manage and automate their data annotation workflows in images, videos etc. The key feature of V7 is that automated annotation feature without having prior training.
  • Labelbox: Labelbox was created in 2018, but due to its efficiency, it has quickly become one of the popular data labeling tools. Labelbox is a training data platform built from three essential layers that eases the entire process including labeling, collaboration, and iteration. Labelbox enables annotation with polygons, bounding boxes and other advanced labeling tools. Amongst its many unique features, the Labelbox also has a strong labeler performance analytics.
  • Scale A1: This is a data platform that enables annotations of large volumes of 3D, sensor, image, and video data. Scale A1 is strong for autonomous driving use cases involving LIDAR and mapping.
  • Dataloop: This is known as the all in one cloud-based annotation platform. It is embedded with tools and automation for producing high-quality datasets. It can accommodate the whole AI lifecycle including annotation, model evaluation, and model improvement by utilizing the human feedback in the loop.

  • Isahit: Isahit is the first european ethical data labeling platform for AI and Data Processing, certified B Corp.

Isahit offers two options: 

Isahit lab: which is an agile and free labeling tool for data science teams to annotate internally and monitor it. 

Isahit data labeling solutions : if you want to annotate larger volumes and scale quickly, isahit takes over the customer's projects and trains its workforce on the projects. It is a special annotation service that combines customizable labeling tools, a dedicated project manager and a task force trained for your needs. Thanks to these projects, Isahit will recruit and train women worldwide, from socio-economically weak countries, to work on the projects. They will earn an additional income on average 5 times higher than their country's income, have free training and will be able to rely on a caring community present in 39 countries. 

  • SuperAnnotate: This is another data platform for annotation. It is a video annotation and an end-to-end image annotation platform that streamlines and automates computer vision workflows. With the SuperAnnotate platform, you can create high-quality training datasets for numerous computer vision tasks such as object detection, video tracking and cuboid annotation.
  • Playment: This is a fully managed platform generating training data for computer vision models. Playment is capable of supporting image and video data and offers a wide range of annotation tools such as bounding boxes, polygons, cuboids, or landmarks.
  • Supervise.ly: This is a web-based image and video annotation platform where researchers of all kinds can annotate and experiment with datasets and neutral networks.
  • Hive Data: Like Playment, this is a fully managed data annotation solution and training data for AI/ ML Models. It can support image, video, text, and 3D panoptic segmentation.
  • CVAT: CVAT stands for Computer Vision Annotation Tool. This is an open-source, web-based image, and video annotation tool for naming data for computer vision and it is mainly supported by Intel. It provides four types of annotation including boxes, polygons, points, and polylines. CVAT supports the primary tasks of supervised machine learning: image classification, image segmentation and object detection.
  • LabelMe: this is an online annotation tool created by the MIT Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory. It makes provision for dataset of digital images and annotations.

Why do these video annotation tools qualify to be the top 10 video annotation tools for computer vision in 2022?

Here are some reasons why they are considered as the top 10 video annotation tools for 2022:

The Playment for instance has a built-in advanced quality control tool and it is strong for autonomous driving teams.

With the CVAT, it is quite easy to deploy. CVAT can be installed in the local network using DOCKER, although it must be maintained as it scales.

Aside from offering free image annotation tools, the Hivedata is also considered as effective because it offers pre-trained models and offers free image annotation tools.

The Supervise.ly is also preferred among others because it has the option to draw holes within the polygon.

Lastly, among the key features of LabelMe is that it has six types of annotation, and it comes at no cost, it is totally free to use.

How to know the best video annotation tool to choose

It is imperative to have a step-by-step guide when choosing the best video annotation tool.

 

a) Know your need

Prior to choosing the best video annotation tool to suit your needs, you must have clarity. What do you seek to achieve? You must know why you are annotating your video data? You must identify if it is for a long or short-term project. Being knowledgeable of this will help you choose the appropriate video annotation tool. Hence, if it is a long-term project, it will be appropriate to purchase a studious and dedicated tool. However, if it is only for a short-term project, then probably outsourcing will be a better alternative.

 

b) Identify your selection criteria

As already mentioned, if it is for a short-term project, then outsourcing is more economical. So, when it comes to outsourcing the service, there are certain technical aspects to be taken into consideration. A video annotation tool must be chosen:

I.  Based on application

II.Based on efficiency

III.Based on formatting

IV.Based on functionality

Having said this, it is important to also consider the price, the functionality, the quality, and efficiency of an annotation tool before purchasing.

 

c) Evaluate and re-evaluate

After identifying your selection criteria, the next important thing is to thoroughly search and evaluate vendors on the market that can supply your needs. In doing so, it is important to ensure that the selected vendor provides you with flexibility and post-purchase services that will align to your specific needs.

 

 

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