How to Add a Spotlight Effect to a Product Video

Step by step

1. 1

   Pick how you want to point

   Spotlight Tour dims the screen and moves a circle between stops, which suits a dashboard walkthrough. Hotspots suits a product shot with several features to name. Magnifier suits one small detail such as a line of fine print. Before / After draws a moving divider and labels, with your two clips underneath in the editor.

2. 2

   Enter stops as percentages

   Points takes x and y percentages in pairs, so 22, 18 means 22 percent across and 18 percent down. Add one pair per stop and one entry per stop in Labels. On Spotlight Tour, Intensity sets how dark the dim layer gets and Primary sets its color. Thickness changes the ring, and Corner radius rounds the label chips.

3. 3

   Work from a locked-off shot

   The points do not track anything, so these suit a still image, screen recording or locked-off shot. Pause your footage to read each feature's position before you type it. Spotlight Tour defaults to 10 seconds and the others to 7.5. Add Duration for extra stops, and re-enter Points after changing aspect ratio.

4. 4

   Keep the footage visible

   All five presets start transparent, because your footage has to show through them. MP4 has no alpha, so it would hide everything underneath. Use a PNG sequence for Premiere Pro or After Effects. Use WebM with alpha for CapCut, OBS, or DaVinci Resolve on most systems, and for web pages.

5. 5

   Match the overlay to your clip

   In Premiere Pro, choose File > Import, select the first frame, tick Image Sequence and drag the clip above your screen recording, starting on the sentence that names the first feature. In CapCut, add the WebM as an overlay and stretch it to the full canvas so the percentages line up with your footage.

Where it is used

• Software onboarding clips

  A product team records one still dashboard, then runs Spotlight Tour across search, filters and export, so a new user sees where each control sits while the narrator names it.

• Hardware launch shots

  A headphone or camera launch places Hotspots over a clean product photo, with chips popping in one by one to name each feature as the voiceover reaches it.

• Consumer reporting

  A consumer affairs video runs Magnifier over a photographed contract or receipt, moving the lens to the clause in question with a caption such as Hidden fee above it.

Presets

5

Default length

7.5 to 10 seconds

Best export

PNG sequence or WebM with alpha

Aspect ratios

16:9, 9:16, 1:1, 4:5

Which format should you export?

MP4 at full frame when the comparison is the shot; transparent WebM when the spotlight or wipe handle sits over your own footage.

Format

MP4 · WebM · PNG sequence

Alpha

WebM or PNG sequence

Resolution

720p to 8K

Aspect

16:9 · 9:16 · 1:1 · 4:5

License

Commercial use included

Three tips that make it look intentional

• Keep the two states identical apart from the change you are showing.
• Let the wipe stop in the middle for a beat before completing it.
• Label both sides so the comparison survives being screenshotted.

Three things people get wrong

• Wiping between two images that were not shot from the same position, which compares the camera move rather than the change.
• Moving the divider quickly. A before and after wants a slow, steady pass.
• Labelling neither side, so the viewer has to guess which one is the improvement.

Frequently asked