Permanent overlay of text, timecode, or graphics directly into footage — standard for screening copies and rough cuts. Cannot be removed in post.
You burn text or timecode directly into the footage when you want to ensure it remains visible in every copy, every export, on every device — no matter who handles the file later. This is the most fundamental definition: a permanent, inseparable overlay. Unlike overlays that you can flexibly toggle on and off in the timeline, burning-in is physically written into the pixel material. There's no going back after that.
The practical application usually works like this: You export a rough cut version for the director or producer and want to make sure they know this is NOT a final master. So, you burn a red timecode into the bottom right corner — or in an extreme case, a watermark text like "ROUGH CUT — NOT FOR RELEASE." The same applies to screening copies: studio previews, festivals, international distribution versions — here, a logo, the language, or a designation is often burned in. There's a historical reason for this: in the analog era, this was the only method to permanently secure information. Today, we do it for documentation and protection reasons.
On set, you typically work in compositing software like After Effects, DaVinci, or even directly in the NLE. You place a text layer over the entire footage, convert it to "Merged Layers" or "Flatten Video" — and then re-export. Important: The source material remains untouched in the archives; only the export version has the burned-in content. A common mistake is to burn it in too late — after color grading, for example — because the VFX then become doubly visible or clash with the color processing.
A practical tip: Use scaling and opacity consciously. An overly aggressive burned-in timecode can make scenes illegible, a too-faint logo will be overlooked in cinemas. And remember: once burned, it's gone. If the director later says "Please remove the timecode," you'll have to re-export from the original file from scratch. Therefore, burning-in is the last step before the final export — or you can put the information into the metadata label instead of the image, if the situation allows.