Massive Video-watermarking project - Anyone got some ideas?

Here is my situation:

As a project at work, I have had to encode all 160 hours of our three IT-training classes into quicktime format. These video files are not actual live video; but rather a series of powerpoint slides along with screen-recorded demonstrations on a computer screen, all accompanied by voice lecture.

I was able to convert these classes into quicktime video format, with very high-quality and adequate compression using H.264 with no problem. So I have all the master video files on my hard drive now.

PROBLEM:
Copy-protection. We want to be able to distribute the video files in quicktime format on a DVD+R but need to be able to control each copy with a serial number. The solution we came up with was to watermark a nearly-transparent serial number over all the video files, unique to every copy. That way, for each copy we sell, we record the serial number sold to the purchaser, and then if a copy of the video ever shows up online (which is already happening with our older classes) we can trace the purchaser through serial number to take legal action against them.

Re-encoding all 160 hours of video EACH TIME to create a new watermark is extremely tedious. Even with a blazing fast brand-new iMac, and three Mac Mini's all clustered together using Apple Final Cut Compressor, the process still takes nearly 5 days to make one, watermarked set of videos.

Does anyone know of a better way to do this? Perhaps either more efficient, or a completely new solution altogether that will still allow us to uniquely track every copy? We anticipate needing 300 - 500 copies made in total.

Some ideas from a curious onlooker. I only mention these ideas because you mention you distribution will be QuickTime format. If you change to a regular DVD mpeg2 production, then it is game over.

One thing that might be helpful is to fill in the annotations via QuickTime Pro. That is done via the properties window.

At the properties window I played with adding an overlay text line. The way to do this is, to place some text into the copy buffer, create a selection in the video, then use the Edit-->Add Selection & Scale. This adds a text field that will pop up in the properties. Oh and it adds length to the video, but you can fix that by highlighting the new text entry in the properties window, selecting the Visual settings tab, and clicking reset. You then set the Transparency to Blend and play with Transparency Level to your liking. I also set the layer to -1. Done.

These first two solutions isn't perfect because it doesn't watermark the image and it looks to me that anyone with the knowledge and QT Pro could just remove it. But how many people are really that knowledgeable in your target audience or would even think to look.

Perhaps another solution is to split the video up with say a 10 second start sequence separated from the remainder, encode each serial number to it, and reattach the sequences and then burn the DVD. You would need some software that could do this action and not reencode the entire sequence. If you have chapter markers, I wonder if they would stay in place.

Of course, being able to automate the above would be very helpful.

Yeah been there - but unfortunately our target audience are IT professionals, many of whom are overseas. They would easily strip the annotations and pirate the videos.

The 160 total hours are split up into files between 30 minutes to 3 hours long apiece. I would easily do this by hand for a few hundred copies if it were one or two video files; but right now an entire set comprises about 210 files in all. As you can see, doing it by hand is not going to work. I guess I am needing some way to sort of "batch-automate" the process and place a watermark over the files; but combining the two video layers into one so that enterprising pirates cannot remove the watermark.