# Spotlight and numbered tooltip

Edit / Edit effect / Overlays and inserts. Checked 2026-11-13.

The eye goes to one control and knows which step this is.

- Use when: Product walkthroughs and onboarding videos.
- Phrase: everything dims except the publish button, a numbered tooltip names the step, the cursor glides in and clicks
- Page: https://directorchair.ai/effect/spotlight-and-tooltip
- JSON: https://directorchair.ai/api/effect/spotlight-and-tooltip.json

## Watch out

- Three to five steps per 10 seconds, the state change shown on screen, then zoom out and reset so the loop closes. (practitioner; Director Chair field notes on motion graphics)

## Prompts

### Any chat model

```
Give me an edit brief: where it goes on the timeline, the exact settings, and what to check before export, for a short video about [your product], for [your audience]. The technique is spotlight and numbered tooltip: the eye goes to one control and knows which step this is. How it works: everything dims except the publish button, a numbered tooltip names the step, the cursor glides in and clicks. It is right for: product walkthroughs and onboarding videos. Three to five steps per 10 seconds, the state change shown on screen, then zoom out and reset so the loop closes. Be concrete: numbers, seconds and settings, no theory. Ask me one question first if something you need is missing.
```

## Goes well with

- Product walkthrough: https://directorchair.ai/preset/preset-product-walkthrough
- Live markup: https://directorchair.ai/effect/live-markup

## Source

Own words from Director Chair field notes on motion graphics (walkthroughs studied frame by frame, 28 Oct 2026)

Text CC BY 4.0, Director Chair (directorchair.ai). Reference clips and their card texts belong to their makers.