This is the image (or video clip) that shows on your video player before the viewer presses play. It can be used to entice a the viewer to click play and/or give the viewer a preview of what's to come in the video.
By default, we will generate a thumbnail for your video from an image but you can customize this.
This feature can be access when editing an individual video. Browse to the Player tab >> Thumbnail.
You have 2 choices here, which are to use an image or a video.
If a video thumbnail is used please note that we don't use a .gif image to simulate a video. We use an actual video clip which loads faster and performs better than a .gif image.
Image
Image will be selected by default. To change the default image you can either add the URL of an image that is already online, upload an image file (or choose from your image history), or use an image from part of your video.
Image Recommendations
In most cases your video has a 16:9 ratio so we recommend an image that has a 16:9 aspect ratio as well so it fits nicely with your video. We would recommend 1920 X 1080 or 1280 X 720 image.
If you decide to use an image that is small or 1:1 ratio (square image), we will attempt to keep the image as is (instead of stretching it out) and set it against a black background.
We also recommend that you do NOT use an image with a transparent background.
To add a URL to an image already online, simply remove the URL of your default image and replace it with your own:
To upload a new file, or use one that you've already uploaded in the past, simply click the corresponding button:
Finally, you can choose a part of the video to use as your thumbnail. Click on Create new and then choose the part of the video you want to use in hours, mins, secs.
In this example I am using the frame from the 6 second mark in the video. The preview will change on the right side:
Then click the Apply Thumbnail button once you are happy with the frame you are previewing and it will apply it here:
When you done, just click the SAVE button and the thumbnail will be saved to your video.
Video
To use a video poster, select video from the top. By default, we will use a portion of your video from :00 to :05 to make the default poster.
Similar to the image option, you can either add the URL of a video that is already online, upload a video file, or use a portion of your video.
In this example I will choose Create new and then start from the 6 second mark. Then click on Generate Video Poster. This will use a clip from second 6 to 11 for my video thumbnail.
You can also choose whether to play on hover or auto-play:
Play on hover will only play the video thumbnail when the viewer hovers their mouse over the video. Auto-play will have the video thumbnail start as soon as the video player loads.
Once you are finished click on SAVE to save your settings.