Update a video thumbnail

A thumbnail and a poster show a preview of the media content in your player. A thumbnail is preview content that appears in search results or playlists. A poster is preview content that appears in the player before a viewer or a piece of code initiates media playback. These previews can increase a viewer's engagement with your media.

For a consistent user experience, a thumbnail and poster for a video are generated from the same preview file.

Each time you upload a video to your JWX account, two thumbnails are created:

• A static thumbnail created from the 10th second of your video
• (Enterprise only) An auto-generated motion thumbnail created from the first 10 seconds of the video

Sometimes the preview file may not be the most engaging moment of your video. After you have uploaded your video, you have these options to improve the thumbnail and poster for a video:

• Upload a custom static preview file
• Choose a video frame as a static preview file
• (Enterprise only) Upload a custom video preview file

Each option is explained in the following sections.

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If you are a developer or have developer resources, you can use the API to update a preview file.

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Upload a custom static preview file

The static preview file that you upload for a video is used as the thumbnail and poster for the video.

📘

JWX removes all sensitive metadata when an image is uploaded to protect privacy and ensure user security. Image capture tools can add sensitive metadata, also known as EXIF, to images, including GPS location of the picture, the time of day, and the camera used.

Standards

A custom static preview file should adhere to the following standards.

Process

Follow these steps to upload a custom static preview file:

1. From your Media library, click the name of a video. The detail page for the video.
2. Under Thumbnail to the right of Static, click ⋯ > Upload New Thumbnail.
3. From your computer, choose and upload a custom static preview file.

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Choose a video frame as a static thumbnail

Follow these steps to choose a video frame as a static thumbnail:

1. From your Media library, click the name of a video. The detail page for the video appears.
2. Under Thumbnail to the right of Static, click ⋯ > Select From Video.
3. Click Select from Video.
4. From the timeline strip, choose a video frame to use as the static thumbnail.
5. Click Save.

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(Enterprise only) Upload a custom video preview file

The video preview file that you upload for a video is used as the thumbnail and poster for the video.

Standards

A custom video preview file should adhere to the following standards.

Upload a new video

Follow these steps to upload a custom video preview file:

1. From your Media library, click the name of a video. The detail page for the video appears.
2. On the Images tab, under Thumbnails to the right of Motion, click ⋯ > Upload new video.
3. From your computer, choose and upload a custom video preview file.

Select a motion thumbnail from reuploads

If you have performed a reupload for a media item, follow these steps to promote an existing motion thumbnail as the poster image:

1. From your Media library, click the name of a video. The detail page for the video appears.
2. On the Images tab, under Thumbnails to the right of Motion, click ⋯ > Select motion thumbnail. The Select motion thumbnail panel opens. The current motion thumbnail and all motion thumbnails available for the media item are displayed.

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   The Select motion thumbnail option only appears when reuploads have created multiple motion thumbnails to choose from.

3. Under Motion thumbnails, hover over a thumbnail and click its checkbox. The motion thumbnail appears under Selected, allowing you to compare the Current and Selected motion thumbnails.
4. Click Save. The panel closes.

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FAQs

Why has the video thumbnail not changed?

After choosing a new thumbnail, your thumbnail may take up to 15 minutes to appear in your dashboard, on your site, or in your app.

If you re-upload a video using the same media ID, your previously chosen custom thumbnail is used for the video. To change the thumbnail to match a re-uploaded video, you must manually choose a new thumbnail. The new thumbnails from the reupload will appear once the new renditions have been created.

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You may need to refresh the page to see new thumbnail options in the Images tab.