Thumbnail Support for Videos

Last update: 2023-06-28

Introduction

A content author can define a thumbnail for videos so that the image is used as a placeholder and properly test content playback and targeting, while the actual video is being finalized by the appropriate team. The image can also be used, in case the playback of the video fails.

Adding support for a thumbnail image on the video component lets the customer properly add a valid component in the channel, with actual content, and perform any targeting configurations before the video is delivered.

NOTE

The thumbnail image, if set on the video component, is played if there is video playback failure on the player. This workflow lets you deliver the desired message to the audience (by playing content) instead of completely skipping it.

Thumbnail Support lets you do the following:

  • Prepare a channel experience when the videos are not yet ready, or when you do not necessarily want to test a large asset download on the players

  • Set a fallback mechanism, in case there are playback issues on the device.

Using Thumbnails in Videos

IMPORTANT

Prerequisites
Before you learn how to use thumbnails for videos, be sure you learn how to create video renditions for channels in Screens as a Cloud Service project. See Creating Video Renditions in Screens as a Cloud Service.

Follow the steps below to use thumbnail in videos:

  1. Navigate to an existing Screens channel or create a channel.

    NOTE

    To learn how to create a channel and add content to a channel, see Creating and Managing a Channel in Screens as a Cloud Service.

  2. Select the channel. On the action bar, click Edit to open the editor.

    Edit button on action bar.

  3. Add or edit an existing video component, as shown in the figure below.

    Highlighted image of a video asset.

  4. Add or edit an existing video component, as shown in the figure below.

  5. Select the video and click the Configure (wrench) icon to open the video properties.

    Selected video asset image with arrow pointing to the Configure icon, portrayed as a wrench. on the toolbar.

  6. The Video dialog box opens where you can view the Thumbnail drop zone.

    Video dialog box showing image of video asset and the Thumbnail drop box.

  7. Drag and drop an image from the asset picker to the Thumbnail drop zone and click Done.

    Asset image picker shown behind the Video dialog box with image asset shown in the Thumbnail drop box.

  8. Click Preview.

  9. If a video is set on the component, the video plays. If not, and the thumbnail is set, then the thumbnail plays. Otherwise, the component is considered not configured and is skipped.

Supported Use Cases while using Thumbnail in Videos

Thumbnail in videos supports the following use cases:

  • A video component with nothing setup is skipped.

  • A video component with only the thumbnail set plays the thumbnail.

  • A video component with both the video (if the video has correct rendition) and thumbnail set plays the video.

  • A video component with the video set plays the thumbnail, if there is a playback error, or skips to the next item in case the thumbnail is not configured.

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