Video

Video can be added to any slide in a playlist, and depending on your media player, almost any format is supported.

Adding a video to a slide

• Go to Playlists and open the playlist where you'd like to add a video
• Find a slide or create a new slide for your video
• Click Assets in the top menu
• Find or search for the video you'd like to add
• Click the video

When adding a video the editor automatically detects the length of the uploaded video, and will match the slide duration to the length of the video.

Removing a video from a slide

• Go to Playlists and open the playlist where you'd like to add a video
• Find the slide with the video
• Click the video you'd like to remove
• Click Remove or hit backspace on your keyboard

Replace a video

In some cases, a video is used in multiple playlists and perhaps even multiple slides in a playlist. Instead of removing the old video and adding a new video to all slides or playlists, you have the option of simply replacing the video.

• Go to Playlists and open the playlist where you'd like to add a video
• Find a slide or create a new slide for your video
• Click the video you'd like to replace (Settings appears on the right side)
• Click Replace Asset
• In Selected File, you can unmark slides where you don't want to replace the video
• Click Select new asset
• Find or search for the video you'd like to add
• Click the video

The slide duration will automically update to match the length of the video.

Create a playlist with just a video

• Go to Playlists and open your playlist, or create a new playlist (Make sure your playlist only have one slide and that the slide is empty)
• Click Assets
• Find or search for the video you'd like to add
• Click the video
• In settings (On the right side), click Fit to canvas to maximize the video to the slide

If you add a video that doesn't take up the full canvas, we recommend you make the background black.

Set a video to run in the background

In some scenarios, you may want a video running in the background and have text, images, feeds, etc. on top of the video. Please note this scenario is heavy on a media player, and that entry-level media players and smart TVs most likely can not handle the load.

• Click the video
• In settings (On the right side), open Always on Top, and click Background

If you open layers, you'll notice the video stays in the background even when you move things around in the layers. 

Start a video at 1 min. 

• Click the video
• In settings, find Start playing video at (On the right side), and input at what time the video should start (In seconds), meaning if you set this to 10 seconds, the video will start at after the 10th second.

Be aware that if the video is 30 seconds long, and you start it at 10 seconds if will run from second 11 to second 30 and stop. To avoid this either change the slide duration or toggle on Loop.

Options

• Alignment – Maximize, left, center, right, top, middle, right, and lock
• Details – Shows you the video file name, duration of the video, and the resolution
• Set slide duration to – Click the bottom to set your slide duration to the same time as the video. (When you add a video, the slide duration is automatically matched to the length of the video)
• Muted – Mute sound
• Loop – Make your video loop.
• Show video controls - Make video controls visible.
• Lock aspect ratio - Toggle this off if you'd like to resize the video height or width. This option is ON by default to ensure the video aspect ratio is preserved.
• Start playing video at - Input when the video should start. If you put 10 seconds, the video will start after its 10th second.
• Always on top – By default, the video will be rendered on top of other elements for smoother playback.
  • Yes – This option is recommended for all entry-level players as they can struggle when having to render the entire canvas for every frame.
  • No – Video will respect the layers and other elements can be moved on top of the video. This requires a mid-level player as the entire canvas has to be rendered for every frame of video. If you want to position elements above the video, we recommend using the background option instead.
  • Yes (native) – This option will be the default for 4K videos. On Android devices, it will launch Android’s native video player at the position of the video; non-Android devices behave the same as with the ‘yes’ option. Please refer to 4K limitations in the Android section in the FAQ.
  • Background – By selecting this option, the canvas background will become automatically transparent; this is because the video will be played behind the canvas in a dedicated video player. This way we can get the performance gains of not having to render each frame twice (like with the no option), yet also make it possible to position elements, such as text or logo, on top of the video.
• Layer – Move your image or photo up or down your layers
• Positioning – Manually adjust the placement of your shape pixel by pixel
• Sizing – Manually adjust the size of your shape pixel by pixel

How big files can I upload?

The maximum size of one file can be up to 2 GB. PDF files, presentations, and documents can contain up to 50 pages; larger files should be split before uploading.

What formats are supported?

We support the following formats: 3g2, 3gp, 3gpp, avi, dv, flv, m2ts, m4v, mkv, mov, mp4, mpeg, mpg, mts, mxf, ogg, swf, vob, webm, wmv.

Please note that all formats are automatically converted to mp4.

What is the best format?

We recommend using .mp4 files encoded in the H264 or H265 codec. Despite h265 being a newer codec, often h264 is better for the players as it’s not that heavily compressed and decoding takes fewer resources.

Is 4K supported?

Our software has the support for 4k, but your player device has to be capable as well. Our Windows/Linux/OSX devices treat 4K like any other format; however, Android devices are using a workaround. Android devices (ARM processors) are quite weak compared to other hardware (x86), and the 4K playback on Android devices is optimized for certain codecs and applications only. For that reason, our app will launch the native player at the coordinates of the plugin and will play the video. Learn more.

It says the bit rate is too high.

Entry-level devices have limited resources, and there is a lot more to this than just the resolution. Videos have a bit rate that defines how many bits a video will take up in one second. Our recommended bitrate should not exceed 8000kbit/s or simply 1 megabyte per 1 second of video. So a 60-second clip should not exceed 60 megabytes; this is quite reasonable for FullHD; however, the specific limitations depend on your player hardware.

How to get a lower bitrate?

You can use a free transcoder https://handbrake.fr/ to optimize the video. H264/265 encoders have an option for constant quality; this should be set between 21-23 for optimal quality/bitrate ratio. Furthermore, you can also set an option “Web optimized” when encoding; this will reduce the time it takes for the player to load and start playing. 

Check out the guide on how to use Handbrake

Every time I add a video, the slide duration changes.

If you go to your user profile and open Other Settings, you’ll find the setting Automatically set slide duration when adding a video. Toggle this to deactivate this setting.

Can I lock the position of a video in digital signage?

You can lock any object you have in your content. Locking an object ensures that the object stays where it’s supposed to be, and can not be resized or removed; read more about Locking Objects.