Create a Poster Image

Creating your own poster image can help you increase engagement with your videos. Poster image, or thumbnail, settings are configured at the payload level. These settings tell Projector how to create a poster image for each individual mission in the payload.

You can allow the streaming service to create your poster image if you prefer. But that frame may or may not be a personalized and attention-grabbing image. We strongly recommend creating a poster image asset in Projector. That way you can be confident you've done everything you can to improve viewer response.

NOTE  If you archive your videos and want to save the poster image as well, make sure you select Archive poster image when you configure transcoding for the video project.

  1. In the Transcode section of Projector, click Setup.

  2. For Use frame at, enter the precise moment, in seconds, for the image you want Projector to use for the poster.

    NOTE  It's extremely important that you know how long your customized videos are. If a video is three seconds long, and you enter 3.5 seconds in this field, the entire mission will fail. This can be tricky if your customized videos are of different durations. For example, one of your dynamic timeline layers could result in full video length of 1.5 seconds for one composition, 1.75 seconds for another, and 2.5 seconds for yet another. In this case, if you entered 2 in the Use frame at field, only the third mission would succeed.

  3. For Image width, enter a value in pixels. Projector automatically adjusts the height based on your specified width, so your poster has the same aspect ratio as your video. For best quality, make sure the width you set here is not greater than the Output Width you set for the transcoded video.

  4. Select the Image Format you want to use for this payload. Projector currently supports JPG or PNG formats.

  5. Adjust the Image Quality you want to use for this payload.

    Image quality is another production element that involves weighing several factors. It takes time for Projector to extract a still image and convert the image format for each mission. If you're producing hundreds of videos, lower image quality can save time. But that might not offer the viewer experience you want. Configure the best quality image possible while still controlling production time.