Smart Thumbnail and ThumbSniper
The thumbnail is the poster viewers see before they press play. Find its controls in the Thumbnail section of a video's Customize tab, or set defaults in the Player Studio.
Thumbnail types
| Type | When to use |
|---|---|
| Static | A single still frame—simple and predictable. |
| Animated | Selects the configured poster URL. The current runtime does not itself cycle video frames. |
| Custom | Upload your own designed image. |
A separate Show duration badge toggle overlays the video length on the poster. Turn it off when you don't want viewers gauging length up front.
The initial poster is different from Magic Autoplay artwork. If you use Magic Autoplay, that overlay can replace the poster before engagement. For pause and exit images, see Thumbnails, pause, and exit.
Current ThumbSniper status
The editor currently exposes a ThumbSniper experiment toggle, but it does not expose candidate upload/management, variant count, results, confidence, or winner promotion. The runtime can select deterministically from candidates already stored in a configuration; it does not track thumbnail impressions/clicks or promote a statistical winner.
How to set it up
- Open the video's detail page and go to Customize.
- Select the Thumbnail section.
- Choose a thumbnail type and decide whether to Show duration badge.
- If appropriate, enable ThumbSniper experiment; candidate and winner controls are not currently available in this editor.
- Select Save, then Publish to this video. Existing embeds use the stable player ID and do not need to be recopied.
Best practices
- Make text legible at 320px—most traffic is mobile.
- Animated thumbnails work best when the first frame already reads clearly on its own.
Related docs
Frequently asked questions
How long until ThumbSniper picks a winner?
The current editor/runtime does not expose results or statistically promote a thumbnail winner.
Does an animated thumbnail slow the page?
Animated previews are optimized, but test on mobile. If load matters, a strong static or custom thumbnail may convert nearly as well with less weight.
Is the thumbnail the same as the Magic Autoplay image?
No. The thumbnail is the pre-play poster. Magic Autoplay uses a separate overlay image—configure it in Magic Autoplay.