Video Optimization: Getting The Money Shot
Posted on March 19th, 2007by Michael Gray in video
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Have you ever wondered “How can I control the thumbnail image on YouTube” here’s a quick and easy example
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March 19th, 2007 at 11:33 am
I missed it, or did I not understand. Did you say exactly how to get YouTube to use the clip/screen I want?
March 19th, 2007 at 11:42 am
It’s a timing/editing thing you edit in the shot you want as the thumbnail to appear at exactly (censored) seconds …
March 19th, 2007 at 11:55 am
Where’s the tip? lol. We already knew they choose a section, which section? I thought you were going to tell us what part of the video they use.
March 19th, 2007 at 12:05 pm
>I thought you were going to tell us what part of the video they use
I did even better, I showed you exactly how to figure it out yourself, teach a man to fish and all that jazz …
March 19th, 2007 at 12:48 pm
LOL… I’m gonna take a wild guess…
clues… stopwatch, youtube takes the same timespot of all videos to take the thumbnail from… michael had his picture show xx amount of seconds into the video…
One would be left to assume that michael is saying to time HIS video and when his image appeared and you’ll have the answer.
March 19th, 2007 at 1:15 pm
Your thumbnail comes from the middle of your video, as described in Renetto’s I cracked the YouTube Code
March 19th, 2007 at 1:33 pm
No it doesn’t come from the middle, it’s a fixed point
March 19th, 2007 at 2:18 pm
Looking at the Renetto video there, it does look like it comes from the very middle of the video and not a fixed point. Your thumbnail came at 30-33 seconds while the Renetto video came at about 1:29-1:30. If it was a fixed point, then how would videos under 30 seconds long get a thumbnail?
I always wondered this though so thanks for bringing it to light!
March 19th, 2007 at 2:32 pm
Bah, I cannot do math. I’m sitting here trying to calculate it into my head and I can’t. Just tell me!
March 19th, 2007 at 2:44 pm
Nice tip. BTW, what do you use to edit your videos?
March 19th, 2007 at 3:49 pm
Michael thanks for the information, but it would be really nice if you tell us exactly how to get YouTube to use the thumbnail image we want for our videos to show.
March 19th, 2007 at 3:53 pm
Ok, I did my own test, results here:
http://www.jimkukral.com/?p=227
Thanks for this GW!
March 19th, 2007 at 3:57 pm
A regurgitated tip! Perfect timing given your last vpost. lol
As someone who would not have found this on YouTube… I do appreciate finding it here. I’m starting to enjoy video posts as it puts a face on an opinion. Please, please, don’t sing ala Shawn Collins though.
March 19th, 2007 at 8:07 pm
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kyt95gwC1AQ
(hmm not sure about the timing, it is originaly a 25-fps).
March 20th, 2007 at 12:59 am
wo8dff88: upload it 2 more times with a different name and see if it generates the same thumbnail.
Then do the same with a shorter version and compare the 6 results.
March 20th, 2007 at 5:04 am
@Carsten thx for your comment. I put two new videos. So yes the thumbnail is taken from the middle (doesn’t depend on the content, the name or anything else, depends just on the length):
http://www.youtube.com/profile?user=yod2c94e
Just replace that frame (it will be hardly visible) and you get a nice thumbnail.
March 20th, 2007 at 9:44 am
The Renetto video is painful to watch.
March 23rd, 2007 at 12:50 am
A shorter ‘blink and you miss it’ subliminal type shot would be really cool.
Do you think Youtube could just change the goalposts slightly in the future to disrupt people using this technique?
March 23rd, 2007 at 5:09 am
@Bulbboy:
1) yes (changing one frame is enough)
2) yes (if it becomes common practice)
October 29th, 2007 at 5:02 am
Great, thanks man, i am going to try this