Video thumbnails: Featured autoplay and looping thumbnails

Your storefront should feel as alive as your content. Two features let you add motion to the browsing experience:

• Looping thumbnails (web): a short video plays on a video or collection card when a viewer hovers over it.
• Featured autoplay (web, TV, and mobile): a video plays automatically in your Featured carousel (hero banner), so the first thing viewers see is your content in motion.

Both features use the same building block: a short clip of up to 2 minutes, either uploaded as a video preview or trimmed from a video already in your library.

🔇 Note: Looping thumbnails and featured autoplay videos are muted by default. Viewers can unmute them, and their choice is remembered.

In this article:

• What video previews are and how to upload them
• Setting up looping thumbnails
• Setting up featured autoplay
• Featured carousel controls (cycling and autoplay timing)
• Carousel design settings

1. Video previews

A video preview is a video you upload only to use as a looping thumbnail or a featured autoplay video. It isn't part of your catalog.

Video previews are made to play right away for any viewer, so they work differently from regular videos:

⚠️ Note: DRM and geoblocking are off, so don't upload full episodes or premium content as video previews. Use trailers, teasers, or short highlights. Keep in mind that only up to 2 minutes can play as a looping thumbnail or featured autoplay.

Upload a video preview

1. Go to Content > Video previews.
2. Click Upload.
3. Select your file and toggle on Use as a video preview.
4. Once it's processed, the video appears in your Video previews list.

Edit a video preview

Video previews have a simplified settings page:

• Title: Only you can see it, so you can find the preview later.
• Video player: watch the clip.
• Captions: upload subtitle files (VTT, SRT, and more) or click Generate with Vimeo AI.
• Replace video / Delete video.

2. Looping thumbnails

🖥️ Note: Looping thumbnails are available on web only.

A looping thumbnail is a short video that plays when a viewer hovers over a video or collection card. It loops until the viewer moves off the card. It's muted by default; viewers can unmute it, and their choice is remembered.

You can add a looping thumbnail to any video or collection in the Thumbnails section of its settings.

One looping thumbnail per aspect ratio

Cards appear in different shapes across your site, so you set looping thumbnails per aspect ratio:

💡 Tip: If you haven't added a looping thumbnail for an aspect ratio, cards in that shape stay static on hover and no video plays. Still thumbnails are generated automatically from your 16:9 asset, but looping thumbnails aren't. By default, they don't replace your static thumbnail.

Add a looping thumbnail

1. Open the video or collection and go to Thumbnails.
2. Next to the aspect ratio you want, click Add looping thumbnail.
3. In the Choose Preview window, pick a source:
   • Video previews: any video preview you've uploaded.
   • Video library: any eligible video in your library. You then choose which part of it to use (see below).
4. Check the aspect ratio tag next to each video. It turns green when the video matches the recommended aspect ratio for that slot.
5. Click Add, then Save.

Use a clip from a library video

When you pick a video from the Video library, you choose exactly which segment plays:

1. Drag the start and end handles on the timeline, or type the Start and End times.
2. The clip can be up to 2 minutes long. The preview loops this segment.
3. Click Preview clip to check it, then click Add.

💡 Tip: When you add a looping thumbnail to a video, you can pick that same video from the library and trim a clip from it. It's the fastest way to give every title a moving thumbnail.

Requirements for library videos

You can only use a video from your library as a looping thumbnail or featured autoplay video if it meets these conditions:

You won't be able to pick videos that don't meet these conditions. Upload the clip as a video preview instead.

3. Featured autoplay

Featured autoplay brings your Featured carousel to life: the hero banner plays a video automatically instead of showing a still image. It's available on web, TV apps, and mobile.

It works the same way as looping thumbnails. Pick a video preview, or trim a clip from a library video. The same 2-minute maximum and library requirements apply. Like looping thumbnails, autoplay videos are muted by default; viewers can unmute them, and their choice is remembered.

Add a featured autoplay video

1. Open the video or collection that's in your Featured carousel and go to Featured carousel.
2. In the Video column, click Add video next to the format you want.
3. Choose a video preview or a clip from your library, then click Add and Save.

Add a video for each format you want to animate. Formats without a video show the still image.

4. Featured carousel controls

When a collection is the Featured category of a hub, you can control how the carousel cycles and when autoplay videos start:

• Automatically cycle: the carousel moves through slides on its own.
• Hold each slide for (seconds): how long a still stays on screen.
• Start the video after (seconds): how long to wait before an autoplay video starts.
• Wait after the video before advancing (seconds): how long the slide stays up after the video ends.

For more information, see Creating a featured carousel on Vimeo OTT.

5. Carousel design (web)

In the Carousel settings of a video or collection, you control how the hero banner looks on web:

• Image layout: Side (media next to the title block) or Fill (media covers the whole banner).
• Video layout: Side or Fill, set separately from images.
• Title overlay: shows the title on top of the media. Only available when an image or video uses Fill.
• Title alignment: Left or Right. Applies to Side layouts, and to Fill when title overlay is on.
• Captions: shows the autoplay video's captions in the carousel.

As you change these settings, the preview images next to them update automatically, so you can see how your hero banner will look before you save.