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FeaturesVideo TranscodingThumbnails

Thumbnails

Extract single frames or timed intervals from any video automatically.

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Overview

What It Is

Thumbnail extraction automatically captures representative frames from video files at specified timestamps or intervals. Qencode's robust API generates thumbnails in parallel with transcoding, eliminating the need for separate processing jobs. This is critical now because video platforms need fast, scalable thumbnail generation to support catalog discovery and playback previews.

Coming Soon
Process

How It Works

  1. Specify timestamps

    Define which frames to extract (single frame, interval pattern, or multiple specific times).

  2. Set output format

    Choose image resolution, aspect ratio, and file format (PNG, JPG, WebP).

  3. Submit transcoding job

    Include thumbnail parameters alongside your encoding request.

  4. Receive frames

    Thumbnails are generated in parallel and delivered to your storage with the encoded video.
Overview

Why Thumbnails

Reduce costs

Lower bandwidth and storage expenses without compromising quality.

Save time

Automate complex processing that would take hours manually.

Scale effortlessly

Handle thousands of videos with the same API call.

Integrate in minutes

Simple robust API with comprehensive SDKs and documentation.

Use Cases

Who Uses Thumbnails

VOD Platforms

Scenario

A Netflix-scale catalog needs 10 different preview thumbnails per title for different UI contexts (catalog grid, detail page, playback timeline). Manual extraction would require separate processing.

Generate 100,000 thumbnails across your catalog 8x faster and reduce infrastructure costs by 35% through bundling with transcoding.

EdTech

Scenario

Course platforms need chapter preview images and course card thumbnails for their learning management system. Timing matters—they want frames from key teaching moments, not random scenes.

Capture specific educational moments (e.g., instructor appearing on screen) and use them immediately across all course interfaces, reducing video prep time by 60%.

UGC Platforms

Scenario

High-throughput platforms like TikTok or Twitch receive thousands of user uploads daily and need instant preview images for feed thumbnails and sharing cards.

Process thumbnail extraction simultaneously with transcoding, reducing total latency from upload to feed appearance by 40%.

Tutorial

How to use Thumbnails

Watch a quick walkthrough showing how to configure and use Thumbnails through the Qencode dashboard and API.

Tutorial Video Coming Soon
For Developers

Technical Reference

API METHODPOST /v1/start_encode2 with output: "thumbnail"POST /v1/start_encode2 with output: "thumbnails"
KEY PARAMETERSsource, format, output, time or frame_number, width, height, image_format, quality, destinationsource, format, output, interval, width, height, image_format, quality, destination, optional sprite, columns, stick_to_keyframes
SUPPORTED INPUT FORMATSAny video format: MP4, MOV, MKV, AVI, HLS, and 200+ othersAny video format: MP4, MOV, MKV, AVI, HLS, and 200+ others
SUPPORTED OUTPUT FORMATSSingle PNG or JPG image fileMultiple PNG or JPG images plus .vtt file; optional sprite image
LIMITS & CONSTRAINTStime is from 0 to 1; frame_number takes priority over time; destination URL must include file path and filenameinterval is in seconds; destination URL must be a folder path; sprite requires sprite: 1; columns works with sprite mode
View API Reference

Single frame thumbnails

Request Example

Produces Single Frame Thumbnails output JSON

{
  "query": {
    "source": "https://your-storage.com/source.mov",
    "encoder_version": "2",
    "format": [
      {
        "output": "thumbnail",
        "image_format": "jpg",
        "time": "0.1",
        "height": "270",
        "width": "270"
      }
    ]
  }
}

Interval-based thumbnails

Request Example

Produces Interval-Based Thumbnails output JSON

{
  "query": {
    "source": "https://your-storage.com/source.mov",
    "encoder_version": "2",
    "format": [
      {
        "output": "thumbnails",
        "image_format": "jpg",
        "interval": "5",
        "height": "270",
        "width": "270"
      }
    ]
  }
}

Copy this payload and use it with your API key to test Thumbnails on your own video.

View Thumbnails Tutorial
Pricing

What It Costs

Usage-Based Pricing

Thumbnail generation is available to all Qencode users. Use thumbnail for a single image or thumbnails for multiple images with a VTT file. Single thumbnails are included with standard transcoding at no extra cost; multiple thumbnails are available as a paid option.

See Pricing Details
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