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Videos in-depth

Product: FlippingBook Online

In How to add videos, links, and images to my flipbook? we give an introduction to how to add videos to your flipbook. This is possible with FlippingBook Online Optimal and higher plans. Here, we aim to provide a more in-depth look at videos:

 

Setting the Playback Mode

The Playback Mode determines how your video is opened in a flipbook. Two options are available: Inline and Popup.

 

Inline videos

Inline videos are great if you have enough space available on your page. They show up as a seamlessly integrated part of your content.


When you set up your video as Inline, you can configure two additional settings:

  • Autoplay: The video starts playing as soon as your reader opens the page on which you embed the video. There are two things to keep in mind:
    • Autoplay only works on desktops, not on mobile devices!
    • If you have a video embedded on the first page that your users open, then the video will autoplay but the sound will be muted.
  • Start at: Set the video to start at a specific point in time. Very convenient if the video itself is long and you immediately want to jump to the relevant part! The setting is only available for YouTube and Wistia videos.

Note⚠️Did you set an Inline video and it plays in a pop-up window? Please refer to this section to understand the reasons behind this behavior.

 

 

Popup videos

Pop-up videos are the ideal option if you want to show your video in a nearly full-screen pop-up so your viewers can fully absorb your content. They are also great if you simply don’t have enough space on your page to add them inline.


When using Pop-up video there are two additional settings you can configure

  • Show Preview: YouTube, Vimeo, and Wistia allow you to set up a preview image for your video. If you don’t configure it, they use the very first frame of your video. You can choose how to set this option by checking how it would be the best way for your publication.
  • Start at: Set the video to start at a specific point in time. Very convenient if the video itself is long and you immediately want to jump to the relevant part! The setting is only available for YouTube and Wistia videos.
 

Some tips to improve your work

 

Copy-Paste videos

You can quickly create consistent-looking video elements by copy-pasting existing ones. This is useful if you need to add several videos with the same size.

  1. Click on the video element to select it.
  2. Copy with Ctrl+C (on Windows) or ⌘+C (on Mac).
  3. Paste with Ctrl/Command+V.

You can then arrange the new video element and change its URL.

 

How to size and align videos pixel-perfect?

To size and align the video, simply drag it with your mouse.

  • Use arrow keys: Select a video and use arrow keys to nudge it by a pixel for precise positioning.
  • Change position and size settings: After selecting a video, we show the exact position and dimensions in the right-side menu panel.

Do you have several videos that you want to be the same size and perfectly aligned? Learn how to quickly achieve that here.

Note⚠️If your video size in the browser drops below 144x100 pixels, it becomes too small. We display these videos in pop-ups instead.

 

Can I hide suggested videos at the end of my embedded YouTube video?

At the end of the videos, YouTube shows a list of recommended videos. Depending on your publication, this might not be ideal for your content. Unfortunately, that cannot be disabled, but you can limit it to show only videos from the same channel. To do this, you should add the parameter rel=0 to the link you embed.

YouTube link YouTube link with the rel=0 parameter added
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jHISMK00zDM https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jHISMK00zDM&rel=0
https://youtu.be/jHISMK00zDM https://youtu.be/jHISMK00zDM?rel=0

 

Understanding Videos

 

What if I only have a video on my computer?

If you only have a video file on your PC (e.g. .mp4, .mov, or .avi) that you want to add to your flipbook, then you cannot directly embed that. Fortunately, both YouTube and Vimeo have free plans that are sufficient if you have limited requirements and are very easy to work with. We recommend Vimeo since it doesn’t add recommended videos when your viewer reaches the end of the video, so it looks more professional.

 

What happens to my videos when I replace the PDF?

If you replace your PDF with a new one (this feature is available in Starter and higher plans), then we will ask you what to do with any videos and other content you added: keep them (if your PDF is pretty similar with just a few small edits) or remove them (if you have a completely new document). If you made extensive changes in the FlippingBook Online Editor, then we recommend reading our article Can I replace my PDF without changing the URL?

 

Controlling the icons

By default, we add icons to videos to help your readers notice them. You can change their size, position, and behavior in the Icon Settings section. If you need some additional info as to how they work, have a look at our article Icon settings. If you want to change the settings for all the videos in your flipbook, then our Bulk change option is for you!

 

Is it possible to add Private Videos?

Yes! We support various settings, even password-protected and videos with restricted access settings. Learn more in our article about adding private videos.

 

Troubleshooting issues

 

Why do I see an error message when I try to add my video to the flipbook?

For several reasons, you may get a 'Something went wrong. Please, make sure you insert a valid URL and try again' error when adding your video URL.

Here below, we list the most common reasons for this:

  • Make sure that the video link is working: Open a new tab in your browser and paste it there to see if it works.
  • Remember that we only support YouTube, Vimeo, and Wistia. Local videos or from other platforms are not supported.
  • If you only just uploaded the video, then simply wait for around 30 minutes and try again. YouTube, for example, doesn’t fully process the video right away, so some data that we need may simply not have been generated yet.
  • Check that the video is not set to be only available to the author.
  • Video settings should allow your video to be embedded on online.flippingbook.com or your custom domain. You can find more information in the Help Centers from  YouTube, Vimeo, and Wistia.

If the above did not help, click below on the video platform you use to get a specific solution. You will be directed to our Editor in-depth look and troubleshooting:

 

Why is there no preview image for my video?

It can happen that after you add a video from YouTube, Wistia, or Vimeo, it does not have a preview image. The Editor only shows an empty blue box element. This can happen depending on his privacy settings or access restrictions. The video will play fine, even though without his thumbnail.

In such cases, start by reviewing the privacy settings in your video platform. If everything looks fine there, you can add an Inline Image on top of the video element as a workaround.

 

Why is my Inline video playing in a pop-up?

If you set playback mode to Inline, your video could still be played in a pop-up window. This happens in the following situations:

  • You view your flipbook on an iOS smartphone (in any browser).
  • You open your flipbook in Safari on a desktop.
  • Your video is too small to be played inline. If the size of your video (when shown in the browser) becomes less than 144x100 pixels, it becomes too small. We show such videos in pop-ups instead.
  • Your video is placed in the middle of a 2-page spread: most PDFs consist of single pages. However, sometimes your PDFs consist of spreads, i.e. two pages on a single sheet.
    When editing such PDFs in FlippingBook Online, we show the full spread in the Editor. But if you embed a video so that it covers parts of both pages, we show it in a pop-up.
 

After embedding my YouTube video, a forbidden sign appears when I try to play it

The most common reason is that you embedded a YouTube video with age restrictions for an audience of 18+. YouTube does not allow age-restricted videos to be watched on most third-party websites (like FlippingBook Online).

 

Why doesn't my Vimeo video start at the time I set?

The Start at setting works for YouTube and Wistia videos, but it’s not available for Vimeo videos.

 

Note💡Need extra help? Contact our Support Team or feel free to book a meeting with one of our Customer Success Specialists.

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