Generate Video Thumbnail via API

Automatically generate thumbnails from video files at specified timestamps. Create poster images for video galleries, social media cards, and content management systems.

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Loading FFmpeg engine... (~31 MB)

Use the API

curl -X POST https://renderio.dev/v1/commands \
  -H "X-API-KEY: ffsk_your_api_key" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{
  "ffmpeg_command": "-i {in_video} -ss 00:00:02 -vframes 1 -q:v 2 {out_video}",
  "input_files": {
    "in_video": "https://example.com/input.mp4"
  },
  "output_files": {
    "out_video": "output.jpg"
  }
}'

Need an API key? Get your free API key to start processing files programmatically.

Common Variations

Grid of thumbnails (4x4)

-i input.mp4 -vf "select=not(mod(n\,100)),scale=320:180,tile=4x4" -frames:v 1 output.jpg

Best frame selection (scene change)

-i input.mp4 -vf "select=gt(scene\,0.3)" -frames:v 1 -q:v 2 output.jpg

Custom size thumbnail

-i input.mp4 -ss 00:00:05 -vframes 1 -vf scale=640:360 -q:v 2 output.jpg

Related Operations

Convert Video to Thumbnail via API | RenderIO Convert Video to PNG Sequence via API | RenderIO Convert MP4 to GIF via API | RenderIO Convert MP4 to Animated WebP via API | RenderIO

Need to process at scale?

Automate this with the RenderIO FFmpeg API. Process thousands of files programmatically or through no-code video automation.

Get your API key