Concepts
Clips
Each step can show a short, muted, looping clip. Host it with us, link to your own file, or embed YouTube or Vimeo.
A clip shows a few seconds of exactly what to do. Clips play muted and loop, like a GIF; users can tap to unmute or expand.
| Source | Where it lives | Counts toward hosted video | Spec |
|---|---|---|---|
| Hosted | Uploaded to PlayStep | Yes | { "source": "hosted", "url": "…", "clip_id": "…" } |
| External | An MP4 or WebM on your own host or CDN | Never | { "source": "external", "url": "https://cdn.example.com/step-1.mp4" } |
| Embed | YouTube or Vimeo | Never | { "source": "embed", "provider": "youtube", "url": "https://youtu.be/…" } |
Good clips
- 3–10 seconds, one action, starting just before it and ending just after.
- 16:10, cropped to the part of the screen that matters.
- Under 2 MB. Clips start fast on phones and the next step's clip is preloaded.
- No sound needed: clips start muted.
See recording great 5-second clips.
Processing
On Free, the dashboard trims and compresses uploads in your browser (H.264 MP4, at most 1280 px wide, no audio). On Pro, uploads are processed on our servers. A poster frame is saved either way, and shows while the clip loads or if it cannot play.
External links
Links must be https://. When you add one, the dashboard checks that it is reachable and is a video type browsers play, and warns about files over 2 MB. Links are re-checked daily; a broken link raises an inbox alert, and steps that use it show the poster and text instead. See external video links.
Embeds
YouTube and Vimeo clips show a thumbnail and play inline only when the user taps them, so they never load third-party scripts on their own.