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Video editing1 min read

Choose the still picture on a lesson video

Before anyone presses play, a lesson video shows one still picture. bernard picks it for you from the opening seconds. Most of the time that works. When your video opens with a title card or a fade, the picture can catch the in-between moment, and your title ends up ghosted over your face. You can choose a better moment.

The prompt

“On the [lesson name] lesson of my [course name] course, the still picture before the video plays looks wrong. Find a moment in the first minute where I am looking at the camera and use that.”

Signed in, Get my prompt fills in your site for you. Otherwise press Copy and fill in the [bracketed] parts. First time? Connect your AI to bernard once: Use your own AI (opens in a new tab).

How it works

  1. Connect bernard to your AI (once). Log in to bernard, open your site, go to Use your own AI, and paste the setup prompt into your AI to connect it.
  2. Find the moment. Ask your AI to find a good moment near the start of the lesson video, or name the second you want (“12 seconds in, when I am looking at the camera”).
  3. Say which one. Your AI sets that frame as the picture. Learners see it on their next page load.

Good to know

  • It works on videos hosted on bernard. A YouTube or Vimeo video shows that service’s own picture.
  • Audio lessons have no picture to choose: learners see your course artwork.
  • The automatic picture is kept, so you can always ask for it back.
  • If the video is processed again (after Take the umms and long pauses out of a lesson video, or a new file), a new automatic picture is made. Choose your moment again afterwards.
  • For a video on an ordinary page of your site, see Upload files and video to my site.

Questions people ask

Why does my lesson video show a ghosted title over my face?
bernard picks the still picture automatically from the first few seconds of the video. If your video opens with a title card that fades into you, it can catch the moment halfway through the fade. Choose a later moment and the picture is clean.
Can I do every lesson in a course at once?
Your AI does it one lesson at a time, quickly. Say which second works, for example ‘use 12 seconds in on every lesson in this course’, and it goes through them for you. If one long video was split into several lessons, each lesson needs a moment from its own part.
Do my learners see it straight away?
Yes. Course videos are not part of your site draft, so the new picture shows on the learner’s next page load. There is nothing to approve.
Can I put the old picture back?
Yes. The automatic picture is kept. Ask your AI to put back the automatic picture on that lesson.
Why did my chosen picture change back?
When a video is processed again, for example after you take the umms out of it or replace the file, bernard makes a new automatic picture. Ask your AI to choose your moment again afterwards.
Can I use a photo instead of a frame from the video?
Not yet. The picture comes from the video itself. For a video on a normal page of your site (not a course lesson), your AI can use any picture from your library.

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