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Generate Video File Thumbnail API

What it does

Video Thumbnail Generator gives you a still image from an uploaded video file. Send a video in the file field, optionally set atSeconds to choose the frame time, and get the thumbnail back as binary image data.

Use it when you need a preview image for a media library, a video upload flow, search results, or a content management system. The request accepts a video up to 100 MB, so it fits common ingestion and processing pipelines without extra preprocessing.

The response is a binary file, which makes it easy to store, resize, or pass into the next step of your media workflow. If you omit atSeconds, the service uses the start of the video by default.

Video Thumbnail Generator is a focused file transformation utility: one input video, one extracted frame, returned as an image asset you can use immediately.

POST
Grab a still frame from a video
https://api.eu.apyhub.com/freedailypro/generate-video-file-thumbnail/video-thumbnail

QUICKSTART

GUIDE

Quickstart

Upload a video to generate a thumbnail frame from the default time in the video.

curl -X POST "https://api.eu.apyhub.com/freedailypro/generate-video-file-thumbnail/video-thumbnail" \
  -H "apy-token: $APY_TOKEN" \
  -F "file=@/path/to/video.mp4"

What you'll get back

Returns a binary file (string with format: binary) as the thumbnail image.

TRY ITLIVE · 10 ATOMS
Loading your default key…
The full key is used to call the gateway and stays in this tab — never sent to orbit or saved.
Max 100MB total per request (all files combined). Larger? Use this API's URL-based endpoint instead, if it has one.
body*
The video. Up to 100 MB.
Time of the frame in seconds, default 0

About this endpoint

What it does

Extracts a single still frame from an uploaded video at the time you choose and returns it as an image file.

Request Body

ParameterTypeMandatoryDescription
fileFileYesThe video file. Up to 100 MB.
atSecondsNumberNoTime of the frame in seconds. Defaults to 0, the first frame.

Response

Returns the extracted frame as a binary image file in the response body.

ParameterTypeDescription
dataStringBinary response payload containing the generated thumbnail image.

Max 100MB total per request (all files combined). Larger? Use this API's URL-based endpoint instead, if it has one.

▣ COMMON ERRORS

Errors any endpoint can return

400bad_request

Required parameter missing or malformed body.

401unauthorized

API key missing, revoked, or not authorized for this service.

429rate_limited

Your plan's per-second rate exceeded. Retry with exponential backoff.

503upstream_busy

Backend temporarily unavailable. Try again in a few seconds.

Similar APIs

Closest matches in the catalog based on this service.

CALLGenerate Thumbnail from Video APIApyHubCALLGenerate Thumbnail from Video Job APIApyHubCALLGenerate Image Thumbnails APIApyHubCALLGenerate File Preview APIApyHub

From the blog

Reads that touch this API.

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