How to upload a video to a lesson or post

Before you start

• Lesson videos: you need to be the owner or an admin. Post videos: any member who can post in the chosen category.
• Limits: one video can be up to 25 GB, four hours, and a 1080p source. A higher-resolution source is rejected, so export it at 1080p first.
• Format: common video files such as MP4, MOV, WebM, and MKV. An exported MP4 is the safest choice when another file will not start.
• Access: videos play for signed-in people with access to that lesson, post, or event. They cannot be embedded on another site.

Add a video to a lesson

1. 1

   Open the lesson in Course studio

   In the Classroom, select Edit course on the course, then select the lesson in the outline on the left. The video box is under the lesson title. An empty lesson shows it as Add the lesson video, and a lesson that already has text shows an Add a video button that opens it.

2. 2

   Choose the caption language

   Set Automatic captions in the video box to Detect language, English, or Spanish before you add the file.

3. 3

   Choose or drop the file

   Drop the video on the box or select Choose a file. The row shows the progress, such as 64% · about a minute left · you can keep writing, and you can work on the lesson or open another one while it runs.

4. 4

   Wait for Ready

   After the transfer, the row says Getting it ready to play. Once the video can play, the row shows its length and Ready, for example 9:00 · Ready, with Thumbnail and Chapters next to Replace and Remove.

5. 5

   Publish when members should see it

   There is no save button, because the studio saves the lesson as you work and the top bar shows Saved. On a course that has never been published, members see the video when you first select Publish. On a published course, they keep the earlier version of the lesson until you select Publish changes.

• Build a lesson with video, text, and blocks
• Turn a batch of files into lessons

Add a video to a post

1. 1

   Start a post

   In the community feed, select Write something to open a new post.

2. 2

   Select Upload a video

   Choose Upload a video in the post tools. Set Automatic captions if you want something other than Detect language, then choose the file.

3. 3

   Post once it is ready

   While the upload runs, the composer says Finish or cancel the video upload before posting and the Post button stays unavailable. Select Post after the video is ready.

Set a thumbnail and chapters

In a post, Thumbnail and Chapters appear under the video once it is ready. In Course studio, they are buttons on the ready row of a lesson video or a Video block, and each opens a panel that says Thumbnail and chapters save to the video right away.

The person who uploaded the video and the Locker's owner and admins can change them. Both save separately from the lesson or post and apply everywhere the same video is used. They skip the course draft, so members of a published course see a new thumbnail or new chapters with no Publish changes step.

Uploads with captions get automatic chapters after the captions finish. While that runs, the editor says Generating chapters. You can keep working while this finishes.

1. 1

   Pick a thumbnail

   Open Thumbnail, then select Choose a video frame and set a time with the Video frame slider or Time in seconds, or select Upload an image and pick a JPEG, PNG, or WebP file up to 5 MB. Select Save thumbnail. Reset default goes back to the automatic image.

2. 2

   Edit the chapters

   Open Chapters to change a chapter's Start time or Title, or use Add chapter and Remove. Select Save chapters. Remove all chapters clears the list, and Reload saved chapters throws away edits you have not saved.

3. 3

   Generate chapters for an older video

   Select Generate automatic chapters. Regenerate automatic chapters asks for a fresh automatic set, and Lockers limits how often you can use it.

What members see

• Chapters appear as markers on the timeline and in a Chapters list with the player.
• The player saves each signed-in member's place about every 12 seconds and when they pause or leave the page. Their next visit picks up there, and Start over clears it. A finished video starts from the beginning next time.
• A lesson video from YouTube resumes the same way, with Resumed at and Start over, and stopping in its last 10 seconds counts as finished. A YouTube video in a Video block starts from the beginning on every visit.
• Watching a video does not mark a lesson complete. The lesson's completion rule still decides that.
• A video still plays when its automatic captions cannot be generated.

Unlimited storage and legacy minutes

Basic and Pro have no monthly total for stored video or playback. Each file still follows the per-file limits, and non-video files use your separate file allowance. If a file is larger or longer than the limit, the owner can request an exception and explain why it is needed. Lockers reviews each request, and 1080p stays the ceiling.

A legacy Locker keeps its stored minutes: 120 on Free and 1,200 on Pro, with a 120-minute limit for a lesson video, 10 minutes for a post video, and 5 GB per file. Video minutes measure stored length, not watch time, and removing a video releases them once nothing else uses it.

• Understand Free, Basic, and Pro limits

If an upload fails

• The file is over 25 GB or four hours: trim or compress it, or have the owner request an exception.
• The source is above 1080p: export the video at 1080p and upload that file. Lockers does not downscale it for you, and exceptions do not raise this limit.
• Wait for an existing upload to finish before starting another: each person can run three uploads at a time, and a Locker ten.
• A message that the video's length could not be read: export the file as an MP4 and try again.
• Video processing failed: select Cancel upload, then try another file.
• A video row in Course studio shows Retry: the upload stopped or processing failed. Select Retry, or select Cancel and choose another file, such as an MP4 export.
• Video uploads are temporarily unavailable: new uploads are paused. Videos already attached keep playing, so try again later.
• Playback was interrupted. Retry to load the video again.: select Retry video.
• On a legacy Locker, This video exceeds the community's available video minutes or Not enough stored minutes: remove videos you no longer use, or paste a YouTube link, which uses no stored minutes.
• On a legacy Locker, Videos must be no longer than 10 minutes, or 120 minutes for a lesson: trim the file, or put a longer video in a lesson.