Introduction
The properties you can set in the player configuration are detailed below (and listed in the left navigation) starting with account_id. Also included in this document is information on how to view and configure property values.
View configuration
There are numerous ways to view the player's configuration, detailed in this section.
Using Studio
You can use Studio to view the player's JSON configuration. The following step detail the process:
- Open the PLAYERS module and locate the player of which you wish to view the configuration.
- Click the link for the player to open the player's properties.
- Click JSON Editor in the left navigation menu.
- You can view the player's configuration, similar to the following:
Browsing using config.json
An instance of the new Brightcove player's configuration is stored in a JSON file. You can see this JSON file, or parts of it, in several ways.
One way to view the player configuration is by changing the player's URL from ending with index.html
to config.json
. For example:
https://players.brightcove.net/1507807800001/HJyMlHiuZ_default/config.json
Some of the properties in the player configuration define the following:
- The name and version of the player
- The video(s) the player will playback
- The account to which the player belongs
- The player's ID
- Any plugins the player can use, as well as the URLs for the locations of the plugin code
- A poster to display before video playback
An example player configuration file, for a player from the Step-by-Step: Player Management, is as follows:
{
"player": {
"template": {
"version": "0.9.5",
"name": "single-video-template"
}
},
"media": {
"poster": {
"highres": "https://solutions.brightcove.com/bcls/assets/images/Tiger.jpg"
},
"sources": [{
"type": "application/x-mpegURL",
"src": "https://solutions.brightcove.com/bcls/assets/videos/Tiger.m3u8"
}, {
"type": "video/mp4",
"src": "https://solutions.brightcove.com/bcls/assets/videos/Tiger.mp4"
}]
},
"scripts": [
"https://solutions.brightcove.com/bcls/video-js/new-player/first-plugin.js"
],
"stylesheets": [
"https://solutions.brightcove.com/bcls/video-js/new-player/first-plugin.css"
],
"plugins": [{
"name": "firstPlugin"
}],
"account_id": "1507807800001",
"player_id": "54ade2f3-3b51-4a6b-bc87-32b9a0b81384",
"embed_id": "default"
}
{
"media": {
"poster": {
"highres": "https://solutions.brightcove.com/bcls/assets/images/Tiger.jpg"
},
"sources": [{
"type": "application/x-mpegURL",
"src": "https://solutions.brightcove.com/bcls/assets/videos/Tiger.m3u8"
}, {
"type": "video/mp4",
"src": "https://solutions.brightcove.com/bcls/assets/videos/Tiger.mp4"
}]
},
"video_cloud": {
"video": "4093372393001",
"policy_key": "BCpkADawqM2FnBS3InxzDxU4bd4otJdHKvexlXfhs_XgSj3jmBHAsV2xANIvSPd4KiakMbiQM5oYJPopOcJD7vNnPWGPGsnXCO3_ZGdjPmur53WV_a4JUPWHCLt5oiyekN44i24jZzHMB6hT"
},
"player": {
"template": {
"name": "single-video-template",
"version": "6.5.0"
}
},
"scripts": ["https://solutions.brightcove.com/bcls/video-js/new-player/first-plugin.js"],
"stylesheets": ["https://solutions.brightcove.com/bcls/video-js/new-player/first-plugin.css"],
"plugins": [{
"name": "firstPlugin"
}]
}
GET with {player_id}/configuration
endpoint
You can retrieve the same information just shown by using the HTTP GET
method. Using GET
with the //configuration
endpoint you can retrieve the published player's configuration information. An example curl statement, and the JSON retrieved is shown here:
curl \
--header "Content-Type: application/json" \
--user $EMAIL \
--request GET \
https://players.api.brightcove.com/v2/accounts//players//configuration
{
"player": {
"template": {
"version": "0.9.5",
"name": "single-video-template"
}
},
"media": {
"poster": {
"highres": "https://solutions.brightcove.com/bcls/assets/images/Tiger.jpg"
},
"sources": [{
"type": "application/x-mpegURL",
"src": "https://solutions.brightcove.com/bcls/assets/videos/Tiger.m3u8"
}, {
"type": "video/mp4",
"src": "https://solutions.brightcove.com/bcls/assets/videos/Tiger.mp4"
}]
},
"scripts": ["https://solutions.brightcove.com/bcls/video-js/new-player/first-plugin.js"],
"stylesheets": ["https://solutions.brightcove.com/bcls/video-js/new-player/first-plugin.css"],
"plugins": [{
"name": "firstPlugin"
}]
}
{
"media": {
"poster": {
"highres": "https://solutions.brightcove.com/bcls/assets/images/Tiger.jpg"
},
"sources": [{
"type": "application/x-mpegURL",
"src": "https://solutions.brightcove.com/bcls/assets/videos/Tiger.m3u8"
}, {
"type": "video/mp4",
"src": "https://solutions.brightcove.com/bcls/assets/videos/Tiger.mp4"
}]
},
"video_cloud": {
"video": "4093372393001",
"policy_key": "BCpkADawqM2FnBS3InxzDxU4bd4otJdHKvexlXfhs_XgSj3jmBHAsV2xANIvSPd4KiakMbiQM5oYJPopOcJD7vNnPWGPGsnXCO3_ZGdjPmur53WV_a4JUPWHCLt5oiyekN44i24jZzHMB6hT"
},
"player": {
"template": {
"name": "single-video-template",
"version": "6.5.0"
}
},
"scripts": ["https://solutions.brightcove.com/bcls/video-js/new-player/first-plugin.js"],
"stylesheets": ["https://solutions.brightcove.com/bcls/video-js/new-player/first-plugin.css"],
"plugins": [{
"name": "firstPlugin"
}]
}
GET method {player_id}
endpoint
The HTTP GET
method used with the /
endpoint is the way to retrieve complete player information. This approach gives a superset of player configuration you have just seen. You can think of this endpoint showing you configuration information "one level up" and includes current configuration information for both the preview and published player versions. An example curl statement, and the JSON retrieved is shown here:
curl \
--header "Content-Type: application/json" \
--user $EMAIL \
--request GET \
https://players.api.brightcove.com/v2/accounts//players/
{
"id": "HJyMlHiuZ",
"name": "Video Cloud CURL 10 March",
"branches": {
"preview": {
"configuration": {
"plugins": [{
"name": "firstPlugin"
}],
"stylesheets": ["https://solutions.brightcove.com/bcls/video-js/new-player/first-plugin.css"],
"scripts": ["https://solutions.brightcove.com/bcls/video-js/new-player/first-plugin.js"],
"player": {
"template": {
"version": "6.5.0",
"name": "single-video-template"
}
},
"video_cloud": {
"policy_key": "BCpkADawqM2FnBS3InxzDxU4bd4otJdHKvexlXfhs_XgSj3jmBHAsV2xANIvSPd4KiakMbiQM5oYJPopOcJD7vNnPWGPGsnXCO3_ZGdjPmur53WV_a4JUPWHCLt5oiyekN44i24jZzHMB6hT",
"video": "4093372393001"
},
"media": {
"sources": [{
"src": "https://solutions.brightcove.com/bcls/assets/videos/Tiger.m3u8",
"type": "application/x-mpegURL"
}, {
"src": "https://solutions.brightcove.com/bcls/assets/videos/Tiger.mp4",
"type": "video/mp4"
}],
"poster": {
"highres": "https://solutions.brightcove.com/bcls/assets/images/Tiger.jpg"
}
}
},
"video_cloud": {
"aspect_ratio_height": "9",
"aspect_ratio_width": "16",
"video_id": "4093372393001",
"poster_image_url": "https://brightcove.vo.llnwd.net/e1/pd/1507807800001/1507807800001_4093546643001_7c09c5bb-7643-414d-81da-847a7e5e3654-AWSAccessKeyId-AKIAJWBBMGHEBQ6SISMA-Expires-1425580379-Signature-h4xCk8Zf9xH-2Be779r9ltwGI7Jzg-3D-vs.jpg?pubId=1507807800001&videoId=4093372393001"
},
"updated_at": "2017-08-23T18:09:52.590Z",
"template_updated_at": "2017-08-23T17:48:55.615Z",
"preview_url": "https://preview-players.brightcove.net/v1/accounts/1507807800001/players/HJyMlHiuZ/preview/embeds/default/master/index.html"
},
"master": {
"configuration": {
"media": {
"poster": {
"highres": "https://solutions.brightcove.com/bcls/assets/images/Tiger.jpg"
},
"sources": [{
"type": "application/x-mpegURL",
"src": "https://solutions.brightcove.com/bcls/assets/videos/Tiger.m3u8"
}, {
"type": "video/mp4",
"src": "https://solutions.brightcove.com/bcls/assets/videos/Tiger.mp4"
}]
},
"video_cloud": {
"video": "4093372393001",
"policy_key": "BCpkADawqM2FnBS3InxzDxU4bd4otJdHKvexlXfhs_XgSj3jmBHAsV2xANIvSPd4KiakMbiQM5oYJPopOcJD7vNnPWGPGsnXCO3_ZGdjPmur53WV_a4JUPWHCLt5oiyekN44i24jZzHMB6hT"
},
"player": {
"template": {
"name": "single-video-template",
"version": "6.5.0"
}
},
"scripts": ["https://solutions.brightcove.com/bcls/video-js/new-player/first-plugin.js"],
"stylesheets": ["https://solutions.brightcove.com/bcls/video-js/new-player/first-plugin.css"],
"plugins": [{
"name": "firstPlugin"
}]
},
"video_cloud": {
"poster_image_url": "https://brightcove.vo.llnwd.net/e1/pd/1507807800001/1507807800001_4093546643001_7c09c5bb-7643-414d-81da-847a7e5e3654-AWSAccessKeyId-AKIAJWBBMGHEBQ6SISMA-Expires-1425580379-Signature-h4xCk8Zf9xH-2Be779r9ltwGI7Jzg-3D-vs.jpg?pubId=1507807800001&videoId=4093372393001",
"video_id": "4093372393001",
"aspect_ratio_width": "16",
"aspect_ratio_height": "9"
},
"updated_at": "2017-08-23T18:10:11.843Z",
"template_updated_at": "2017-08-23T17:48:55.622Z",
"preview_url": "https://preview-players.brightcove.net/v1/accounts/1507807800001/players/HJyMlHiuZ/master/embeds/default/master/index.html"
}
},
"created_at": "2017-08-23T17:48:55.615Z",
"accountId": "1507807800001",
"embed_count": 1,
"url": "https://players.brightcove.net/1507807800001/HJyMlHiuZ_default/index.html"
}
{
"account_id": "1507807800001",
"branches": {
"preview": {
"configuration": {
"plugins": [{
"name": "firstPlugin"
}],
"stylesheets": ["https://solutions.brightcove.com/bcls/video-js/new-player/first-plugin.css"],
"scripts": ["https://solutions.brightcove.com/bcls/video-js/new-player/first-plugin.js"],
"player": {
"template": {
"version": "1.5.0",
"name": "single-video-template"
}
},
"video_cloud": {
"policy_key": "BCpkADawqM3ClR-sni6Tc0sFppBHaE91MRyLjE8kUwQjOkXjmK-b2R9fN3IuOnRf_4uuV2LSFwT3eeKUxgYU75eT0c20JEnUKpKU6L-oyjn81zE_P1NF0HJBZiyXyqtHcAdvTpTb29d4S-BH",
"video": "3495887198001"
}
},
"video_cloud": {
"aspect_ratio_height": "14",
"aspect_ratio_width": "25",
"video_id": "3495887198001",
"poster_image_url": "https://brightcove.vo.llnwd.net/e1/pd/1507807800001/1507807800001_3495968128001_humbles-scrappy-statue2-vs.jpg?pubId=1507807800001"
},
"updated_at": "2014-10-23T14:33:21.107Z",
"preview_url": "https://preview-players.brightcove.net/v1/accounts/1507807800001/players/a90a8479-9831-46f6-9eab-90efc7fb9c6b/preview/embeds/default/master/index.html"
},
"master": {
"configuration": {
"video_cloud": {
"video": "3495887198001",
"policy_key": "BCpkADawqM3ClR-sni6Tc0sFppBHaE91MRyLjE8kUwQjOkXjmK-b2R9fN3IuOnRf_4uuV2LSFwT3eeKUxgYU75eT0c20JEnUKpKU6L-oyjn81zE_P1NF0HJBZiyXyqtHcAdvTpTb29d4S-BH"
},
"player": {
"template": {
"name": "single-video-template",
"version": "1.5.0"
}
},
"scripts": ["https://solutions.brightcove.com/bcls/video-js/new-player/first-plugin.js"],
"stylesheets": ["https://solutions.brightcove.com/bcls/video-js/new-player/first-plugin.css"],
"plugins": [{
"name": "firstPlugin"
}]
},
"video_cloud": {
"poster_image_url": "https://brightcove.vo.llnwd.net/e1/pd/1507807800001/1507807800001_3495968128001_humbles-scrappy-statue2-vs.jpg?pubId=1507807800001",
"video_id": "3495887198001",
"aspect_ratio_width": "25",
"aspect_ratio_height": "14"
},
"updated_at": "2014-10-23T14:33:41.201Z",
"preview_url": "https://preview-players.brightcove.net/v1/accounts/1507807800001/players/a90a8479-9831-46f6-9eab-90efc7fb9c6b/master/embeds/default/master/index.html"
}
},
"id": "a90a8479-9831-46f6-9eab-90efc7fb9c6b",
"name": "1031+on+Oct+23",
"created_at": "2014-10-23T14:32:21.384Z",
"embed_count": 1,
"url": "https://players.brightcove.net/1507807800001/a90a8479-9831-46f6-9eab-90efc7fb9c6b_default/index.html"
}
Set name/description
To alter the player configuration you use the //players//configuration
endpoint, and that is this document's emphasis. There are, however, two properties you change using just the //players/
endpoint. Those two properties are name
and description
.
Note: the name
you enter for the player is returned as player_name
when you get the configuration by putting config.json
on the end of the player preview URL (it is returned as name
when you get the configuration via the Player Management API. But you must use name
when you create or update the player.
The first code block shows an example curl statement that changes a player's name
and description
. Note the JSON response shows preview versions of the player are generated by the PATCH method, so you will need to publish the player to get the optimized versions.
curl \
--header "Content-Type: application/json" \
--user $EMAIL \
--request PATCH \
--data '{
"name": "My New Player Name",
"description": "My new player description"
}' \
https://players.api.brightcove.com/v2/accounts//players//configuration
{
"id": "62da9b4d-b8aa-45d5-ba46-f77eac9c9059",
"preview_url": "https://preview-players.brightcove.net/v1/accounts/1507807800001/players/62da9b4d-b8aa-45d5-ba46-f77eac9c9059/preview/embeds/default/master/index.html",
"preview_embed_code": "<iframe src='//preview-players.brightcove.net/v1/accounts/1507807800001/players/62da9b4d-b8aa-45d5-ba46-f77eac9c9059/preview/embeds/default/master/index.html' allowfullscreen webkitallowfullscreen mozallowfullscreen></iframe>"
}
Setting values
You can set the player configuration values using any tool that issues HTTP method calls OR using the JSON Editor which is part of Studio's PLAYERS module. The curl tool can be used, and example statements shown in the Step-by-Step: Player Management and AJAX use explained in many of the Brightcove Player examples.
An example change using the JSON Editor is shown here:

Be sure to save your changes after editing the player's JSON configuration.
Configuring properties
Some configuration properties are set by the Player Management Service and are not modifiable. Those are:
- account_id
- player_id
- embed_id
All other properties detailed below are modifiable.
Details on the properties follow. You can use the list below for quick access to specific properties.
- account_id
- ad_config_id
- ad_failover
- application_id
- autoadvance
- autoplay
- base_url
- breakpoints
- crossorigin
- css
- debugger
- dock
- embed_id
- errors
- flash
- fullscreenControl
- hls
- inactive
- language
- languages
- loop
- media
- muted
- picture_in_picture_control
- playback_rates
- player
- play_button
- player_id
- player_name
- playsinline
- playlists
- plugins
- preload
- query_string_to_window
- repeat
- responsive
- scripts
- skin
- stylesheets
- techOrder
- version
- video_cloud
- volume_orientation
- vttjs
- wait_for_ad_block_detect
account_id
The Video Cloud account ID associated with the player. This value cannot be modified.
ad_config_id
ad_config_id
information:
- Data type: string
- Default:
undefined
- A Dynamic Delivery SSAI ad configuration ID. In addition to being set on the player configuration, it can be set at runtime via the adConfigId query string parameter for iframe players or the data-ad-config-id attribute for in-page players. Either of these will override any value in the player configuration.
ad_failover
ad_failover
information:
- Data type: boolean
- Default:
undefined
- Set to true to enable ad failover behavior. This is a multi-part configuration that depends on:
- Both IMA3 and SSAI plugins must be configured on the player.
- An
ad_config_id
should be available, otherwise SSAI ads are not available.
application_id
application_id
information:
- Data type: string
- Default:
undefined
- The application ID is used to differentiate multiple uses of a single player in metrics. It is invisible to the user.
autoadvance
autoadvance
information:
- Data type: string
- Default: Not initially enabled
- Used with playlists and sets the autoadvance behavior of the playlist.
For more information see the Playlists section below, as well as the Playlist API document.
autoplay
autoplay
information:
- Data type: boolean or string
- Default:
false
- Indicates that the player should start playing immediately, on platforms where this is allowed.
If autoplay
is set to a boolean value the browser's native autoplay behavior is used. If it is set to one of the following three valid string values, the following occurs:
play
: The player will manually try to call play.muted
: The player will manually mute the player and call play.any
: The player will first try to call play. If that fails, mute the player and call play.
If any of the above fail, the player will display the "Big Play Button" as if autoplay was set to false.
The following shows a curl statement to set the autoplay
value:
Example using boolean values
curl \
--header "Content-Type: application/json" \
--user $EMAIL \
--request PATCH \
--data '{
"autoplay": true
}' \
https://players.api.brightcove.com/v2/accounts//players//configuration
Example using string values
curl \
--header "Content-Type: application/json" \
--user $EMAIL \
--request PATCH \
--data '{
"autoplay": "muted"
}' \
https://players.api.brightcove.com/v2/accounts//players//configuration
Getting a video to autoplay can be a complex situation. See the Autoplay Considerations document for further details.
breakpoints
breakpoints
information:
- Data type: Object
- Default: The default breakpoints are:
- When used with the responsive option, sets breakpoints that will configure how class names are toggled on the player to adjust the UI based on the player's dimensions.
Class Name Width Range vjs-layout-tiny 0-210 vjs-layout-x-small 211-320 vjs-layout-small 321-425 vjs-layout-medium 426-768 vjs-layout-large 769-1440 vjs-layout-x-large 1441-2560 vjs-layout-huge 2561+
While the class names cannot be changed, the width ranges can be configured via an object like this:
breakpoints: {
tiny: 300,
xsmall: 400,
small: 500,
medium: 600,
large: 700,
xlarge: 800,
huge: 900
}
- The keys of the breakpoints object are derived from the associated class names by removing the
vjs-layout-
prefix and any-
characters. - The values of the breakpoints object define the max width for a range.
- Not all keys need to be defined. You can easily override a single breakpoint by passing an object with one key/value pair. Customized breakpoints will be merged with default breakpoints when the player is created.
When the player's size changes, the merged breakpoints will be inspected in the size order until a matching breakpoint is found. That breakpoint's associated class name will be added as a class to the player. The previous breakpoint's class will be removed.
crossorigin
crossorigin
information:
- Data type: boolean
- Default: false
- If true, the underlying <video> element will have crossorigin="anonymous". This means that any videos or text tracks pulled into the player must have CORS headers.
CSS color overrides
There are three properties that can be used to override the colors in the player. They are:
controlColor
: The color of the buttons and text (e.g., the playhead position and video duration)controlBarColor
: The background color of the control bar and the big Play buttonprogressColor
: The color of the progress bar
Any valid CSS color (including hex colors, for instance) are acceptable values for these properties.
Here is a curl statement to set all three of the CSS properties to green, followed by a screenshot displaying the results:
curl \
--header "Content-Type: application/json" \
--user $EMAIL \
--request PATCH \
--data '{
"css": {
"controlColor": "green",
"controlBarColor": "green",
"progressColor": "green"
}
}' \
https://players.api.brightcove.com/v2/accounts//players//configuration

debugger
The debugger shows player information in a modal window. See the Player Information Modal document for full information.
dock
dock
information:
- Data type: boolean
- Default: true
- If explicitly
false
, the player will not include the so-called dock where the video title and description can be displayed.
embed_id
embed_id
information:
- Data type: string
- Default:
undefined
- The Video Cloud embed ID associated with this player. If the value is
default
it means the player is not a child player. If the value is notdefault
, it is a value representing the parent of the player.
errors
errors
information:
- Data type: Object or boolean
- Default: true
- Explicitly setting
false
will prevent the player from including videojs-errors, which is the error messages plugin. Making this value false will cause the player to not show detailed error messages to viewers when an error occurs. Errors which prevent playback will still appear in the web developer console.
flash
flash
information:
- Data type: Object
- Default:
undefined
- Can be used to provide custom Flash options to Video.js.
fullscreenControl
fullscreenControl
information:
- Data type: boolean
- Default: true
- Indicates whether the fullscreen control should be shown in the control bar
The following shows a curl statement to set the fullscreenControl
value:
curl \
--header "Content-Type: application/json" \
--user $EMAIL \
--request PATCH \
--data '{
"autoplay": true,
"fullscreenControl": false
}' \
https://players.api.brightcove.com/v2/accounts//players//configuration
The following two screenshots show the player with and without the fullscreen control:


hls
hls
information:
- Data type: Object or boolean
- Default:
{}
- If
false
, the player will not include videojs-http-streaming. Otherwise, an object will be passed as options for videojs-http-streaming.
Inactive player
It is possible to make players inactive. You might want to do this to have a player stop serving content, but not have a 404 error appear if a deleted player is browsed.
To deactivate a player set the player
field's inactive
property to true
, as follows:
curl \
--header "Content-Type: application/json" \
--user $EMAIL \
--request PATCH \
--data '{
"player": {
"inactive": true
}
}' \
https://players.api.brightcove.com/v2/accounts//players//configuration
Of course, if you wish to activate the player, you can set the inactive
property to false
.
Once the player is deactivated, if a user browses the player the following message will appear:

language
language
information:
- Data type: string
- Default:
undefined
- Can be provided to set the
lang
attribute of the<html>
element.
languages
languages
information:
- Data type: Array of string
- Default:
undefined
- Can be an array of strings that will cause the specified languages to be included in the player. The only languages that are valid are those included in Video.js. See the Localizing Brightcove Player document for more information.
loop
loop
information:
- Causes the video to start over as soon as it ends.
media
The media
property has child properties as shown in the following table.
Property | Data Type | Description |
---|---|---|
src | string |
|
sources | array of objects |
|
title | string |
|
poster.highres | string |
|
height | string |
|
width | string |
|
tracks | array |
|
In the following JSON, you can see a media
property containing:
- A poster.highres property
- A sources property containing two source objects, one for an HLS video and one for a MP4 video
"media": {
"poster": {
"highres": "https://solutions.brightcove.com/bcls/assets/images/Tiger.jpg"
},
"sources": [{
"type": "application/x-mpegURL",
"src": "https://solutions.brightcove.com/bcls/assets/videos/Tiger.m3u8"
}, {
"type": "video/mp4",
"src": "https://solutions.brightcove.com/bcls/assets/videos/Tiger.mp4"
}]
},
The source that is selected for playback is determined by the video order you've configured and the capabilities of the browser and device on which the player is loaded. If you haven't altered the defaults, and HLS is supported natively, the player will check if any of the sources point to HLS videos and select the first one it finds. If HLS is not supported natively or no HLS video sources have been specified, HTML playback will be attempted next. As previously, the first playable source will be selected. If the first two attempts to play the video fail, Flash fallback will be tried.
To summarize, the play order specifies your preferred playback medium and then each configured option tries all of the available sources and uses the first one it knows how to play.
You can see which source is playing using the currentSrc()
function. The following screenshot shows using the function in a browser console.

muted
muted
information:
- Data type: boolean
- Default: false
- Determines whether sound is muted when the player loads.
picture_in_picture_control
picture_in_picture_control
information:
- Data type: boolean
- Default: true
- Indicates whether the built-in picture-in-picture control should be shown in the control bar.
playback_rates
playback_rates
information:
- Data type: Array
- Default: None
- Array of playback rates to show in the playback rate control.
The values are read then presented in a playback rate control in the player's controlbar.

You can use either Studio or curl to change the value of the property:

curl \
--header "Content-Type: application/json" \
--user $EMAIL \
--request PATCH \
--data '{
"playback_rates": [0.1,1,2.5,6]
}' \
https://players.api.brightcove.com/v2/accounts//players//configuration
player
player
information:
- Data type: Object
- Default: Populate with player specific information
- Contains various meta-data about this player, for instance
inactive
andtemplate.version
.
play_button
play_button
information:
- Data type: Object
- The following properties are available for modification via player configuration:
Property Type Effect hover string glow
ordarken
; default is pink / progress colorshape string square
orrectangle
; default is a circleposition string topLeft
ortopRight
; default is center
player_id
player_id
information:
- Data type: string
- The Video Cloud player ID associated with a player
player_name
player_name
information:
- Data type: string
- The Video Cloud player name associated with a player - note: the
name
you enter for the player is returned asplayer_name
when you get the configuration by puttingconfig.json
on the end of the player preview URL (it is returned asname
when you get the configuration via the Player Management API. But you must usename
when you create or update the player.
playsinline
playsinline
information:
- Data type: boolean
- Default: false
- Enables the player for inline playback (necessary for playback on some devices).
Playlists
There are now two different playlist implementations, detailed in the Using Playlists document. The default is version 3. Information for configuring both versions is detailed here.
Both configurations will show how to set the following:
autoadvance
: Assigned integer number in seconds to delay before loading the next video in the playlist; value of0
assigned will cause no wait between videos; value ofnull
assigned will cause no auto advance.playOnSelect
: Assignedtrue
so when clicking an item from the playlist menu will cause the video to play when loaded, even if the previous video in the player was paused.
Playlist version 3 (Default)
To configure playlists using the version 3 plugin, you use the Plugin Registry. Here is a curl statement to configure the use of the Playlist version 3 plugin:
curl \
--header "Content-Type: application/json" \
--user $EMAIL \
--request POST \
--data '{
"name": "Plugin Registry Test Player",
"configuration": {
"video_cloud": {
"video": "4093372393001"
},
"plugins": [
{
"registry_id": "@brightcove/videojs-bc-playlist-ui",
"version": "3.x"
}
]
}
}' \
https://players.api.brightcove.com/v2/accounts//players
See the Plugin Registry document for information on its use and benefits.
To set the playOnSelect
and autoadvance
options when creating the player use the following:
curl \
--header "Content-Type: application/json" \
--user $EMAIL \
--request POST \
--data '{
"name": "Plugin Registry Test Player",
"configuration": {
"video_cloud": {
"video": "4093372393001"
},
"plugins": [
{
"registry_id": "@brightcove/videojs-bc-playlist-ui",
"version": "3.x",
"options": {
"playOnSelect": true
}
}
],
"autoadvance": 2
}
}' \
https://players.api.brightcove.com/v2/accounts//players
Playlist Version 1 (Legacy)
In addition to autoadvance
and playOnSelect
two other properties that are used to configure the use of playlists version 1. They are:
playlist
: Assignedtrue
to have a player use playlists.adjusted
: Assignedtrue
to have the player adjust player dimensions for playlist.
Here is a curl statement to set three of the playlist related properties:
curl \
--header "Content-Type: application/json" \
--user $EMAIL \
--request PATCH \
--data '{
"playlist": true,
"autoadvance": 2,
"studio_configuration": {
"player": {
"adjusted": true,
"height": "",
"width": ""
}
}
}' \
https://players.api.brightcove.com/v2/accounts//players//configuration
To set playOnSelect
for playlists version 1 use the following curl statement:
curl \
--header "Content-Type: application/json" \
--user $EMAIL \
--request PATCH \
--data '{
{"playOnSelect": true}
}' \
https://players.api.brightcove.com/v2/accounts//players//configuration
Programmatically determining if player contains a playlist
If you are using JavaScript in a page that contains a player and wish to check if a playlist plugin is being used you can use the following:
player.hasPlugin('playlist')
If you are checking for the presence of a playlist plugin, and not in a page with a player (for instance when checking a list of players for use with a connector), you have to use a bit more complicated process. You would read the player's configuration, then check to see if the plugins section of the player's JSON contains "name": "bcPlaylistUi". One solution for that task follows:
var theJSON = {},
pluginAra = [],
ifFound = [],
theJSONString =
'{"account_id":"1507807800001","autoadvance":0,"autoplay":false,"embed_id":"default","fullscreenControl":true,"id":"r1fbqySRZ","player":{"inactive":false,"template":{"locked":false,"name":"single-video-template","version":"6.8.3","version_alias":null}},"player_id":"r1fbqySRZ","player_name":"playlist v2 junk","playlist":true,"plugins":[{"injected_version":"2.1.2","name":"bcPlaylistUi","options":{"playOnSelect":true},"registry_id":"@brightcove/videojs-bc-playlist-ui","version":"2.x"}],"preload":"metadata","scripts":["//players.brightcove.net/videojs-bc-playlist-ui/2.1.2/videojs-bc-playlist-ui.min.js"],"studio_configuration":{"player":{"adjusted":true,"height":150,"width":300}},"stylesheets":["//players.brightcove.net/videojs-bc-playlist-ui/2.1.2/videojs-bc-playlist-ui.css"],"updated_at":"2017-10-30T18:06:07.800Z","video_cloud":{"policy_key":"BCpkADawqM2_X3Xxh3xln23EqlR3BETHrfycIPT-a7kqhBi6q8g3XOmTr3tEJiFoi_YmI7vfbJzS4mY0Un5RACc3jC8cLVqyvmfWFLI-tG5oJYGXNUrvOwRJYQEt2eVpMZnBd0FH22i7Mtk3","video":null}}';
theJSON = JSON.parse(theJSONString);
pluginAra = theJSON.plugins;
ifFound = pluginAra.filter(function(pluginAra) {
return pluginAra.name === "bcPlaylistUi"
});
if (ifFound.length === 1) {
console.log('Contains playlist plugin');
} else {
console.log('No playlist');
}
plugins
The plugins
property specifies the order to initialize video.js plugins and any customized settings to apply to them. The plugin must be supported by a corresponding scripts
property URL entry, and if needed a supporting stylesheets
URL. Each element of the plugins
array is an object with a name
property, and can also contain an optional options
property:
name
: The name of the video.js plugin, taken from the supporting JavaScript codeoptions
: An object hash of settings overrides to provide to the plugin at initialization time
Options child
In this options
child property, you pass data to utilize at initialization time. The following JSON passes in a single object in the options
.
"plugins": [{
"name": "navigateOnVideoEnd",
"options" : {"redirectURL": "https://docs.brightcove.com"}
}]
This gives you the ability to pass data to a plugin via the player configuration. For instance, to use the redirectURL
object shown above, you would do the following in the plugin itself:
videojs.registerPlugin('navigateOnVideoEnd', function (options) {
var myPlayer = this;
myPlayer.on("ended", function () {
window.location.href = options.redirectURL;
});
});
Note: you use the standard plugin implementation, but use options
as a parameter in the anonymous function. You can then access the value using options.propertyName
notation.
Some Brightcove supplied plugins utilize the plugin registry and configuration is different than what shown here. See the Overview: Plugin Registry document for detailed information.
preload
preload
information:
- Data type: string
- Default:
none
- The preload attribute informs the browser whether or not the video data should begin downloading as soon as the video tag is loaded. The options are auto, metadata, and none.
-
auto: Indicates that the whole video file could be downloaded, even if the user does not eventually watch the video. On the positive side, if the viewer plays the video, it can start playing immediately. On the negative side, this option will increase bandwidth consumption as the preload/load happens even if the viewer does not play the video.
-
metadata (default): Load the meta data of the video, which includes information like the duration and dimensions of the video. This setting will also load several seconds of video data.
-
none: Don't preload any of the video data. This will wait until the user clicks play to begin downloading.
<video-js preload ...>
or
{ "preload": "auto" }
query_string_to_window
query_string_to_window
information:
-
- Name:
query_string_to_window.target
- Data type: string
- Description: A destination object to create on the window, which will be populated with the entire parsed query string. For example, a use of
query_string_to_window.target
given the following in a player configuration:{ "query_string_to_window": {"target": "queryStringParams"} }
?foo=bar&nums=1&nums=2
window.queryStringParams
global object would be available to the player and plugins:{ foo: 'bar', nums: ['1', '2'] }
- Name:
-
- Name:
query_string_to_window.globals
- Data type: Array
- Description: An array of property names of the window object, which will be populated from values found in the query string. Any matching properties that already exist on the
window
object or its prototype chain will not be set. For example, a use ofquery_string_to_window.globals
given the following in a player configuration:{ "query_string_to_window": { "globals": [ "foo", "nums", "self" ] } }
?foo=bar&nums=1&nums=2&self=not-allowed
window
global object with the following properties added:window.foo; // 'bar' window.nums; // ['1', '2'] // Because `self` already exists on the `window` object, it will not be set // and a warning will be logged to the browser console. window.self; // window
- Name:
repeat
repeat
information:
- Data type is
boolean
- Will cause a playlist to repeat playing IF the player is a playlist player. Set at the top level of the player configuration.
responsive
responsive
information:
- Data type: boolean
- Default:
true
- Setting this option to
true
will cause the player to customize itself based on responsive breakpoints (see: breakpoints option).
For full details on this feature being enabled see the release notes for Brightcove Player 6.29.2.
scripts
scripts
information:
- The data type is an array of strings referencing JavaScript files that are included with the player
- No default value
- At the time the player is built, these files will be downloaded and inlined into the resulting output so that they do not need to be subsequently fetched at runtime
- Scripts are inlined in the order they are specified so you can safely include scripts that depend on one another
skin
skin
information:
- Data type: boolean or string
- Default: undefined
- Determines the visual style variant that the player will use. This value is also reflected in the globally-accessible
bc.SKIN
property in the browser. It recognizes the following values:Value bc.SKIN Description "graphite" "graphite" Uses the old Brightcove Player style as well as some compatibility hacks. false "none" Disables all Brightcove Player styling. This is the option to use for a highly customized UI from the ground up. undefined "luna" Leaving this undefined
will cause the player to use the default skin (a.k.a. Luna)."sapphire" "sapphire" Default skin when using Video Cloud Studio to create players, but not the default for the player itself.
stylesheets
stylesheets
information:
- An array of URL strings referencing CSS files that should be included with the player
- At the time the player is built, the additional stylesheets are downloaded and inlined into the player so that they do not need to be fetched at runtime
- Stylesheets are included in the order you specify them
techOrder
techOrder
information:
- Data type: Array
- Default: ['html5','flash']
- By default Brightcove Player performs tech-first ordering when it searches for a source/tech combination to play videos. This means that if you have two sources and two techs, the player will try to play each video with the first tech in the
techOrder
option property before moving on to try the next playback technology. See the Guide: Playback Technology document for more information.
You can use the following curl statement to change the techOrder
from the default of ['html5','flash']
to ['flash','html5']
:
curl \
--header "Content-Type: application/json" \
--user $EMAIL \
--request PATCH \
--data '{
"techOrder": "['flash','html']"
}' \
https://players.api.brightcove.com/v2/accounts//players//configuration
version
You can manually set the player version using the PLAYERS module JSON Editor.

video_cloud
With this property you can create a player using a video from your Video Cloud library. The curl statement below shows player creation using a Video Cloud video's ID.
curl \
--header "Content-Type: application/json" \
--user $EMAIL \
--request POST \
--data '{
"name": "Video Cloud CURL 10 March",
"configuration": {
"video_cloud": {
"video": "4093372393001"
}
}
}' \
https://players.api.brightcove.com/v2/accounts//players
Note that in the request body object, name
and description
are top-level properties, and all others are properties of the configuration
object. Any of the configuration properties can be included in the configuration
when you create the player.
volume_orientation
volume_orientation
information:
- Data type: string
- Default: horizontal
- The
volume_orientation
property determines if the volume level slider is oriented horizontally or vertically.
You can use either Studio or curl to change the value of the property:

curl \
--header "Content-Type: application/json" \
--user $EMAIL \
--request PATCH \
--data '{
"volume_orientation": "vertical"
}' \
https://players.api.brightcove.com/v2/accounts//players//configuration
vttjs
vttjs
information:
- Data type: string
- Default: vjs.zencdn.net CDN
- Sets the URL from which to load vtt.js. This is the same as the standard Video.js option
vtt.js
. The Brightcove Player usesvttjs
instead as a dotted property name is not possible to use in the Player Management API, and may be problematic elsewhere. The option can be set as adata-vttjs
attribute, avttjs
iframe query parameter, avttjs
setup option orvttjs
in the player configuration.
wait_for_ad_block_detect
wait_for_ad_block_detect
information:
- Data type: boolean
- Default: undefined
- When set to
true
, the player will delay its auto-initialization process until after the ad-block detection has made a decision. This may delay player initialization by up to 100 milliseconds or so. This does not need to be set totrue
when usingad_failover
as the delaying behavior occurs in both cases.