My First Three Videos - and Three Questions for Zazzle

[SwissVillage]

Let me begin by saying I agree with many of the issues on videos raised in the important conversation in these forums.  And there is absolutely no question that making them is time consuming!  However personally I happen to enjoy creating videos, and have already done quite a few for social media use.  So I am happy Zazzle has provided this new feature, and that I will also be able to use my videos to promote my products here.

I've just uploaded my first three three videos to three different products and in the process I thought of three questions for Zazzle.  Click on the titles below to see them.  For those interested in making videos, I'm also giving details on tools used for these three examples.

1. Bernese Mountain Dog
Question: Can we feature multiple products with the same design in media library video as I have done in this particular video?  I have added the words: "This design is also available on T-shirts and other products on Zazzle" as a caption.  Hopefully there is no issue with doing this, since it allows us to make a single video for multiple products that use the same design.

Tools Used for this Video: Placeit Mockups and ArtPlacer mockups assembled, animated and exported in video format using CANVA.  

2. Malibu Beach Party T-Shirt

Question: The Media Library chose a video thumbnail for my video (a generic beach party shot) that is not the one I want to use.  I would like to choose a thumbnail from the video that highlights my product.  Zazzle, in the future can we be allowed to select our own video thumbnails as you can do on many social media platforms?

Video Tools Used: Placeit Video Mockups downloaded, spliced and edited together with stock beach party footage from Envato. Used Final Cut Pro X (FCPX) desktop software.  The same could be done in iMovie or an iphone video editing app.

3. Veni Vidi Vici T-Shirt

Question:  This is the first video I uploaded and it happened to have music.  I originally left it with the music because I understood music would be silenced by Zazzle. However the music did play.  I later deleted the video with sound and uploaded this one with the music silent.  But what is the policy? Is music allowed if we have the rights to it?  Is it encouraged?  Discouraged?

Video Tools Used: Placeit Video Mockups downloaded and spliced together in Final Cut Pro X (FCPX) desktop software.  The same could be done in iMovie or an iphone video editing app. Placeit also lets you combine videos directly in the app, but without much ability to edit further. 

Lastly, how will these videos be used on Zazzle?  They don't seem to become the primary graphic for the product (we would I think need the thumbnail option for that to make any sense).  Will Zazzle be using them in promotions or pushing them forward in other ways?  Because I'm not really convinced yet that folks are going to see them. 

[Marcia]

@SwissVillage Great job on these & thank you for sharing! You really know what you're doing in terms of video. I have a longgg way to go – not sure if I'll be doing any, save for the ones I've already done for instagram which are either unboxings or slide show things. Need to see how prominent they'll end up being on Zazzle.

[Sandra-]

@SwissVillage Love them! Thanks so much for sharing the links and how you created them. Very useful info 👏

[Cat]

Those are AMAZING! Are you willing to share your secrets for how you made those? I'm especially curious about the Veni Vidi Vici one because it seems to use the same Zazzle model only he's moving! Is that AI, or is there some sort of video mockup thing you can buy like you can for the cover images? Inquiring minds want to know!

[SwissVillage]

The moving models are from Placeit's mockup generator. They have multiple t-shirt videos you can place your art work on.  You need the subscription version to do that I believe (9.99 a month).

[Cat]

Thanks so much. I was looking at Placeit but I didn't see a whole lot that would be relevant for wedding stuff - like videos for invitations etc. Maybe I didn't look hard enough. Anyhow, their stuff for t-shirts is quite impressive!

[terryjstudio]

yes Cat- I subscribed to Place it but it doesn't seem to have much for invitations and stationary. In fact I found very little I could use with zazzle aside from Mugs and T shirts (I don't do t Shirts) 

[Malissa]

@CatOne of the tshirt options has had the video mockup since I have been here. Swiss's video is below that with a couple of different models and not the z model- at least in my view currently. 

[Cat]

@Malissa Ha! Who knew? Well, obviously you did! I don't design many t-shirts so I guess I just never notices. Well, mystery solved! Thank you!

[VivianD117]

can you upload an MP4 video?  What did you create your video's with?  I do videos to send to friends using a pc function called Movie Maker -- would that work do you think?

[mylittleeden]

Wow 😍 amazing, thanks for sharing... that is an awesome job! I really appreciate you sharing your tools you used too as I have no idea, the last one I created was years ago and an animated gif 🤣... Are we going to be at a disadvantage and lose sales again for not doing at least one per collection? Agree very time consuming... concerning.

[SwissVillage]

Thanks for all the nice comments.   I love making videos, but it is a lot of work to do.  This morning I'm actually feeling totally blown out of the water and pretty deflated after looking at the Media Manager Playbook on what Zazzle imagines our videos are going to look like.  The sample videos on that guidelines page all use real life situations, as far as I can tell, where someone has to have actually purchased the products and put them into use to get that type of effect.  Zazzle's video models held up for us to follow all show things you can't yet create using mockups and just digital creativity  - at least not until AI goes a little further.   So those are beyond reach for most of us, for most of our products, since we aren't going to be buying samples of our own work, and lighting up scenes and wedding party reenactments just to create in situ videos!  I know Zazzle meant to inspire us, but they have set the bar so high, those unreachable examples might have the opposite effect.

I also noticed the samples are all in vertical or tall format (the type used on TikTok and copied now for reels on Instagram).  And yet when I experimented with uploading a video in that format to Zazzle, it does not look good on the product page - a square video looks much better in context on our product page.  So it would be helpful to understand if by videos, Zazzle really wants them in "reel" or portrait format, or if square is also good.  

To respond to some of the questions above, I've been uploading MP4 format, and it seems to work perfectly.  I expect .Mov probably works as well.  Any video maker that exports in those formats should do.

The tools I've been using the most are are Canva (subscription version), Placeit (subscription version which has video mockups), and Final Cut Pro X to cut and splice together videos (there are many other options for doing this, both on desktop and on iphone).  

For still images I'm also extensively using Photoshop Beta's new generative content features, using the adobe AI to add elements and backgrounds to product pictures.  For example, you can take a pillow and put it on a blue vintage sofa, or place a wedding table number on a wedding table with white roses.  Or if its a shirt for Corgi lovers, you can add a Corgi to the image.  It's kind of wonky and you might need to generate multiple versions before you get something that looks nice.  I'm also generating some background images in Midjourney.  And of course you can make a simple video slide show out of a series of still images of different in situ contexts in sequence.

So all of this involves an investment of time and money.  It's a question of experimenting to figure out how much reward that investment will bring and whether it is worth it.  Not certain about that yet, but having fun playing with it.

[ievajen]

Photoshop gives sometimes message "not for commercial use", so maybe better use from canva background fills, not sure

[SwissVillage]

Thanks ievajen, for noting this. I was very aware that Adobe Firefly was not yet for commercial use, however I thought the Photoshop Beta integrated "generative fill" was fully good to go - they are promoting it everywhere with no mention of non-commercial only.  When I installed and used it I saw no such warning.  But after reading your message I googled Adobe Generative Fill commercial use and in fact apparently they don't want it used commercially yet.  It will be for commercial use only after it is out of Beta.  Anyway, I guess I'll have to stick to Canva and Midjourney for now.  Wanted to edit my post above so I'm not recommending it, but can't seem to find a way to do so.  

[terryjstudio]

Thanks Swiss. My friend and I were just wondering what Zazzle means by "video" but if this works for them, that is simple enough with Canva pro. I was searching for an answer to your other question last week about multiple products with the same design. In general it seems this is not good for SEO because it refers to more than one URL. I'm not sure how Zazzle collections fits with that.

[Lais]

I have the same questions! Yesterday, I uploaded a video for one of my invitations:
https://www.zazzle.com/z/vmp9vank?rf=238047688932736484

I wonder if that's okay for invitations because it kind of shows how the invitation was created with the design tool. I'm thinking of creating more videos like that for my invitations. And I realized that there are people on the internet who sell "custom animated video invitations", that's nice!

[Scott]

Hi Creator,

Thank you for your questions and for your enthusiasm in using our video feature! You'll find the answers to your inquiries below:

1. Yes, you have the freedom to feature multiple products within a single video if you believe it will help boost your sales. We aim to empower Creators to market their products in the way that suits best. Customers may not see or read your caption, so we would suggest incorporating as a pop up within the video.
2. Your feedback is received! Choosing your own video thumbnail is a feature we will consider for the future.
3. You're welcome to use music in your videos, provided you have the necessary rights to do so. We encourage Creators to select music that complements their product marketing efforts, and music labeled as “Royalty free” are generally safe to use.

As of now, videos cannot serve as the primary image. They are exclusively available for the product page at this time but will eventually extend to other areas both on and off our platform.

Hope this information helps!

-Scott (and team!)

[GraphicAllusion]

Hi. I've just looked at the official video tutorials/advice that Zazzle has recommended us to follow for posting videos to social media such as Facebook, Instagram and Tik Tok. I saw that commercially allowed music that you can download from Facebook is fine for our videos that we post to Facebook and Instagram, but could we also use it here in our stores as well? TIA.