The Video Control Panel can be used to add a background video to an element (a container, grid, or text box) and edit the settings and behavior of that video. It is also used to edit the settings of the Video Element.

If you aren't sure whether to add video to your page as a background video, or via the Video Element, refer to this article which can help you decide.

To open the Video Control Panel, click the icon in the right toolbar, select it from the "Window" menu, or press <shift>-V on your keyboard.

To add a video to an element, click the "Add Video" button. This will open the video uploader window. You can then add video by uploading it from your local drive, or streaming it from a 3rd-party source (i.e. YouTube, Vimeo).

To stream from an external source, select the "External Video URL" tab in the video uploader window.

Then paste the video URL (i.e. the YouTube link) into the "external URL" field and hit return on your keyboard. You should immediately see the video appear within the Video Controls panel, and within the element on the stage.

You can also add video by uploading it from your local drive. If you upload your own video, then you can just drag and drop it from either the Media Library or directly from your desktop into the video element.

For uploaded video, you are limited to a maximum file size of 1 GB. If you want to display video on your site that is larger than this, you should stream it from an external URL or compress your video.

You can choose a "cover image" or thumbnail to provide a static representation of the video when it is not playing. This may often be a single frame a few seconds into the video. For videos on YouTube or Vimeo, you need to update the cover image there. If you uploaded the video to TIME Sites, you can change it in the Video Panel.

You may apply a background video to any element on the page. If you want to add a background video, don't drag a Video Element onto the stage — instead, select another element (such as a container or text box) and use the Video Controls Panel to add a video.

Note that background video will not auto-play on mobile. It's often a good idea to add a thumbnail image so that mobile users will have a nice, high-res image load in its place.

This option sets the video to automatically play in a loop. 

This sets the video to automatically begin playing when the page is loaded. Mute Audio needs to be selected for Auto Play to work, as most browsers will not allow a video with audio to auto play.

This disables the sound of the video.