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Video Player for Electron

Lightweight video playback for your Electron app—play, pause, and navigate video content. Runs entirely client-side with no server dependencies.

Player starter kit showing a lightweight video playback interface

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Prerequisites#

Before you begin, make sure you have the following:

  • Node.js v20+ and npm installed locally – Download Node.js
  • A supported browser – Chrome 114+, Edge 114+, Firefox 115+, Safari 15.6+
    See Browser Support for the full list.
New Project
Existing Project

Get Started#

Integrate the Video Player into your Electron application using the imperative API.

Step 1: Initialize a New Project#

Create a new Electron app using Vite:

Terminal
npm create vite@latest your-project-name cd your-project-name
npm create vite@latest your-project-name cd your-project-name

Step 2: Clone the Starter Kit#

Clone the starter kit and copy the player configuration to your project:

Terminal
git clone https://github.com/imgly/starterkit-video-player-ts-web.git cp -r
starterkit-video-player-ts-web/src/imgly ./src/imgly rm -rf
starterkit-video-player-ts-web
git clone https://github.com/imgly/starterkit-video-player-ts-web.git cp -r
starterkit-video-player-ts-web/src/imgly ./src/imgly rm -rf
starterkit-video-player-ts-web

The imgly/ folder contains the player configuration:

src/imgly/
├── index.ts                  # Player initialization function
└── config/
    ├── plugin.ts             # Main configuration plugin
    ├── features.ts           # Feature toggles
    ├── i18n.ts               # Translations
    └── settings.ts           # Engine settings

Step 3: Install Dependencies#

The Creative Editor SDK package provides all playback functionality.

Terminal
npm install @cesdk/cesdk-js
npm install @cesdk/cesdk-js

Step 4: Download Assets#

CE.SDK requires engine assets (fonts, icons, UI elements) to function. These must be served as static files from your project’s public/ directory.

Terminal
curl -O
https://cdn.img.ly/packages/imgly/cesdk-js/1.69.0/imgly-assets.zip
unzip imgly-assets.zip -d public/ rm imgly-assets.zip
curl -O
https://cdn.img.ly/packages/imgly/cesdk-js/1.69.0/imgly-assets.zip
unzip imgly-assets.zip -d public/ rm imgly-assets.zip

Step 5: Add a Container Element#

Add a container element to your renderer HTML where the player will be mounted:

<div id="cesdk_container" style="width: 100%; height: 100vh;"></div>

Step 6: Initialize the Player#

Import and call the initialization function from your renderer entry point:

src/index.ts
import CreativeEditorSDK from '@cesdk/cesdk-js';
import { initVideoPlayer } from './imgly';


const config = {
  baseURL: '/assets',
};


CreativeEditorSDK.create('#cesdk_container', config)
  .then(async cesdk => {
    await initVideoPlayer(cesdk);
  })
  .catch(error => {
    console.error('Failed to initialize CE.SDK:', error);
  });

Set Up a Scene#

CE.SDK offers multiple ways to load content into the player. Choose the method that matches your use case:

src/imgly/index.ts
// Load from a template archive - loads a previously saved project
await cesdk.loadFromArchiveURL('https://example.com/video.zip');


// Load from a scene file - restores a scene from JSON
await cesdk.loadFromURL('https://example.com/scene.json');


// Zoom to fit the content
await cesdk.actions.run('zoom.toPage', {
  page: 'first',
  autoFit: true,
  padding: 24,
});

Customize (Optional)#

Theming#

CE.SDK supports light and dark themes out of the box, plus automatic system preference detection. Switch between themes programmatically:

src/imgly/config/settings.ts
// 'light' | 'dark' | 'system' | (() => 'light' | 'dark')
cesdk.ui.setTheme('dark');

See Theming for custom color schemes, CSS variables, and advanced styling options.

Localization#

Customize UI labels and add support for multiple languages. The i18n system supports translation keys for all UI elements:

src/imgly/config/i18n.ts
// Override specific labels
cesdk.i18n.setTranslations({
  en: {
    'common.play': 'Play Video',
    'common.pause': 'Pause',
  },
});


// Add a new language
cesdk.i18n.setTranslations({
  de: {
    'common.play': 'Video abspielen',
  },
});


// Set the active locale
cesdk.i18n.setLocale('de');

See Localization for supported languages, translation key reference, and right-to-left language support.

Key Capabilities#

The Video Player includes everything needed for video playback.

Playback Controls

Playback Controls

Play, pause, and seek through video content with intuitive controls.

Timeline Navigation

Timeline Navigation

Scrub through the timeline to preview any point in the video.

Zoom Controls

Zoom Controls

Zoom in and out of the video canvas with fit-to-screen options.

Page Navigation

Page Navigation

Navigate between pages in multi-page video projects.

Read-Only Mode

Read-Only Mode

Display video content without editing capabilities for preview and review workflows.

Lightweight Interface

Lightweight Interface

Minimal UI focused on playback experience without editing distractions.


Troubleshooting#

Player doesn’t load#

  • Check the container element exists: Ensure your container element is in the DOM before calling create()
  • Verify the baseURL: Assets must be accessible from the CDN or your self-hosted location
  • Check console errors: Look for CORS or network errors in browser developer tools

Content doesn’t appear#

  • Check network requests: Open DevTools Network tab and look for failed requests to cdn.img.ly
  • Self-host assets for production: See Serve Assets to host assets on your infrastructure

Video doesn’t play#

  • Check browser autoplay policies: Browsers require user interaction before playing video
  • Verify video format: Ensure video files are in a supported format (MP4, WebM)

Watermark appears in production#

  • Add your license key: Set the license property in your configuration
  • Sign up for a trial: Get a free trial license at img.ly/forms/free-trial

Next Steps#