Integrating the editor

Integrating the editor means embedding Creatomate's editor in your own web app, through the Preview SDK. You get the editor's engine and canvas: a live preview of the video, and an interactive mode in which users select, move, and resize elements. The interface around it, such as the timeline and the properties panel, stays fully in your control.

How it works

The Preview SDK is a JavaScript library, published on NPM as @creatomate/preview. It works with any framework, and in plain JavaScript too. You give it a template, or any RenderScript, and it draws the result on the page. Every change to the content shows right away.

The browser can't produce the final MP4. A user's device can't do that reliably. When the user is done, you send the same JSON to the API, and Creatomate renders the file in the cloud. The preview and the API use the same format, so the video comes out exactly as the preview showed it.

Before you start

Most users never need the Preview SDK. The API alone covers automated rendering. The SDK is for the case where people edit a video inside your application and need to see the result while they edit.

A live preview also asks a lot of the device. Not every browser delivers the same performance. Check the requirements before you build on it.