Video.js Guides

These guides cover a range of topics for users of Video.js

Layout

Video.js generally lays out the player to the dimensions that are set as attributes or via CSS, like other DOM elements. However, we provide a few ways to make the player be more fluid.

Fluid Mode

Video.js has a fluid mode that keeps the player sized to a particular aspect ratio.

By default, fluid mode will use the intrinsic size of the video once loaded but you can change it with classes or with the aspectRatio option.

Enabling fluid mode will disable fill mode. If both are enabled, fluid mode takes precedence.

You can enable fluid in a few ways:

  • Add vjs-fluid, vjs-16-9, or vjs-4-3 as a class to the player element.
  • pass fluid option to the player.
  • call player.fluid(true).
  • pass aspectRatio option to the player.
  • call player.aspectRatio('16:9').

Classes

There are five classes associated with fluid mode, vjs-fluid, vjs-16-9, vjs-4-3, vjs-9-16 and vjs-1-1.

vjs-fluid turns on the general fluid mode which will wait for the video to load to calculate the aspect ratio of the video.

Alternatively, because 16:9, 4:3, 9:16 and 1:1 aspect ratios are so common, we provided them as classes by default for you to use if you know that your videos are 16:9 or , 4:3, 9:16 or 1:1.

Enabling Fluid Mode

You can pass in the fluid option to the player or call player.fluid(true). This will enable the generic fluid mode.

var player = videojs('vid1', {
  fluid: true
});
var player = videojs('vid2');

player.fluid(true);

Setting Aspect Ratio

You can specify an aspect ratio for us to use if you don't want to use the intrinsic values from the video element or if you have a specific ratio in mind. It works as either a method call or an option to the player.

This option is in the form of two integers separated by a colon like so 16:9 or 4:3.

// make a vertical video
var player = videojs('vid1', {
  aspectRatio: '9:16'
});
var player = videojs('vid2');

// make a square video
player.aspectRatio('1:1');

Disabling Fluid Mode

You can disable fluid mode by remove the associated classes or by calling passing in false to the method.

player.fluid(false);

Fill Mode

Fill mode will make the player fit and fill out its container. This is often useful if you have a responsive website and already have a container for Video.js that resizes properly to your design. It can be set either via a class or an option.

If fill is enabled, it'll turn off fluid mode. If the player is configured with both fluid and fill options, fluid mode takes precedence.

Class

There's just one class for this one: vjs-fill. When available, Video.js will enter fill mode.

Enabling Fill Mode

You can pass in the fill option to the player or call player.fill(true). This will enable fill mode.

var player = videojs('vid1', {
  fill: true
});
var player = videojs('vid2');

player.fill(true);

Disabling Fill Mode

You can disable fill mode by removing the associated class or by passing false in to the method.

player.fill(false);

Responsive Mode

Responsive mode will make the player's UI customize itself based on the size of the player. This is useful if you have embeds of varying sizes - or if you want a fluid/fill player to adjust its UI based on its size.

Responsive mode is independent of fluid mode or fill mode - it only deals with the arrangements of the UI within the player, not with the size of the player. However, it is often useful to use responsive mode in conjunction with either fluid mode or fill mode!

Class

A player in responsive mode will add and remove classes based on its size breakpoints. The default breakpoints, classes, and sizes are outlined below:

NameClassMin. WidthMax. Width
tinyvjs-layout-tiny0210
xsmallvjs-layout-x-small211320
smallvjs-layout-small321425
mediumvjs-layout-medium426768
largevjs-layout-large7691440
xlargevjs-layout-x-large14412560
hugevjs-layout-huge2561Infinity

Enabling Responsive Mode

You can enable responsive mode by passing the responsive option or by calling player.responsive(true).

var player = videojs('vid1', {
  responsive: true
});
var player = videojs('vid2');

player.responsive(true);

Disabling Responsive Mode

You can disable responsive mode by passing false to the method.

player.responsive(false);

Customizing Breakpoints

The default breakpoints can be customized by passing the breakpoints option or by calling player.breakpoints({...}).

var player = videojs('vid1', {
  breakpoints: {
    medium: 500
  }
});
var player = videojs('vid2');

player.breakpoints({
  medium: 500
});

The breakpoints object should have keys matching the Name from the table above and values matching the Max. Width from the table above. The Min. Width is calculated by adding one to the previous breakpoint's Max. Width.

Anytime breakpoints are customized, previous customizations are discarded.

Restoring Default Breakpoints

The default breakpoints can be restored by calling player.breakpoints(true).

var player = videojs('vid1');

player.breakpoints(true);

This is only useful if breakpoints had previously been customized.