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- Create AR effects for Instagram and Facebook.Get Started
Demo Videos
When you submit your effect, you'll need to upload a demo video.
Demo videos show a preview of an effect to someone, giving them a flavor of what it will look like before they open it in the camera. On Instagram, they appear alongside your effect in the effect gallery and in the effect tray.
After publishing, you can change your demo video at any time by updating your effect.
Requirements
Your demo video must meet the Spark AR Policies and accurately represent your effect as it's being used in the Facebook or Instagram camera. The demo video must be suitable for consumption by the Facebook and Instagram general user base, which includes those aged 13 and above.
It should also be:
- Captured live and saved directly from the Instagram, Facebook or Spark AR Studio camera.
- Unedited (no Boomerang videos, no text overlays).
- Recorded in portrait (vertical) orientation.
- A maximum of 15 seconds long.
- A maximum of 32MB in size.
- Uploaded as a MOV, MP4 or WEBM file.
Our team will review your video to make sure that it meets these requirements. When you publish a new effect, your demo video will be reviewed at the same time as your effect. Demo videos added to existing effects will be reviewed when submitted.
Recommendations
Your demo video is a great opportunity to showcase your effect and encourage people to open it in the camera.
Follow these recommendations to make the best video possible:
- Keep your video short and to the point.
- Focus on showcasing the capabilities and elements featured in your effect.
- Shoot your video in a brightly lit environment.
- Avoid shooting your video on a busy or detailed background.
- If you include audio in your recording, remember people will be able to hear this if they have the sound on.
Here's an example of a demo video that follows our recommendations and requirements:
Capturing your demo video for a sharing experience
There are two ways to capture your demo video – either on a mobile device with the Facebook or Instagram app, or directly within Spark AR Studio. Guides for both methods are available below.
Capture and upload a demo video from your device
You can open your effect in either the Facebook or Instagram camera to record your video. There are two ways to do this.
From Spark AR Studio:
- Click the device icon in the toolbar and select Test on device and then Send to App.
- To the right of either Facebook or Instagram, click Send
After clicking send, you can also click Copy Link to send a link to yourself or someone else.
- You'll get a notification inviting you to try the effect in the camera.
Alternatively, you can open your effect in the Facebook or Instagram camera while publishing on Spark AR Hub. Save your effect submission as a draft, then:
- Under Capture video, click Open in App.
- Click Send.
You can also copy the test link to send it to yourself or someone else.
- You'll get a notification inviting you to try the effect in the camera.
Once you have opened the effect in the Facebook or Instagram camera:
- Hold the capture button — this will record your video.
- If you want to disable sound, tap the sound icon after you've finished recording your video.
- Tap the download icon. The clip will be saved to your device.
Before submitting the video, you can crop the length if you need to. Otherwise, it shouldn't be edited.
Uploading your demo video
Once your clip is saved to your device, you need to upload it to Spark AR Hub.
While publishing your effect, you’ll have the opportunity to upload a copy of the demo video from your computer, or login to Spark AR Hub from your device to upload the video directly.
You can also replace demo videos for effects that have already been published. Any new videos will be reviewed. The old video will be shown until the new video has been approved.
Capture and upload a demo video using Spark AR Studio
You will be able to record and upload your demo video directly from Spark AR Studio as long as your effect doesn’t use the back camera or any audio capabilities.
To record and upload your video:
- In the toolbar, click the Publish icon.
- Click Record video.
- You’ll see a screen showing you what your effect looks like when viewed through the front camera. Click the record button to start recording.
- Select Low, Mid or High video quality from the menu in the bottom bar. Higher video quality can take more time to process.
- Your recording will end when you click the record button again, or after 15 seconds have passed.
- If you would like to record again, click Retake. Otherwise, click Save.
You’ll see your demo video has been added to the publishing screen. After checking that your effect meets the capability and file size requirements for your targeted platforms, click Upload to continue the publishing process on Spark AR Hub. Your demo video will be uploaded to your draft effect automatically.
Capturing your demo video for a video calling experience
If you’re creating an effect for a video calling experience only, there’s a third way to record your demo video: Spark AR Player for Desktop. To use this feature, You must have:
- Video calling selected as the only experience in the project’s properties.
- Spark AR Player for Desktop downloaded and installed.
To record and upload your video:
- In Spark AR Studio, in the toolbar, click the Publish icon.
- Click Record Video in Spark Desktop Player. Keep in mind that when you click this button, Spark AR Studio automatically saves your project in its current state.
- After a few seconds you’ll be redirected to Spark AR Player for Desktop. You’ll see a screen that’s split vertically, showing you what your effect looks like on a video call. The top screen mimics the self view and the bottom screen shows you what the other person on the call looks like with the effect enabled.
- Select Low, Mid, or High video quality from the menu in the bottom bar. Higher quality video can take more time to process.
- Click the record button to start recording.
- Your recording will end when you click the record button again, or after 15 seconds have passed.
- If you would like to record again, click Retake. Otherwise, click Save.
In Spark AR Studio, you’ll see your demo video has been added to the publishing screen. After checking that your effect meets the capability and file size requirements for your targeted platforms, click Upload to continue the publishing process on Spark AR Hub. Your demo video will be uploaded to your draft effect automatically.
If you don’t see your effect playing on screen, make sure you’ve enabled permissions for Spark Desktop Player to use the camera on your computer. If the screen is still blank, click the camera icon in Desktop Player to manually enable access.