Video Editor API: A Developer's Guide to Programmatic Video

Video is eating the internet. But generating video programmatically has traditionally required complex FFmpeg pipelines, expensive cloud services, or manual editing workflows.

What if you could render videos with a simple HTTP request?

The Problem with Video Automation

Developers face several challenges when adding video features to applications:

1. **Complex infrastructure**: FFmpeg deployment, GPU servers, encoding pipelines

2. **High costs**: Cloud video APIs charge $0.05-0.20 per minute of render

3. **Limited customization**: Most APIs offer pre-built templates with little flexibility

4. **Slow iteration**: Testing video changes requires re-rendering entire files

5. **Vendor lock-in**: Proprietary formats make migration difficult

Introducing VideoJSON

iLoveVideoEditor uses a declarative format called **VideoJSON** — a JSON schema that describes video composition:

{
  "duration": 5.0,
  "fps": 30,
  "width": 1920,
  "height": 1080,
  "layers": [
    {
      "type": "video",
      "src": "background.mp4",
      "start": 0,
      "duration": 5
    },
    {
      "type": "text",
      "text": "Hello World",
      "fontSize": 72,
      "color": "#ffffff",
      "position": { "x": 960, "y": 540 },
      "animations": [
        {
          "property": "opacity",
          "from": 0,
          "to": 1,
          "duration": 1
        }
      ]
    }
  ]
}

This format is:

**Version-controllable**: Diff and review video changes in Git
**Language-agnostic**: Generate from any programming language
**Composable**: Build complex scenes from simple components
**Portable**: Render on browser, server, or edge

Quick Start with Node.js

Installation

npm install @ilovevideoeditor/sdk-node

Basic Example

import { iLoveVideoEditor } from '@ilovevideoeditor/sdk-node';

const client = new iLoveVideoEditor({
  apiKey: 'YOUR_API_KEY',
});

const job = await client.render.create({
  videoJson: {
    duration: 3,
    fps: 30,
    width: 1920,
    height: 1080,
    layers: [
      {
        type: 'solid',
        color: '#e5352c',
        duration: 3,
      },
      {
        type: 'text',
        text: 'Hello from API!',
        fontSize: 64,
        color: '#ffffff',
        position: { x: 960, y: 540 },
        duration: 3,
      },
    ],
  },
});

console.log('Job ID:', job.id);

Checking Status

const status = await client.render.get(job.id);

if (status.status === 'completed') {
  console.log('Download URL:', status.outputUrl);
}

Advanced Features

Effects and Filters

Apply 42 built-in GLSL effects:

{
  "type": "video",
  "src": "input.mp4",
  "effects": [
    {
      "type": "bloom",
      "intensity": 0.5
    },
    {
      "type": "chromaticAberration",
      "offset": 3.0
    }
  ]
}

Transitions

Add smooth transitions between scenes:

{
  "type": "transition",
  "from": "scene1",
  "to": "scene2",
  "effect": "fade",
  "duration": 0.5
}

Animations

Animate any property over time:

{
  "animations": [
    {
      "property": "position.x",
      "from": 0,
      "to": 1920,
      "duration": 2,
      "easing": "easeInOutCubic"
    }
  ]
}

Render Targets

Choose where your video renders:

|--------|----------|-------|------|

Real-World Examples

Personalized Sales Videos

Generate a unique video for each prospect:

const prospects = await getProspects();

for (const prospect of prospects) {
  const job = await client.render.create({
    videoJson: generateSalesVideo(prospect),
  });
  
  await sendVideoEmail(prospect.email, job.id);
}

Social Media Automation

Create platform-native videos from blog posts:

app.post('/webhook/blog-published', async (req) => {
  const post = req.body;
  
  const video = await client.render.create({
    videoJson: blogToVideo(post),
  });
  
  await postToSocialMedia(video.outputUrl);
});

E-Commerce Product Videos

Generate product showcase videos from catalog data:

const products = await getNewProducts();

const videos = await Promise.all(
  products.map(p => client.render.create({
    videoJson: productToVideo(p),
  }))
);

Performance Tips

1. **Reuse assets**: Upload images/videos once, reference by ID

2. **Batch renders**: Submit multiple jobs simultaneously

3. **Preview first**: Use browser renderer for instant feedback

4. **Cache results**: Store rendered videos in your CDN

5. **Monitor credits**: Track usage via the dashboard API

Pricing

API usage is credit-based:

Free tier: 50 credits/month
Pro: 500 credits/month (€25)
Business: 1,500 credits/month (€50)
Enterprise: Custom

1 credit ≈ 1 minute of 1080p render time.

Getting Started

1. Sign up at ilovevideoeditor.com

2. Get your API key from the dashboard

3. Install the SDK: `npm install @ilovevideoeditor/sdk-node`

4. Make your first render request

Read full API docs →

Get API key →