How It Works
Create a Video Card
Create a new card and enable the Video Card toggle. Configure your card settings including deadline, recipient details, and delivery preferences.
Collect Contributions
Share the contribution link with participants. They can submit video clips, text messages, images, or GIFs — no account required.
Customize the Board
Arrange board tiles, pick background music from the built-in library, choose visual effects (confetti, hearts, snowflakes, sparkles), and set your board style.
Key Features
Collaborative Submissions
Contributors upload videos, images, GIFs, or text via a public link — no sign-up needed.
Music Library
Browse and select background music from Jamendo’s royalty-free library, or upload your own track.
Visual Effects
Add animated overlays like confetti, hearts, snowflakes, or sparkles to the final video.
Scheduled Delivery
Set a date and time to automatically render and email the video card to your recipient.
Video Card Settings
When creating a video card, you can configure:| Setting | Description |
|---|---|
| Deadline | Cut-off date for contributor submissions |
| Max Duration | Maximum length per submission (default: 120 seconds) |
| Invite Message | Custom message shown on the contribution page |
| Recipient Name & Email | Who receives the final video card |
| Delivery Mode | video (rendered MP4) or board (interactive board view) |
| Scheduled Send | ISO date/time for automatic render and delivery |
| Auto Render & Send | Enable to automatically process and email at the scheduled time |
| Sender Email Account | Use a custom SMTP account instead of the default sender |
Board Tiles
Board tiles are the individual content blocks that make up your video card. Each tile appears as a segment in the final rendered video.Tile Types
| Type | Description | Render Behavior |
|---|---|---|
| Video | Uploaded video clip | Plays with original audio, scaled to fit |
| Text | Styled text message | Rendered as a 5-second segment with custom colors, fonts, and alignment |
| Image | Static image | Displayed for 5 seconds with a subtle Ken Burns zoom effect |
| GIF | Animated GIF | Plays for its full duration, scaled to fit |
Board Settings
Customize the overall look of your video card board:- Occasion — label for the event (e.g. Birthday, Farewell)
- Background — custom image or solid color
- Header Color — accent color used in the title card and email
- Title Font — font for the title overlay
- Effects — animated overlay:
none,confetti,hearts,snowflakes, orsparkles - Show Contributor Names — toggle name badges on tile segments
Music
You can add background music to your video card from two sources:- Built-in Library — curated tracks fetched from Jamendo, categorized by genre (happy, celebration, relaxing, etc.)
- Custom Upload — upload your own audio file
Video Rendering
When you trigger a render, the system processes your card through a multi-step pipeline:- Setup — prepare workspace and download all assets
- Title Card — generate an intro slide from your board settings (title, header color, background)
- Card Pages — render any static card pages as video segments
- Submissions & Tiles — process each board tile into a video segment with contributor badges
- Concatenation — combine all segments into a single video
- Effects — apply animated overlays if configured
- Music — mix in background music track
- Upload — upload the final MP4 to cloud storage
- Preview GIF — generate a 4-second animated preview for email embedding
Render Output
- Format: MP4 (H.264, AAC audio)
- Resolution: 1920 x 1080
- Preview GIF: 480px wide, 10fps, first 4 seconds
Render Status
Track your render progress through these states:| Status | Description |
|---|---|
QUEUED | Render request received, waiting to start |
PROCESSING | Actively rendering with progress updates (0–100%) |
COMPLETED | Finished — output URL and preview GIF available |
FAILED | An error occurred — check the error message |
Sending Video Cards
Send Now
Trigger an immediate render and email delivery. The system will:- Check for an existing completed render (reuses if available)
- Start a new render if needed
- Wait for render completion (up to 5 minutes)
- Send a personalized email with the preview GIF and a “Watch Your Video Card” button
Scheduled Send
SetscheduledSendAt to an ISO date/time and enable autoRenderAndSend. The system checks every minute for due cards and automatically renders and sends them.
Email Delivery
The recipient receives an HTML email containing:- A personalized greeting with their name
- An animated GIF preview of the video (or a static cover image)
- A prominent CTA button linking to the full video
- The sender’s name and optional custom branding
If you have a custom SMTP account configured, the email will be sent from that account. Otherwise, CardClan’s default sender is used.
Plans and Limits
Video cards are available on two tiers:Free Tier
- 2 video cards per month
- 20 render minutes per month
- 10 board items per card
Lifetime Deal (LTD)
- Stackable up to 7 stacks
- Per stack: 5 video cards, 30 render minutes per month
- Maximum with 7 stacks: 35 video cards, 210 render minutes per month
If you have any queries, feel free to reach out in live chat.