Templates hold the parts of a release you repeat for every beat: the text you publish, the look of your images and the look of your videos. You set them up once on the Templates page, then a template set ties them together so every beat gets the same treatment.
Title and Metadata Templates
Metadata templates fill in the text for each platform. They use template variables like {{ artist1 }} and {{ bpm }}, so one template works for every beat.
- YouTube: title, description and SEO tags
- YouTube Shorts: title and description
- BeatStars: title and three tags (tag 1, tag 2, tag 3)
- SoundCloud: title and description
- Beat info: default reference artists, genres and moods for beats that use the set
On the beat page you see the filled-in text for each platform, with a character count against the platform limit: 100 characters for a YouTube title, 5,000 for a description, 500 for SEO tags, 60 for a BeatStars title and 25 per BeatStars tag.
Image Templates
Image templates decide how your thumbnails and cover art look. There is one set of templates per format:
| Format | Size | Used for |
|---|---|---|
| Canvas (16:9) | 1920x1080 | YouTube thumbnail and video |
| Square (1:1) | 1080x1080 | BeatStars cover art |
| Vertical (9:16) | 1080x1920 | YouTube Shorts |
Each image template has these settings:
- Background: a blurred copy of the photo (black and white or colour) or a plain colour
- Image style: how the photo itself is treated, with a colour overlay and its strength
- Blur, vignette and grain: finishing effects on the photo
- Text: the beat title, with font, size, colour, position and an optional box behind it
- Margins: space around the photo, filled with the background
- Watermark: show or hide your watermark
BeatOps comes with a default template for each format. Copy one to make your own style. On the Starter plan you can keep one own template per format.
Video Templates
Video templates decide how your videos move. You pick one per format (canvas, square and vertical), and the video is rendered from the same photo as your thumbnail.
- Still thumbnail: your thumbnail as the video, with no motion. This is the default.
- Auto: picks a look for each beat from its mood. A dark beat gets Rage, a chill beat gets Tape, and so on.
- Presets: twelve ready-made looks to start from.
| Preset | Look |
|---|---|
| Halo | Round cover with a ring of bars that pulses on the kick |
| Cinematic | Full photo with a film grade and a slow zoom |
| Neon | Bold duotone colours, bars and flashes |
| Rage | Dark and heavy, with zoom punches, shake and flashes on every hit |
| Night Drive | Cool colours, soft lights and bars |
| Minimal | A cover card and one thin line |
| Tape | Old VHS tape with an oscilloscope, lo-fi and warm |
| Vinyl | A spinning record with warm colours |
| Warp | A neon tunnel and stars that fly past |
| Ember | Warm smoke and rising sparks around a round cover |
| Ridge | A 3D landscape that moves with the spectrum |
| Rainfall | Rain on the glass, film grain and cuts on the bar |
After you pick a look, you can change the beat title, the BPM and key badge, the photo colours, the watermark and the colour palette. The preview plays the result on your own beat. See Videos for how the videos are made.
Image Search Templates
Image search templates decide what BeatOps searches for when it finds a photo for your artwork. They use the same variables as your other templates.
The default search is {{ artist1 }} portrait: a portrait of your first reference artist. You can make your own, for example {{ artist1 }} {{ mood1 }}. See Image Search for the setup.
Using Variables
Write a variable as its name between double curly braces, with a space on each side: {{ title }}. When BeatOps fills in the template, it replaces the variable with the value from the beat. A variable with no value becomes empty, and the extra space it leaves behind is removed.
{{ artist1 }} Type Beat - "{{ title }}" | {{ bpm }} BPM {{ key }}Templates have no conditions or other logic. The full list of variables is on the Template Variables page. Sample credits like {{ sample_artist }} come from your filename: see Sample info.