One of the features of Bootstrap is its support for responsive videos. In this article, we'll take a look at what responsive videos are, why they're important, and how to use them in Bootstrap.
Responsive design is a way of building websites that adapt to the size and orientation of the user's device, whether it's a desktop computer, tablet, or smartphone. A big part of responsive design is making sure that images and videos look good on all devices, which is where responsive videos come in.
Responsive videos are videos that automatically adjust their size and aspect ratio to fit the container they're placed in, regardless of the size or aspect ratio of the video itself. This means that a video that was shot in portrait mode will be shown in portrait mode on a smartphone, and in landscape mode on a tablet or desktop computer. It also means that the video will automatically adjust its size to fit the container, whether it's a small smartphone screen or a large desktop monitor.
Bootstrap provides a set of classes for embedding videos that are responsive out of the box. To embed a video, you can use the <video> tag, and wrap it with the .embed-responsive and .embed-responsive-item classes. The outer .embed-responsive class sets a proportion for the video, using classes like .embed-responsive-16by9 for a 16:9 aspect ratio and .embed-responsive-4by3 for a 4:3 aspect ratio. The inner .embed-responsive-item class is used to target the <video> tag, and automatically scales the video to fit the container.
Here's an example of how to embed a responsive video:
<div class="embed-responsive embed-responsive-16by9"> <video class="embed-responsive-item" src="my-video.mp4"></video> </div>
Additionally, Bootstrap also support responsive videos for Youtube and Vimeo videos via the class .embed-responsive on the parent <iframe> or <embed> element of the embedded videos.
<div class="embed-responsive embed-responsive-16by9"> <iframe class="embed-responsive-item" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/U6D8EKMdU-k"></iframe> </div>
It is important to note that this responsive approach only works for videos embedded using <iframe> and <embed> elements, and not for videos embedded using the <video> element with a src attribute linking directly to a video file.
Another thing to keep in mind is that while the video will be scaled to fit the container, it won't be cropped. If the aspect ratio of the video and the container are different, there will be black bars on the sides or top and bottom of the video. You can control the size of these bars by adjusting the padding on the .embed-responsive class.
In conclusion, responsive videos are an important part of building responsive websites, and Bootstrap makes it easy to embed responsive videos with its pre-defined classes. By using the .embed-responsive and .embed-responsive-item classes, you can ensure that your videos look great on all devices, regardless of their size or aspect ratio.