How to Preview Video Frames on Hover in mpv?

The mpv media player does not include a native, built-in feature to preview video thumbnails when hovering over the seek bar, but it fully supports this functionality through third-party user scripts. Because mpv is designed to be highly minimalist and extensible, users can easily achieve modern, streaming-style seek previews by installing a community script. This article explores the most popular script options available, how they work, and the step-by-step process to install them on your system.

The Solution: Community Scripts

While the core mpv application focuses on lightweight performance and command-line efficiency, its robust Lua and JavaScript API allows developers to build rich interface enhancements. To get seek bar previews, you will need to utilize one of these community-driven scripts.

Popular Seek Preview Scripts

• mpv-thumbnail-script: This is one of the oldest and most widely used options. It generates and caches video thumbnails on the fly or in the background, displaying them in a small popup box whenever your mouse hovers over the progress bar.
• thumbfast: A highly optimized, high-performance thumbnail generator. Unlike older scripts, thumbfast does not write thumbnail images to your hard drive; instead, it spawns a separate, hidden background mpv process to render frames in real-time. It is designed to be paired with popular custom user interfaces (GUIs) like ModernX or uosc.

How to Install Seek Previews in mpv

Adding thumbnail previews to your mpv player involves placing the script files into your setup’s configuration directory.

Step 1: Locate Your Configuration Folder

The location of your mpv configuration directory depends entirely on your operating system:

• Windows: C:\Users\Username\AppData\Roaming\mpv\ or the portable_config folder inside your installation directory.
• Linux/macOS: ~/.config/mpv/

Step 2: Create the Scripts Directory

Navigate to your mpv configuration folder. If it does not already exist, create a new subfolder named scripts.

Step 3: Download and Install the Script

For a modern and efficient setup, using thumbfast alongside a compatible user interface is highly recommended.

1. Download the thumbfast.lua file from its official GitHub repository.
2. Move the thumbfast.lua file directly into your newly created scripts folder.
3. If you are using the default mpv interface, you may also need to install a compatible UI script like uosc or ModernX into the same folder, as the stock OSC (On-Screen Controller) requires specific configurations to display the thumbfast window correctly.

Once the files are in place, restart mpv and open a video file. Hovering your mouse over the seek bar will now generate and display real-time visual frame previews.