An auction lot video is a short narrated, captioned video of one lot, built from its catalogue entry: lot number, sale date and time, viewing arrangements, photos, and condition notes in the catalogue's own words. Every lot has an entry, so every lot can have a video, not only the headline lots. Videngine reads the catalogue pages or a CSV export, renders 9:16 and 16:9 cuts in batches for review against the catalogue; a late change means re-render or retire before the sale.
Auction lot video for every lot, on the catalogue's timetable
Auctions suit one video per lot because every lot already has photos and a written entry; the hard part is making and checking the batch between the catalogue closing and going live.
- The material exists. The cataloguer has photographed every lot and written its description, condition notes and estimate. The video reuses them, with no extra shoot.
- Bidders decide remotely. A bidder who cannot attend viewing decides from the entry; a narrated walk through its photos helps them choose which lots to inspect.
- A lot lives for one sale. Its video is made when the entry is final and retired, or archived with the result, after the hammer.
- The window is short. A catalogue goes live days before the sale, and entries can change until the lot is offered. Batches render unattended, so the limit is how many lots your team can check in a day.
This page is for auction houses selling vehicles, plant and machinery, classic cars and general lots, and for online auction platforms. Platforms carrying many consignors' lots should start with the lead guide, which covers content rights, quality gates, the backfill and review at scale: marketplace listing video for every listing on the platform. The car dealer video guide gives auction lots one row; this page covers what changes when every listing has a lot number and a sale date.
What an auction lot video states
A lot video states what a bidder needs to act on one lot, each fact taken from the catalogue entry or the sale details, with nothing added.
| States | Taken from | What to check |
|---|---|---|
| Lot number | The catalogue entry | Matches the current catalogue; on screen at the start and the end |
| Lot title | The catalogue heading | As catalogued, qualifiers such as “circa” or “believed” included |
| Sale date and time | The sale details | Date, start time and time zone as published |
| Viewing arrangements | The sale details | Days, times and address as published, or “by appointment” |
| Estimate | The catalogue entry | Called an estimate, never a price; left out if the entry gives none |
| Condition notes | The description and any condition report | Word for word, including “unwarranted”, “sold as seen” or “non-runner”, and any vendor statement with its attribution |
| Buyer's premium and fees | The conditions of sale | Only as stated there, VAT treatment included, or left out with a pointer to the conditions |
| Location, collection and how to bid | The sale details | Only the bidding routes and collection terms offered for this sale |
Close every video by sending bidders to the full entry and the conditions of sale. The video summarises the entry; it does not replace it.
Catalogue wording discipline and late changes
The video follows the catalogue word for word on condition, and any change to the entry after rendering means re-render or retire before the sale.
Paraphrased narration can say something the house never said. Illustrative example, a fictional lot: “Odometer shows 48,210 miles, unwarranted. The vendor reports the car was last driven in 2019. Sold as seen.” The narration says exactly that, never “low mileage” or “in running order”.
- Condition notes unchanged. Edit the drafted script so the condition scene carries the catalogue's notes as written.
- Keep the attribution. “The vendor reports” stays in. A vendor's statement read as the house's own is a different claim.
- Banned phrases. Add words your cataloguers never use, such as “excellent condition” or “runs and drives”, to the brand's banned-phrases list.
- Review against the live entry. A wording mismatch is rejected with the specification defect code; defect codes and reviewer sign-off come with Scale. A workspace can require that the approver is not the builder, so a cataloguer signs off what marketing built.
In the UK, the CAP Code says marketing communications must not materially mislead, that quoted prices must include non-optional fees that apply to all or most buyers, and that a charge which cannot be calculated in advance must be shown as excluded, with how it is calculated. If a video states an estimate, agree with your compliance lead how the buyer's premium appears beside it. In the US, the Federal Trade Commission says advertising must be truthful and non-deceptive.
Late changes before the sale
| Change | What to do with the video |
|---|---|
| Lot withdrawn | Retire it everywhere: lot page, YouTube, email links |
| Description amended | Re-render from the new entry and approve before the sale, or take it down until approved |
| Saleroom notice | Re-render with the notice's wording, or retire if there is no time to review |
| Estimate changed | Re-render, or switch to a scene set without an estimate |
| Lot renumbered, sale date moved or photos replaced | Re-render |
Each rebuild is saved as _v2 beside the original, and the video ledger records every version with its builder, reviewer, status and defect code. Re-rendering the same video in the same month is free. Name files by your stock reference, not the lot number, which can change: illustratively K26-0147_16x9_v2.mp4, with the lot number on screen.
From catalogue export to sale day: the workflow
Export the catalogue, render in batches as lots become final, review each video against its entry, deliver with the catalogue and retire after the sale.
- Export the catalogue. Send a CSV or JSON export with one row per lot, or let Videngine read your sitemap to list the lot pages and pick which to render. Useful columns: lot number, stock reference, title, category, condition notes, estimate, sale date, viewing, photo links and lot page URL. Batch runs from a file start on Growth; see bulk video creation from a CSV.
- Hold what is not final. Lots waiting for photos or a condition report go in a later batch. Order the rest by sale order, or featured lots first.
- Run the batch. Each lot becomes a 9:16 and a 16:9 cut up to 1080p, captions burned in or as .srt.
- Review against the catalogue. Lot number, date, condition wording and fees, once with sound and once without, and the vertical cut on a phone.
- Deliver. As the catalogue goes live, send approved videos to the places below.
- Watch until the hammer. Re-render or retire every changed lot. On sale morning, check the ledger's CSV export against the final catalogue.
- Retire after the sale. Take the video down, or keep it on the archived lot page with the result if that is your policy. An unsold lot offered again needs a re-render.
Where lot videos go
- Lot pages. Put the 16:9 cut beside the photos. For a static HTML site built from a GitHub repository, Videngine can publish the approved video into the lot page with player, transcript, captions, VideoObject markup and a video sitemap. On Custom, from 1,500 videos a month, delivery can be one stable link per stock reference that plays only a reviewed cut and switches when a rebuild is approved. A platform can look up approved videos through the read-only API; see the marketplace video API guide.
- The bidder email. Link a poster image to the lot page rather than attaching a file. Google Drive delivery (Growth, rolling out) adds a sheet with links to both cuts of every lot.
- YouTube. Publish featured lots, not the catalogue: YouTube's spam policy does not allow automated tools to flood the platform with repetitive content. After the sale, YouTube's privacy settings help says a private video does not appear in search results or on your channel's Videos tab.
- Social. Post the 9:16 cut as a viewing-day reminder; see short-form video.
Illustratively, a monthly sale of 250 lots fits Growth at $249; four sales of 200 lots, 800 videos, fit Scale at $599 plus 50 extras at $0.80. See Videngine pricing.
Scene sets for vehicles, plant, classic cars and general lots
Each lot category gets its own scene set: a facts card with the fields its bidders check, and the photo order your cataloguers already shoot to.
| Category | Facts card adds, as catalogued | Photo order | Watch for |
|---|---|---|---|
| Vehicles | Registration, mileage and whether it is warranted, MOT expiry, documents and keys | Three-quarter, side, rear, interior, odometer, engine bay, damage | “Non-runner” read out, never softened; see the car dealer video guide |
| Plant and machinery | Hours, serial number, year, operating weight, attachments in the lot | Three-quarter, hour meter, wear parts, each attachment | Hours, not miles; only this lot's attachments. See the machinery video guide |
| Classic cars | Chassis and engine numbers, “matching numbers” only if catalogued, restoration and history file | Three-quarter, profile, interior, engine bay, chassis plate, history file, known faults | Provenance in the catalogue's words; no “rare” the entry does not use |
| General lots | Title, quantity, dimensions, maker's marks, condition | The whole lot, each item or group, then marks and damage | Nothing from the next lot in frame |
Set the pronunciation lexicon once per brand: marques such as Porsche (PORSH-uh) and Lancia (LAHN-chah), plant makers, the saleroom's town, and shorthand such as “c. 1965” read as “circa 1965”.
If a lot lacks a photo its category needs, such as the odometer or hour meter, drop the scene rather than borrow another lot's picture, and ask for a reshoot before viewing.
When Videngine is the wrong tool for auction video
Videngine turns a catalogue entry's photos and words into a narrated video; it does not stream, present or film.
| Job | Why Videngine does not fit | Better fit |
|---|---|---|
| The live auction stream | It renders finished files; nothing is live | Your live bidding platform's stream with the auctioneer |
| An auctioneer's or specialist's presenter video | It has no presenters or avatars | Film the specialist at viewing |
| A filmed engine start, drive or machine demonstration | It creates no footage; it moves across stills or footage you supply | Film it at viewing and publish the clip beside the lot video |
| A condition assessment | It reads the catalogue; it does not inspect the lot | Your cataloguer or an independent inspection |
| Narration in a language other than English | Narration is in English only | A tool that narrates in that language |
Use both: filmed footage where bidders need to hear the engine, and a lot video for every lot.
Questions auction houses ask about lot video
What is an auction lot video?
A short narrated, captioned video of one lot, built from its catalogue entry: lot number, sale date, viewing, photos, estimate and condition notes in the catalogue's words. Videngine renders a vertical and a landscape cut per lot for review.
How quickly can lot videos be ready after the catalogue closes?
Rendering runs unattended in batches, so the limit is review. Plan how many lots your team can check against the catalogue in a day, batch final lots first, and keep time on sale morning for late changes.
What happens to a lot video if the lot is withdrawn or its description changes?
A withdrawn lot's video is retired everywhere before the sale. An amended description or saleroom notice means a re-render from the new wording, approved before the sale, or taking the video down. Same-month re-renders are free.
Should a lot video mention the buyer's premium?
Only as the conditions of sale state it, VAT treatment included, or not at all, with a line sending bidders to the conditions of sale. Never compute a total the catalogue does not give, and agree the approach with your compliance lead.
Can the video show the engine starting or a machine working?
No. Videngine creates no footage. It moves across the catalogue photos, or footage you supply, with narration and captions. For an engine start or a working demonstration, film it at viewing.
Should lot videos stay online after the sale?
Decide once and apply it to every sale: retire the video, or keep it on the archived lot page beside the result. An unsold lot offered again needs a re-render with its new lot number and sale date.
Choose your next step
Go back to the vertical guide, or set up the parts a catalogue batch needs.
Start with one sale.
Bring a past catalogue export with a vehicle, a plant and a general lot, and their photos. Agree the scene sets, the condition-wording rule and a late-change routine, then run the next catalogue as a batch.
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