If you want to sell a video tool under your own brand, you need two kinds of control. The technical kind decides what your clients can touch and what stays with you. The contractual kind decides who owns what and who answers when something goes wrong. Templater, QUE and Projector give you most of the first kind to build with. The second kind is paper, and it is yours and your lawyer’s to write.
Let us say up front what this article is not. It is not legal advice and it does not tell you what a contract should say. We are a software company, and we are describing the kinds of controls that people in your position usually have to think about, so that you arrive at your counsel’s office with the right questions. Please involve your own counsel before you offer a white-labeled video tool to anyone.
The reader we have in mind runs a small agency. She has a handful of retail clients who each want a branded page where their store managers can order a promo video, and she would like that page to carry her agency’s name, not ours. She knows After Effects. She has a developer she can borrow for a few weeks. What she is unsure about is where the lines go.
What a white-labeled service built on our tools looks like
Start with what exists. Templater is an After Effects plugin. You build templates inside After Effects, rig them so that certain layers accept data, pair them with a data source, and render versions. It does not come with a front end. Our FAQ says so directly. Templater does not come with a web or mobile application out of the box, and it was designed so that developers can build whatever interfaces they need with Templater as the back end. If you do not have the staff or skills to build that interface, we can help, and that is a paid service.
So a white-labeled service is something you assemble. Our own write-up on white-label video editing software describes the steps in order. You design and rig templates that match each client’s brand. You pick a data source, and if you want a secure JSON-based one, QUE is built for that. You configure Templater Bot to watch for new data and render automatically. You build a web interface where clients enter their data, choose a template and preview the result, and you use the Bot’s command line interface to connect that web app to the render engine. Then you deliver the finished videos, whether as downloadable links, embedded players or something else.
Look at what that list says about who is in charge. Your client never sees After Effects, Templater or QUE. They see your page, your colors and your name. They pick from the templates you offer and fill in the fields you expose. Everything underneath is yours to arrange. That arrangement is also where most of your control comes from, and it is worth treating as a design decision instead of a side effect.
One honest note about scope. Our public pages describe how to build a white-label service with Templater. They do not describe a formal reseller program, a sublicensing arrangement or special terms for service providers, and we are not going to imply that one exists on this page. If your plan depends on those terms, ask us directly through our contact page, and put the answer in writing.
Because the assembly is yours, you can also stage it. Our white-label post ends by suggesting you build a proof of concept using the Templater 30-day free trial, and we would second that. One template, one client, one hand-fed data source, and a person watching every render. You learn which fields clients get wrong, how long a typical order takes, and where your own page confuses people, all before any agreement exists that you might regret. Treat the proof of concept as the place to write your questions down. By the time it works, you will know precisely which license and data questions you need answered, and you will be asking them about a service you have actually run instead of one you imagined.
The technical controls you can design for
These are the controls that live in how you build the thing. Each one is a decision you can make on purpose.
The first is custody of the template. Your template is the valuable object. It holds your design work and the rigging and rules you built. Our post on using Jotform with QUE Meter makes this point for motion designers. If you sell the rendered video and not the template, the designer keeps ownership of the underlying After Effects file, and the client does not receive the editable project or a Motion Graphics template. In a white-label service that holds by default, because the clients only ever interact with your page. But it is still a choice. Anywhere you hand over a project file, you have given that control away, so decide it deliberately and keep the project files on machines you run.
The second is separation between clients. If one rendering pipeline serves several clients, each client’s data should be kept apart from the others. QUE gives you the natural unit for this, because jobs belong to campaigns, and a campaign is a collection of jobs organized around one project. Using one campaign per client, or one per client and per template, is general practice, not something our documentation tells you to do, but it falls out of how the tool is built. On top of that, QUE uses end-to-end encryption and field-level masking where appropriate, with decryption only when an authorized client requests the data. That helps with the storage side. Who is allowed to request what is still something you design in your own application.
The third is where keys and credentials live. The QUE API uses an API key and an organization key that you find in your account. Treat them like passwords for your whole business. They belong on your server, in the part of your application your clients cannot see, never in a web page that runs in a client’s browser and never in a template. If a client-facing page needs to start a job, it should ask your server to do it, and your server should use the key. That way a client can ask for a video without ever holding the means to do anything else.
The fourth is where rendering happens. Two of our statements matter here. Projector is a local desktop application, and its stated design is that your assets, in transit and at rest, are never visible to another party, including us. And Templater can run on one or more Windows Server machines in a cloud environment such as AWS, with no special license required from Dataclay for that. However, Templater needs After Effects installed and running, and our FAQ is careful to point out that Adobe’s standard end-user license does not permit After Effects to be installed on a server. You would need to contact Adobe and speak to a salesperson about the right license. We do not interpret Adobe’s terms for you and we do not want you guessing at them. This one belongs on your list of questions for both Adobe and your counsel, before you build a hosted service that depends on it.
The fifth is what the client’s output looks like. White-label means the client sees your brand all the way through, so look at the places where our brand or a tool’s name might appear. The page, the email that says a video is ready, the file names, the player and the destination. Templater lets you set a custom output file name for each job from the data source, and Projector can deliver to Vimeo, JW Player, Frame.io and AWS S3 and can create poster images and GIF clips. If you deliver into a hosting account, decide whether it is yours or the client’s, because that decides whose brand and whose terms the viewer sees.
The sixth is the record. A reseller needs to answer a client who says “my video never arrived.” QUE’s dashboard shows job status, and Templater writes log files you can inspect. Keep what you need to reconstruct an order for as long as your agreement says you should. What to keep, and for how long, is a question for your counsel and for any rules about personal data that apply to your clients’ customers.
The seventh control is the one that clients notice least and that protects your brand the most, which is how much a client can change. A rigged Templater template only exposes the layers you chose to make dynamic. Everything else in the composition is fixed. Layout rules adjust dynamic layers relative to their containing composition and the layers around them, and Time Sculpting rules crop, trim, shift and stretch layers so footage of different lengths does not break the design. Taken together, they mean a client who types an unusually long name or uploads a clip of an odd duration still receives something that looks like your work. So rig for restraint. Every field you expose is a place where a client’s input can make your agency look careless, and the fields you leave out are protection you get for free.
The contractual side, described by kind and left to your counsel
Now the paper. We are going to list the kinds of subjects that these agreements usually address, and we are going to stop short of saying what any clause should say. Treat this as the agenda for a conversation with a lawyer who handles software and services contracts.
Ownership comes first, and it has at least two parts. Who owns the templates and the rigging, which is probably you or a designer you hired. And who owns the finished videos, and the data your client typed in to make them. These do not have to be the same answer, and a client who is spending money on personalized video will often want to know that their customer list does not become your asset.
License scope comes second, and it concerns the software underneath your service. Templater is licensed to the person or organization that buys it. Our Templater licensing guide covers the options, and our FAQ describes a Standard license, which is activated and used on one machine at a time, and a Floating license, which can be used by any number of devices connected to a licensing server, though only one at a time. How those licenses apply when you use Templater to produce videos for paying clients, and whether anything additional is needed, is exactly the sort of question to put to us in writing, and to have your counsel read the answer. The same is true for After Effects and Adobe, as above. Do not assume that because the tool runs, it is licensed for the way you plan to use it.
Data handling is third. What personal data will pass through your service, where is it stored, who can see it, how long is it kept and what happens when a client leaves. If your clients’ customers are in places with their own privacy rules, those rules may reach you as a processor. This is an area where the rules change by location and by the kind of data, which is the strongest reason of all to have a professional read your plan.
Brand and content rules come next. Who may use whose name, whether you may mention that your service is built on Templater, and what a client is not allowed to put into a video. If your service lets clients type free text into a template, you have a content question as well as a design one.
Service expectations are fifth. What you promise about how quickly a video will arrive, what you do when a render fails, what counts as a reason for a redo, and when you are responsible for a problem that began with a client’s data or a third-party platform. Promises here are easy to make and hard to keep, and they interact with everything in the technical section. If your delivery platform is down, is that your problem under the agreement? A lawyer will ask, so ask yourself first.
Finally, there are the ends of the relationship. What happens to a client’s data and finished videos when they stop paying, how they can get their material out, and what happens if you stop offering the service. Terms about liability, about what each side is promising and about how disputes are settled round out the list. Those clauses are the most jurisdiction-dependent of all, and the ones where a template found on the internet is most likely to hurt you.
Back to our agency owner. Her technical plan is sound. Clients see her page, her developer holds the keys on her server, and each client has its own campaign. What she lacks is the paper. She goes to her counsel with three lists. The questions for us about how Templater’s license applies to a service she runs for clients. The question for Adobe about After Effects if she ever moves rendering to a cloud server. And her own draft of the promises she wants to make to clients. That is a good meeting, because she has done the work a lawyer cannot do for her, which is to know what she is building.
The bottom line
The technical controls decide what is possible. The contractual ones decide what is permitted and who is responsible. You need both, and neither can stand in for the other. A well-built service with a thin agreement leaves you exposed the first time something goes wrong, and a carefully worded agreement about a leaky system promises things you cannot deliver.
Build the front end on your own server, keep the templates and the keys on machines you control, separate your clients from each other, and make the output carry your brand. Then write down every question about licenses and rules that you cannot answer yourself, send the software ones to us and to Adobe, and take the rest to your own counsel. Do that before the first client signs, not after.
Agency owners ask us the same handful of things when they start planning a branded service. Here are the ones we can answer from our own pages.
Frequently Asked Questions
Does Dataclay offer a reseller or white-label program?
Our public pages describe how to build a white-label video service with Templater, QUE and Projector, and they do not describe a formal reseller program or special service-provider terms. If your plan depends on terms of that kind, contact us through our contact page and get the answer in writing, then have your own counsel read it.
Do I need to build my own front end?
Yes. Our FAQ says Templater does not come with a front-end, web or mobile application out of the box. It was designed so developers can build the interface they need with Templater as the back end, using the Bot’s command line interface to connect a web app to the render engine. If you lack the skills or staff, Dataclay offers custom development help.
Will my clients get my After Effects templates?
Not unless you give them to them. If you sell rendered videos and not the templates, the underlying After Effects project and its rigging stay with you, and clients receive only the output. That protection holds only as long as the project files stay on machines you control, so decide that deliberately for every client.
Can I run the rendering on a cloud server for my clients?
Templater can run on Windows Server machines in a cloud environment such as AWS, and no special license is needed from Dataclay. After Effects must be installed and running there, and Adobe’s standard license does not permit installing After Effects on a server. Contact Adobe about the right license before you build a hosted service.
How should I keep one client’s data apart from another’s?
QUE organizes jobs into campaigns, so one campaign per client is a natural way to keep their work separate. QUE also encrypts data end to end and masks fields where appropriate. Who may request which data is a rule you enforce in your own application, and your API and organization keys belong on your server, never in a client’s browser.
Should I ask a lawyer about all of this?
Yes. Ownership of templates and videos, license scope for Templater and After Effects, personal data handling, service promises and the end of a client relationship are all legal questions. We can tell you how our software works. We cannot tell you what your agreement should say, and nothing on this page is legal advice.
