Embedding GIFs in Power BI: A Free and Reliable Approach for Short Video Demos

Power BI is a powerful tool for data analytics, but sometimes we want to enhance reports with multimedia. Adding videos can make dashboards more engaging, especially for training, product demos, or marketing reports.
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However, Power BI is not designed for video streaming, and embedding videos in reports often creates technical and cost challenges. In this blog, I will share my experience and the solution we implemented at Blue Sky ERP to show short video content reliably, free, and future-proof.

​Challenges with Embedding Videos in Power BI

1. YouTube Blocks
YouTube videos often fail to play inside Power BI custom html embed visuals.

• The reason is strict security policies like X-Frame-Options and Content-Security-Policy that block playback inside embedded iFrames.

2. Vimeo Limitations

• Unlike youtube, Vimeo allows embedding. But their free plan has bandwidth and storage limits.
• Direct MP4 links may expire, and high concurrency for multiple viewers can cause playback failures.
• Paid plans solve some issues but add extra cost.

3. Azure Blob Storage

• Azure Blob Storage is technically ideal: reliable, scalable, supports streaming, and secure.
• However, it requires an Azure subscription and involves some cost (even though small, ~$10–15 per month for our scenario).

4. Lakehouse or OneLake

• Storing videos in Fabric Lakehouse is possible, but files are not publicly accessible, and streaming directly in Power BI is not supported.
• The video cannot be embedded reliably in visuals without authentication.

Our Approach: Using GitHub and Power BI Image Visuals

After evaluating all options, we found a practical, free, and reliable approach:

Step 1: Convert Videos to GIFs

• Since we are embedding short videos (less than 15 seconds each), we recorded through Microsoft Clipchamp and exported them as GIF animations. We zoomed in where required, because GIF is a low quality format.
• GIFs are widely supported and can loop automatically without requiring a media player.

Step 2: Host GIFs on a Public GitHub Repository

• We uploaded all GIFs to a public GitHub repository.
• GitHub provides free hosting, and public raw URLs can be used in Power BI without authentication.

Step 3: Use Image Core Visual in Power BI

• In Power BI Desktop, we used the core Image visual.
• Insert the public GitHub raw URL as the source for the image.
• The GIFs played automatically in the visual, simulating short video playback.

Step 4: Embed in Reports

• GIFs were embedded directly in the report.
• Since GIFs are lightweight (~10-20 MB for 15-sec short videos converted to low resolution), they load quickly and reliably for multiple users.

Results and Observations
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Quality: Slightly reduced due to GIF conversion and resolution compression.

Performance: Very reliable, even with multiple viewers. No buffering issues.

Cost: Completely free - no Azure subscription or paid Vimeo plan needed.

Future-proof: GitHub is stable and widely supported; URLs are persistent.
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Ease of Use: Using Power BI’s default Image visual avoids complex custom visuals.

Trade-offs

GIFs cannot match full MP4 video quality, but for short clips, animations, or demos, this is acceptable.
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GIFs loop automatically, which is great for illustrative purposes but not suitable for long-form video.

Key Takeaways

1. YouTube direct embedding fails due to security restrictions; Vimeo works but has limitations on bandwidth and reliability.

2. Azure Blob Storage is ideal but introduces cost and subscription requirements.

3. GitHub-hosted GIFs with Power BI Image visual is a practical, free, and reliable workaround for short videos.
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4. For corporate dashboards, keeping videos short and low-resolution ensures performance and cost-efficiency.

Conclusion

By using GitHub and GIFs, we achieved a balance between visual engagement and report performance.
​While quality is much lower compared to MP4, the reliability, zero cost, and ease of implementation make this approach suitable for internal dashboards, training demos, or marketing reports.

At Blue Sky ERP, this solution allowed us to embed short, looping videos into Power BI reports for demos without compromising performance or incurring extra cost, while remaining future-proof and maintainable.

By ​Haider Shah

Power BI Developer at Blue Sky ERP