How do I cut a clip out of a video over an API?

Q: How do I cut a clip out of a video over an API?

Put -ss (where to start) and -t (how long) in the input's options, and -c copy in the output's. Seeking on the input rather than the output is what makes the cut fast, and -c copy skips re-encoding entirely.

Trim a video with an API

Put -ss (where to start) and -t (how long) in the input's options, and -c copy in the output's. Seeking on the input rather than the output is what makes the cut fast, and -c copy skips re-encoding entirely.

The ffmpeg command

What you would run locally, for reference.

ffmpeg -ss 00:00:05 -t 10 -i input.mp4 -c copy output.mp4

The API request

The same flags, sent as JSON. Authenticate with Authorization: Token <your-api-token>.

POST /api/ffmpeg/job/

{
  "global_options": [
    "-y"
  ],
  "inputs": [
    {
      "input_source": "https://example.com/input.mp4",
      "options": [
        "-ss",
        "00:00:05",
        "-t",
        "10"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "outputs": [
    {
      "filename": "output.mp4",
      "options": [
        "-c",
        "copy"
      ]
    }
  ]
}

Worth knowing

With -c copy the cut snaps to the nearest keyframe, so it can land up to a few seconds off. Drop -c copy and add -c:v libx264 when the cut has to be frame-exact.
-t is a duration, -to is an end timestamp. Mixing them up is the most common way to get a clip of the wrong length.

What it costs

Jobs bill in processing seconds — the CPU time this one actually uses — with a floor of 25 seconds per GB pulled out of storage to run it, so a stream-copy still counts. Uploading the output and downloading it afterwards are free. See the plans.

Related guides

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