One 95-second LinkedIn video, two trims: 90 s in-stream, 30 s feed

LinkedIn's video ad page (read 2026-10-09) gives a length of three seconds to 30 minutes, recommends 15 to 30 seconds, and says in-stream ads can reach up to 90 seconds. From one 95-second source, two video trim jobs make both: start 0 with duration 90 for the in-stream version, and start 20 with duration 30 for the feed version. At $0.02 per job, that is $0.04.

The 90-second cut drops the last 5 seconds of the source, which is often an end card or a trailing breath. If your end card is needed, start at 5 instead and keep 90 seconds to the end.

The two bodies

Both cuts are cheap, so test the feed start

The 30-second feed version has to hold the viewer without the first 20 seconds of the long cut. Try more than one start. Three feed starts, 10, 20 and 40, cost $0.06; with the in-stream cut the whole set is $0.08. Because trim is worker ffmpeg with no provider inference, the price is the same for any content.

To pick starts, run video inspect on the 95-second source: eight stills by default, and a transcript if you want word timings. A source of 95 seconds is inside the 1,800-second limit for inspect and trim, and inside the 300-second limit for video frames and video filter.

Technical lines to hold

The same LinkedIn page lists MP4, H.264 or VP8, AAC audio, and a frame rate of less than 30 fps. Exact trim writes H.264 and AAC and can conform output fps to 24 or 25 in the same job, as long as precision is exact and you add the output object. See the related post on the codec line for the request body.

If the in-stream version needs captions, LinkedIn's page says they must be in SRT format with only text in the file. Treat the SRT as a file you supply alongside the video; the trim output is only the video. Keep the cut points in mind when you time the file, since a trim that starts at 20 seconds shifts every caption time by 20 seconds.

Checking the cuts

Both outputs are new files, so the 95-second original stays untouched and can feed later cuts, such as a 15-second version from the same source for $0.02 more. Run video inspect on each output. It confirms duration (90 and 30 seconds) and gives stills, so you can see that the feed version opens on the picture you meant at the 20-second mark.

If the in-stream cut ends mid-sentence because the last 5 seconds were dropped, move the window: start 5 and duration 90 keeps the ending. The source is 95 seconds, so any start from 0 to 5 gives a full 90 seconds.