Cut a 3-minute Reel into a 60-second teaser with video trim

To cut a 60-second teaser out of a 3-minute Reel, send Sume's video trim a start and either an end or a duration of 60: it returns a new MP4 and costs $0.02 per job. The source is untouched, and you can repeat it for several teasers of the same Reel.

What each field does

POST /v1/video-trim takes video_url on your media host, start (seconds, at least 0), and exactly one of end or duration (0.2 to 900 seconds). The source can be up to 1800 seconds and the output up to 900. An end past the source clamps and warns trim_clamped_to_source.

Cut three teasers

Reels can reach 3 minutes (read 2026-10-03), while Instagram's guide (read 2026-10-03) calls 15 to 60 seconds the sweet spot for tutorials, day-in-my-life clips and most creative formats. One long Reel can supply a few shorter ones.

import os, requests

API = "https://api.sume.com/v1/video-trim"
h = {"Authorization": "Bearer " + os.environ["SUME_API_KEY"]}
src = os.environ["REEL_URL"]

for i, start in enumerate((0, 60, 120)):
    r = requests.post(API, headers={**h, "Idempotency-Key": "teaser-%d" % i},
                      json={"video_url": src, "start": start, "duration": 60})
    r.raise_for_status()
    print(start, r.json().get("request_id"))

Cost and follow-up

Three teasers are three trim jobs, $0.06. Poll each with GET /v1/jobs/{id}/status, then read /result for video_url, duration_seconds and actual_start_seconds. If you plan to put the trimmed file in Timeline 1.0, use source_in 0, because the trim is already a new file.

What Sume does not do

Trim does not pick the best 60 seconds, add a hook or change the aspect ratio unless you give it output. For a different ratio use a crop in video filter or fit modes in Timeline. A trimmed teaser keeps the baked-in captions of the original.