Cut a 5 minute episode into three 30 second teasers for 6 cents

Cutting three 30 second teasers out of a 5 minute episode costs $0.06 on Sume: three video-trim jobs at $0.02 each. Post the long cut and three short ones that point to it, so one render feeds four posts. A Metricool roundup (read 2026-10-03) says TikTok's algorithm is rewarding 3 to 5 minute videos, which makes the long episode the anchor and the teasers the funnel.

Teasers are worth an extra pass only if each one stands alone. Pick moments with a clear question and stop before the answer.

Trim request

Video trim needs start and exactly one of end or duration. Duration runs from 0.2 to 900 seconds. The default precision is exact, a frame-accurate re-encode, which keeps the cut on the beat. The keyframe mode copies the stream and can start a GOP early, so re-base against actual_start_seconds.

curl -X POST https://api.sume.com/v1/video-trim \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $SUME_API_KEY" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -H "Idempotency-Key: ep6-teaser-b" \
  -d '{"video_url":"https://media.sume.com/artifacts/artf_ep6/ep6.mp4","start":90,"duration":30}'

Three cuts, one cost

Each trim is a new artifact, never the source. The cost is flat.

Add a tail card

Each teaser can end on a still that names the full episode. Make the end card with an image model, then join with Timeline 1.0: the trimmed MP4 with source_in 0 and a still held for two seconds. Stills are static holds. A teaser plus a 2 second card is $0.10 for the render, since it is under a minute.

Run the plan endpoint first; it is unbilled.

Match the upload spec

TikTok's media transfer guide lists MP4 as recommended, H.264 as the recommended codec, 360 to 4096 pixels per side and 23 to 60 FPS. Trim re-encodes with libx264 in yuv420p at default precision, which is compatible with the H.264 recommendation. Check the final frame rate with video inspect if your source ran below 23 FPS.

Sume does not choose the hooks. It does not post or link the posts either.