Cutting past a claimed song: exact trim, not keyframe, $0.02

If you are trimming a Short to remove a passage that drew a copyright claim, use precision exact. Video trim's keyframe mode stream-copies, and the Sume docs say the cut can start a GOP (group of pictures) early, so the output may include a few frames from before your start time. Exact re-encodes and is frame-accurate. The two cost the same: $0.02 per job (as of 2026-10-08).

Why the early start matters here

YouTube's Shorts page says a Short over one minute with an active copyright claim is blocked globally, with no channel penalty, and that you may remove the claimed content from your video. Removal only works if the claimed material is actually gone. A keyframe cut that begins at 47.0 seconds but physically starts at the previous keyframe has put some earlier footage back. The page does not say how to find what a claim covers, so use the claim details YouTube shows you for the time range.

The two modes side by side

Both modes take a start in seconds and either an end or a duration (not both). The duration can be 0.2 to 900 seconds, and the source can be up to 1800 seconds.

A worked cut

Say the claimed bar runs from 12.0 to 47.0 seconds in a 150-second Short and you want to keep 47.0 to 106.0, which is 59 seconds. The body is start 47, duration 59, with the default precision. The result has video_url (a new artifact, never the source), duration_seconds, actual_start_seconds and any warnings. With exact, actual_start_seconds should match your 47. With keyframe it can be earlier, and that gap is the exposure.

If you also need the first part, run a second trim for 0 to 12 seconds and join the two in Timeline. That is two trims ($0.04) plus a render: 71 seconds of output is 2 started minutes, so $0.20, and the total is $0.24. Note that joining both pieces needs an audio spine in Timeline, so keep the original audio file for the same time ranges.

• Do not combine output (a size or frame-rate conform) with keyframe. The API refuses it with video_trim_output_requires_exact.
• Exact precision re-encodes with libx264 at yuv420p, so the output is a fresh encode and not a copy of the original stream.
• Each trim needs an Idempotency-Key, and the clip must already live on media.sume.com.

When keyframe is still fine

For a quick look at where a section sits, keyframe is quick and the early start is harmless. For the file you upload to YouTube, spend the same $0.02 on exact. Probe the result with Video inspect and compare its duration with the 59 seconds you asked for before you publish.

Checking the result

After the trim finishes, read the result rather than assuming. Compare duration_seconds with the 59 you asked for, and compare actual_start_seconds with your start. If you used exact, both should match your request. If you used keyframe and the two differ, the gap is the number of seconds of unwanted material at the front. Warnings appear in the result as well, for instance trim_clamped_to_source when your end point was after the end of the source. A clamped end point means the file is shorter than you planned, which in this case only helps you stay under the one-minute line.