Which Sume media step caps your clip: 1800, 900 or 300 s

Each Sume media step has its own length ceiling: video trim reads a source up to 1800 seconds and returns up to 900, video filter and video frames stop at 300-second sources, compose outputs up to 300 seconds, and Timeline renders up to 1800 seconds.

If a long AI video fails with a duration error, this table tells you which step to blame.

The caps side by side

Why the numbers differ

Trim and Timeline are cheap ffmpeg jobs with a generous source cap. Filter, frames and compose do pixel work or per-frame work, and the docs cap them at the 300-second compose-band ceiling. Frames also limits you to 24 stills per call.

When the cap is hit on a long clip, the fix is almost always to cut first. Trim a 1800-second master into ranges under 300 seconds, then filter or sample each range.

Order the pipeline around the caps

A workable order for a long AI cut is: trim to ranges, filter or crop each range, assemble in Timeline. Do not filter the whole master first, because that stage stops at 300 seconds. Trim itself needs only start and one of end or duration, in the range 0.2 to 900 seconds.

A 300-second source passes video-filter and video-frames; a 301-second one does not. Short AI clips (30 seconds or less) never touch these ceilings, so the caps matter for stitched masters and imported footage.

Where the sources must live

Every step reads from media.sume.com in your own workspace, so import files first with POST /v1/media-imports. Off-host URLs are rejected at admit. Video inspect is the free-of-guesswork step: probe the duration before you pick the step.

A decision rule

Probe first with video inspect, which accepts a source up to 1800 seconds. If the duration is 300 seconds or less, any step works. If it is between 300 and 1800 seconds, trim first. If you need an output longer than 900 seconds from one source, trim cannot return it in one cut, and the joined result belongs in Timeline.

Audio is its own case: audio detach returns up to 900 seconds per job, and a longer track needs a range.

Example: a 20-minute master

A 20-minute master is 1200 seconds. Inspect accepts it and trim accepts it as a source, but video filter and video frames refuse it. Trim four ranges of 300 seconds each (each is within the 900 second output cap), crop each range with video filter, and join them with a Timeline render of ceil(1200/60) = 20 minutes, so $2.00 for the render. The four trims cost $0.02 each and the four filter jobs $0.02 each.

Reading the error codes

Error codes name the step. source_duration_exceeded comes from trim, output_duration_exceeded from video filter, and duration_out_of_range from video frames. video_trim_range_empty fires when the range is empty or longer than 900 seconds. audio_detach_range_empty is the audio equivalent.

None of these is a billing error. They are admission or worker refusals, so the fix is a shorter range or an earlier trim, not more credit.

Before you build

Before you build, read the linked Sume docs page for the exact request fields, limits and prices, because those pages are the source of truth and can change. Run one short, cheap test with your own material first, check the output in a player and in your editor, and only then scale to the full shot list. Keep every job id and file you approve, so a later change never forces you to regenerate work that was already signed off. Note that this post describes Sume's catalog and tools; Sume does not run Luma Ray 3.2, and nothing here claims HDR or EXR output.