Review guidelines for inserting timecodes for Chapter Breaks. These will be used by ad-supported platforms.

  • Chapters are recommended and only apply to the Main Video (not to trailers or other videos). These are just timestamps and should not be in the Main Video file.

  • No Chapters in the first or last 5 minutes. After the first Chapter, each subsequent Chapter must be every 8-12 minutes. Your first Chapter break can be at any point after 5 minutes.

  • Chapter 1 always starts at timecode 00:00:00:00.

  • For titles less than 20 minutes, only 2 Chapters are allowed.

  • For titles less than 10 minutes, no Chapter is allowed. Enter only “00:00:00:00” as chapter 1.

  • All time codes must be frame-accurate.

  • Frames in the time codes must match the video’s frame rate, or you will not be able to save. For example, entering “27” as FF for a 24 fps video is invalid.

Chapter Tip:

  • It is best to place a Chapter after a scene’s end or before a major lighting change.

  • Try to avoid placing ad breaks in the middle of a monologue, dialogue, or action sequence.

  • It is best to find scene changes with black frames in between. If not available, use the timecode of the first frame of the next scene/shot.