Video-Processing-Scripts/skill/Create-Clip.md

Create-Clip.ps1

Creates a clipped video file by calling Clone-Video.ps1 with an automatically derived output filename. The -Target path is generated from the -Video filename by inserting the -Suffix value (default -Clip) before the file extension — for example, P01.mp4 becomes P01-Clip.mp4 saved alongside the source. Both -Video and -Frames are required; any additional parameters are forwarded directly to Clone-Video.ps1.

Sources carrying a .skip marker keep that marker last: P01.skip.mp4 becomes P01-Clip.skip.mp4, so the clip remains excluded from the scripts that ignore .skip files.

Parameters

• -Video (required): Path to the input video file. Can be absolute or relative to current directory. Accepted containers: .mp4, .webm, .mkv. If the path has no extension the script tries .mp4, .webm, then .mkv in turn and uses the first match to determine the target filename extension.
• -Frames (required): 0-based frame range to clip. Supported formats:
  • start-end: Clip frames from start to end (e.g., "100-200"). Both ends must lie inside the video, and start must not be greater than end. Otherwise the script stops with exit code 1.
  • positive_number: Clip frames from 0 to that number (e.g., "50"). A single number past the last frame is clamped to the last frame ("150" on a 100-frame video gives frames 0 to 99).
  • -N: Clip the last N frames (e.g., "-10" clips frames 90 to 99 of a 100-frame video; "-1" clips the last frame only)
  • %: The last frame index. Alone ("%") it selects only the last frame. In a range (e.g., "10-%") it is the end of the range
  • -% is not supported and is rejected with exit code 1
  • all: Clip all frames (same as "0-%")
• -Suffix (optional): Text inserted into the derived target name before the file extension. Defaults to -Clip, so P01.mp4 becomes P01-Clip.mp4. Include any separator you want, such as the leading -. Must not be empty, because an empty suffix would produce a target with the same name as the source. For example, -Suffix "-Clip-Shot-1" turns P01.mp4 into P01-Clip-Shot-1.mp4.
• Extra parameters: Any additional parameters accepted by Clone-Video.ps1 (e.g. -Size, -FPS, -NoAudio, -Audio, -CRF, -Metadata, -Reverse, -LTX) are forwarded directly. The parameters -Video, -Frames, -Suffix and -Target are handled by this script and must not be repeated.

Refer to Clone-Video.ps1 for a full description of all supported parameters.

Target Filename Derivation

The output filename is derived automatically from the resolved source path:

Source	Target
P01.mp4	P01-Clip.mp4
render/shot.webm	render/shot-Clip.webm
C:\Videos\take01.mkv	C:\Videos\take01-Clip.mkv
P01 (no extension, resolves to P01.mp4)	P01-Clip.mp4
P01.skip.mp4	P01-Clip.skip.mp4
P04.skip.webm	P04-Clip.skip.webm
P01.skip (no extension, resolves to P01.skip.mp4)	P01-Clip.skip.mp4
P01.mp4 with -Suffix "-Shot-1"	P01-Shot-1.mp4
P01.mp4 with -Suffix "-Clip-Shot-1"	P01-Clip-Shot-1.mp4
P01.skip.mp4 with -Suffix "-Clip-Shot-1"	P01-Clip-Shot-1.skip.mp4

.skip sources

Several scripts in this collection ignore files whose name ends with .skip.<ext> (for example Crop-Clips.ps1). Inserting -Clip before the extension would produce P01.skip-Clip.mp4, which loses that meaning, so the marker is kept immediately before the container extension instead:

Source	Target
P01.skip.mp4	P01-Clip.skip.mp4	correct — still a .skip file
P01.skip.mp4	P01.skip-Clip.mp4	not used — marker no longer last

This applies to every accepted container (.mp4, .webm, .mkv), matching is case-insensitive, and the marker's original casing is preserved (P03.SKIP.mkv → P03-Clip.SKIP.mkv).

Examples

Clip a specific frame range:

.\Create-Clip.ps1 -Video P01.mp4 -Frames "100-200"
# Creates: P01-Clip.mp4 (frames 100 to 200)

Clip from frame 0 to frame 50:

.\Create-Clip.ps1 -Video P01.mp4 -Frames "50"
# Creates: P01-Clip.mp4 (frames 0 to 50)

Clip last 10 frames:

.\Create-Clip.ps1 -Video P01.mp4 -Frames "-10"
# Creates: P01-Clip.mp4 (last 10 frames)

Clip from frame 10 to last frame:

.\Create-Clip.ps1 -Video P01.mp4 -Frames "10-%"
# Creates: P01-Clip.mp4 (frames 10 to end)

Clip with resized output:

.\Create-Clip.ps1 -Video P01.mp4 -Frames "100-200" -Size 720p
# Creates: P01-Clip.mp4 (frames 100-200 scaled to 720p)

Clip without audio:

.\Create-Clip.ps1 -Video P01.mp4 -Frames "100-200" -NoAudio

Clip with alternate audio:

.\Create-Clip.ps1 -Video P01.mp4 -Frames "50-150" -Audio music.mp3

Clip with custom CRF:

.\Create-Clip.ps1 -Video P01.mp4 -Frames "100-500" -CRF 18
# Uses CRF 18 instead of default CRF 8 or source bitrate

Clip a reversed segment:

.\Create-Clip.ps1 -Video P01.mp4 -Frames "100-200" -Reverse
# Creates: P01-Clip.mp4 playing frames 200 down to 100

Clip using the closest LTX-2 720p bucket:

.\Create-Clip.ps1 -Video P01.mp4 -Frames "100-200" -Size 720p -LTX

Source without extension:

.\Create-Clip.ps1 -Video P01 -Frames "100-200"
# Resolves P01 -> P01.mp4 (or .webm / .mkv, whichever exists first)
# Creates: P01-Clip.mp4

Replace the default -Clip suffix:

.\Create-Clip.ps1 -Video P01.mp4 -Frames "100-200" -Suffix "-Clip-Shot-1"
# Creates: P01-Clip-Shot-1.mp4 (frames 100 to 200)

Using absolute paths:

.\Create-Clip.ps1 -Video "C:\Videos\P01.mp4" -Frames "100-200"
# Creates: C:\Videos\P01-Clip.mp4

Clip a .skip source:

.\Create-Clip.ps1 -Video P01.skip.mp4 -Frames "100-200"
# Creates: P01-Clip.skip.mp4 (the .skip marker stays before the extension)

Clip a .skip source with extra parameters:

.\Create-Clip.ps1 -Video P01.skip.mp4 -Frames "5-10" -Size 480p
# Creates: P01-Clip.skip.mp4 scaled to 480p

Existing Files

An existing derived clip is replaced without a prompt. The clip is created by Clone-Video.ps1, which runs ffmpeg with -y and overwrites its target.

• The .skip marker stays last in the name that is replaced. For P01.skip.mp4 the file replaced is P01-Clip.skip.mp4, or P01-Clip<suffix>.skip.mp4 with -Suffix.
• Use -WhatIf first, or use a different -Suffix.

Safe Execution

This script supports -WhatIf and -Confirm for safe execution (forwarded to Clone-Video.ps1):

• -WhatIf: Simulate the operation without creating files. Shows what Clone-Video.ps1 would do.
• -Confirm: Prompt for confirmation before each state-changing operation.

Simulate without making changes:

.\Create-Clip.ps1 -Video P01.mp4 -Frames "100-200" -WhatIf

Prompt before creating files:

.\Create-Clip.ps1 -Video P01.mp4 -Frames "100-200" -Confirm