Is a keyframe trim cheaper than an exact trim? Both are $0.02 a job

The Sume docs list one public rate for video trim, $0.02 per job, and do not give a separate price for precision: keyframe. The exact and keyframe modes differ in what the job does, not in what the page says it costs: exact re-encodes for frame accuracy, keyframe copies the stream and can start up to one group of pictures early. There is no provider inference in either; only worker ffmpeg runs. Confirm the live rate in GET /v1/catalog.

What each mode does

When the price is not the question

Choose keyframe when the cut points sit on natural boundaries or when a small early start does not matter, such as splitting a long recording into rough chapters. Choose exact for anything with a spoken first word, a beat-matched cut or a platform spec on size and frame rate, since output takes width and height of 256 to 2160 and fps of 24, 25, 30 or 60, and only exact can conform. A keyframe cut that starts 2 seconds early puts those 2 seconds in front of your hook.

Handling the early start

The result reports actual_start_seconds. If you asked for start: 40 and got 38.2, any later time you computed from the source needs 1.8 seconds subtracted before it applies to the new file. The result also carries duration_seconds, precision, audio, output and optional warnings[], and the trimmed MP4 goes into timeline_create video[] with source_in 0.

{
  "video_url": "https://media.sume.com/artifacts/artf_demo/long.mp4",
  "start": 40,
  "duration": 60,
  "precision": "keyframe"
}

Limits for both

The source can be up to 1800 s, the output 0.2 to 900 s, and you send either end or duration, never both (video_trim_range_conflict). An end past the source clamps and returns trim_clamped_to_source.