Auto Intro Trim probes leading black frames and leading silence, then cuts from the longer intro junk so the clip opens on real content.
What does auto intro trim change?
It seeks past leading blackdetect and/or silencedetect regions and re-encodes from that point to the end — trailing content stays intact.
What does cutting leading black or silence change at second zero?
Auto intro trim produces leading black or silence removed so feeds open on content.
Concrete results of auto intro trim:
- Countdown slates and black heads leave the deliverable.
- Distinct from edge silence trim — blackdetect is included.
- Only the start is cut; the rest of the take stays.
What do black or silent intros look like in swipe feeds?
Without intro trim, feeds meet black or silent intros that look like a stalled player.
What dead opens cost before the hook:
- Viewers swipe during the slate before dialogue.
- Retention clocks start at second zero on dead frames.
- Manual scrubbing to find the first real frame burns time.
How do content-first opens relate to early retention?
A content-first open is opens that put the subject on screen immediately.
Why the first frames are the product:
- Short-form systems treat the first frames as the product.
- Black intros waste the hook window.
- Pairs with hook rearrange when order still needs a change.
- Without intro trim, slates from the editor ride into every upload.
Intro trim cuts leading junk only; trailing silence still uses silence trim.
How does intro trim differ from silence trim?
Silence trim cuts leading and trailing quiet edges; auto intro trim also removes leading black slates and only trims the start.
How does intro trim choose the cut?
It takes the maximum of leading black_end and leading silence_end (capped so the clip is never emptied), then applies an -ss seek re-encode.
What intros does this leave alone?
Branded title cards with motion or audio, mid-timeline black flashes, and intentional silent pauses after the open stay — only the leading junk is removed.
Auto intro trim removes leading black or silence so uploads open on content.