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A sports network in Europe was streaming multiple football matches every week. Fans wanted highlights fast, but the production team was stuck cutting them manually after each game. By the time clips were published, social media had already moved on, and the network was losing engagement to unofficial accounts posting shaky screen-recorded versions.
The problem wasn’t the games, it was the workflow. Manually scrubbing through hours of footage wasn’t sustainable, especially with several matches running at the same time.
Using a live clipping API changed this. Highlights could be generated automatically from time-stamped events or producer markers, processed in seconds, and shared while the match was still live. The team no longer had to choose between speed and accuracy, they finally had both.
But before we dive deeper into APIs, it’s worth stepping back. What exactly is live clipping, and why does it matter so much for modern streaming platforms? Let’s go through the basics.
Live clipping is the process of capturing and creating video highlights in real-time from an ongoing live stream. Instead of waiting for a broadcast to end, you can grab those pivotal moments like game-winning goals, keynote announcements, or viral-worthy gaffes and turn them into shareable clips instantly. These snippets are ready to post across platforms, keeping your audience engaged while the event is still unfolding.
Pulling clips manually from a live stream sounds simple until you try it at scale. Someone scrubs through hours of footage, exports segments, re-encodes them, and then uploads them again. It works for one or two clips, but once you’re dealing with dozens of requests across multiple events, the process collapses under its own weight. Missed moments, delayed publishing, and heavy editing overhead become the norm.
That’s where a live clipping API changes the game. Instead of treating clipping as an afterthought handled in post-production, an API builds it right into your workflow, fast, precise, and scalable.
With an API, clipping becomes a single request, not a manual task. You can trigger clipping programmatically when an event occurs a goal scored, a keyword detected in captions, or a timestamp logged by a producer. No waiting for an editor to hunt through the stream, no delays in getting the content live. The result is highlights created in seconds, not hours.
Think about a sports network broadcasting 10 matches at once, or a news outlet covering multiple live feeds. Manual clipping would require entire teams just to keep up. A clipping API scales without friction: it can process clips from multiple streams simultaneously, handle overlapping requests, and deliver them in near real time. Whether you need one clip or a thousand, the system responds the same way.
The real strength of an API isn’t just speed, it’s accuracy. Live clipping APIs can take in time-stamped metadata, cue points, or markers dropped into the stream. That means you’re not guessing where the moment starts or ends; you’re extracting the exact frame you want. Combine that with DVR functionality, and you can rewind into the buffer and still produce a frame-perfect highlight.
An API also means clipping isn’t siloed. You can wire it directly into your app, CMS, or automation pipeline. That might mean automatically posting clips to a social channel, embedding them in a news article, or pushing them into an internal asset library. The clipping doesn’t live in a separate tool, it lives inside your product.
Audiences have short attention spans. A moment that feels electric right now won’t carry the same weight an hour later. APIs make it possible to capture, process, and publish while the energy is still fresh. That’s what drives engagement, delivering the moment while people are still talking about it.
In short, a live clipping API isn’t just a convenience. It’s the only way to make clipping real-time, reliable, and scalable enough for modern video platforms.
Live clipping might sound straightforward, but under the hood, it’s a technically complex process. Developers often encounter these key challenges when building or managing live clipping workflows:
Latency issues: Real-time clipping demands low-latency processing to ensure moments are captured and delivered instantly. High latency can result in delays that defeat the purpose of live clipping, making the highlights feel outdated before they’re even shared.
Precision timing: Pinpointing the exact start and end times of a clip in a live stream is tricky. Stream buffering, varying network conditions, and timestamp mismatches can lead to clips that are off by critical seconds, missing the action or including unwanted footage.
Resource-heavy processing: Video encoding and transcoding for live streams are computationally intensive. Adding a clipping layer in real-time puts additional strain on servers, especially when handling multiple concurrent streams or high-resolution formats like 4K.
Stream interruptions: Unstable live streams or interruptions can disrupt the clipping process. Handling partial or fragmented streams requires robust error handling to ensure clips are generated correctly without corrupt data.
Multi-platform compatibility: Clips need to be tailored to various platforms, each with unique requirements for video resolution, aspect ratio, and duration. Automating this transformation in real time adds another layer of complexity.
Metadata synchronization: Synchronizing live metadata (like timestamps, captions, or markers) with video streams is essential for accurate clipping. Any desync can lead to clips that miss critical context or visuals.
Storage and delivery: Clips must be stored, processed, and delivered efficiently. Without optimized workflows, storage costs can balloon, and clip delivery can suffer delays, affecting viewer experience.
While these challenges might feel daunting, a purpose-built solution like the FastPix live clipping API simplifies the process, enabling developers to overcome these technical hurdles with ease. FastPix abstracts the complexities of live clipping.
Think about it: without DVR, clipping is really just recording in the moment. You can only catch what happens after you hit the button. That works if you’re lucky enough to anticipate a highlight, but most of the best moments happen unexpectedly.
DVR (or timeshifting) changes the game. With DVR enabled, your live stream is always recording a rolling buffer in the background. That means you can pause, rewind, or jump back to the exact point where the action started, even while the stream is still live. It’s like having an instant replay system baked right into your broadcast.
This isn’t just about convenience, it’s about precision. Instead of rough, half-missed clips, DVR ensures your highlight starts on the exact frame you want and ends cleanly, without awkward cuts or dead air.
We’ve covered the challenges and why DVR matters. Now let’s get into how live clipping actually works with FastPix.
Starting a live stream and creating clips with FastPix is easy and efficient. Follow the steps below to set up your live stream, use FastPix API, and generate live clips in real time.
Step 1: Get an API access token
The FastPix live streaming API requires authentication via an API Access Token, which consists of a Token ID and Token Secret. Here's how to get your API access token:
Once you've created the token, you'll have access to the FastPix API for live streaming.
Step 2: Create a live stream
Example cURL request:
1curl -X POST 'https://v1.fastpix.io/live/streams' \
2 --user {Access Token ID}:{Secret Key} \
3 -H 'Content-Type: application/json' \
4 -d '{
5 "playbackSettings": {
6 "accessPolicy": "public"
7 },
8 "inputMediaSettings": {
9 "maxResolution": "1080p",
10 "reconnectWindow": 60,
11 "mediaPolicy": "public",
12 "metadata": {
13 "livestream_name": "fastpix_livestream"
14 },
15 "enableDvrMode": false
16 }
17}'
18
Response example:
{
"success": true,
"data": {
"streamId": "fa7f8c0950ea48ebcc5ef9de8c23deaa",
"streamKey": "3dc5d7641f918baa083a5c52a5bd9cbckfa7f8c0950ea48ebcc5ef9de8c23deaa",
"srtSecret": "c51739512d0088d98a46925c9b74c73akfa7f8c0950ea48ebcc5ef9de8c23deaa",
"trial": false,
"status": "idle",
"maxResolution": "1080p",
"maxDuration": 43200,
"createdAt": "2024-10-15T08:48:31.551351Z",
"reconnectWindow": 60,
"enableRecording": true,
"mediaPolicy": "public",
"metadata": {
"livestream_name": "fastpix_livestream"
},
"enableDvrMode": false,
"playbackIds": [
{
"id": "4e43ec52-4775-4f68-a3ff-a57d8a59bba8",
"accessPolicy": "public"
}
]
}
}
The Stream key is crucial for connecting broadcasting software to the FastPix servers. Keep it secure to prevent unauthorized use.
Step 3: Start broadcasting
Step 4: Generate live clips from the stream
Live clipping allows you to capture and share moments from your live stream in real time. To create clips:
Example Stream URL:
https://stream.fastpix.io/<playbackId>.m3u8
Example:
https://stream.fastpix.io/<playbackId>.m3u8?start=10s&end=40s
This URL will create a clip from 10 seconds to 40 seconds of the live stream.
Please note: The maximum duration for a live clip is 60 seconds. Any clip requests exceeding this duration will be trimmed to 60 seconds.
Step 5: Stop broadcasting
Stop the stream: To stop streaming, simply end the RTMP session in your broadcasting software.
For more detailed explanation please check out our guide: API documentation.
Imagine streaming a football match where the final minutes explode with drama, a last-second goal that flips the result. With live clipping and DVR, the production team can rewind, capture that exact moment, and publish a highlight within seconds. Fans get the clip pushed to their phones or see it on social media almost instantly. The payoff is twofold: real-time excitement for viewers and a surge in traffic that advertisers love.
In live news, seconds matter. A political leader makes a breaking announcement during a press conference. Instead of waiting for the full broadcast to wrap, the team clips the announcement on the spot and uploads it immediately. Viewers who missed the stream can catch the highlight, and the channel strengthens its reputation as the fastest source of updates, a key driver for loyalty and subscriptions.
Take a tech company unveiling a new product in a live webinar. Beyond the keynote, there are demos, customer stories, and Q&A moments. Using live clipping, the marketing team instantly pulls out the key segments, the big reveal, a standout testimonial and distributes them across social, email campaigns, and the company blog. One event suddenly becomes months of content, stretching the ROI far beyond the live audience.
At a live-streamed festival, every set has a moment fans will talk about: a surprise collaboration, a hit song belted out by thousands. The media team clips those moments live and publishes them in real time, fueling engagement online and driving more viewers to the stream. It’s not just fan service, it’s also leverage for sponsors who want their brand attached to high-visibility, viral content.
A weekly service might run for an hour, but certain parts strike a chord, a sermon excerpt, a song, or a community update. By clipping those moments live, the media team makes them available instantly on social channels and newsletters. It’s a way to keep the congregation connected midweek and invite new members to join without having to sit through a full replay.
When an online course features a guest lecture, the best insights are often buried in a 60-minute session. Live clipping lets the platform surface those highlights right away, so students can review them without scrubbing through the entire video. At the same time, the clips double as social proof to attract prospective learners, boosting both engagement and enrolment.
Live clipping offers broadcasters a powerful way to engage viewers and create immediate value from live streams. By effectively leveraging live clips, content creators can enhance user engagement and unlock new monetization opportunities. Below are key strategies for maximizing the impact of live clipping:
Monetization opportunities
By strategically using live clipping, broadcasters can increase viewer interaction, boost content sharing, and maximize revenue potential through multiple monetization avenues.
Live clipping isn't just about capturing moments; it's about transforming the way content is delivered and consumed. From driving real-time engagement to maximizing content reach across platforms, live clipping offers a dynamic tool for content creators and broadcasters.
FastPix offers everything you need to enhance your live streams, from instant clipping to simulcasting. Check out FastPix’s live streaming solutions and see how we can help you build workflows that capture every moment with precision and deliver them effortlessly to your audience.
To create a live clip, simply specify the start and end time of the moment you want to capture during the live stream, and the clip will be generated automatically.
Yes, clips can be formatted to meet the specific requirements of different platforms, including resolution and aspect ratio adjustments.
Live clipping can be integrated via API, allowing you to automate the process of clipping key moments from a live stream, reducing manual intervention and improving workflow efficiency.
The maximum duration for a live clip is 30 seconds. If a clip request exceeds this time, it will be automatically trimmed to 30 seconds.
To create a live stream, you need an API Access Token with Video Read and Write permissions. You also need to send a POST request to the /streams endpoint, including settings for resolution, metadata, and more.
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