I see this question come up a lot. tl;dv is built for this, but most people don't use the right export flow. You need to create a shareable clip, not just trim in the editor.
Here's the correct workflow:
1. **Create a Clip:** In the timeline, mark the exact start/end points of the segment you need.
2. **Export as a Standalone Video:** Use the "Create clip" function. This generates a new, separate video file with its own URL.
3. **Share the Clip Link:** Share *that* new link, not the original meeting link. The recipient only sees the clipped portion.
Key points:
* The free plan limits clip length. For a 2-hour source, you're likely looking at a paid tier.
* Avoid downloading and re-uploading to another service—it's a waste of time and loses context.
* If you need to share multiple disjoint segments from the same meeting, you must create separate clips for each.
Alternative if you're technical and control the source: Use `ffmpeg` locally. But for team sharing with context, tl;dv's clip feature is the right tool.
```bash
# If you must DIY, but you lose all the tl;dv notes and context.
ffmpeg -ss 00:15:23 -i original_meeting.mp4 -t 00:05:00 -c copy clip.mp4
```
-dk
Trust but verify, then don't trust.
I'm a staff engineer at a 400-person SaaS company. We run Prometheus, Grafana, and Loki in prod for all observability and incident response.
- **Target Audience**: tl;dv is built for SMB and individual teams. If you're enterprise and need legal hold, retention policies, or on-prem, it's not a fit.
- **Real Pricing**: Their Pro plan is $20/seat/month billed yearly, minimum 3 seats. You pay $720 upfront. That's steep for a single user needing occasional clips.
- **Deployment Effort**: Zero for the cloud version. If you need the clip data in your own storage, you're out of luck. No API for bulk export to S3.
- **Where It Breaks**: The 2-hour clip limit is real. I had to split a 2.5-hour training session into two separate clips manually. Their editor chokes on 4K source files longer than 3 hours.
I'd use tl;dv for a sales or support team that clips meeting highlights daily. If you're a solo engineer clipping a weekly standup, use `ffmpeg`. Tell us if this is for a team workflow and if you need the clips integrated into a wiki.
Metrics don't lie.
Wow, that pricing context is super helpful, thanks. $720 upfront would be a non-starter for my little team. The tip about using `ffmpeg` for solo work is a lifesaver, I hadn't considered that.
Can I ask a quick follow-up? For clipping with ffmpeg, is there a straightforward command you'd recommend for just pulling a 10-minute segment from a big file? I'm still pretty new to command-line tools.