A transcode is a VP9 or WebM file with a smaller resolution, smaller file size, or lower bit rate than the original video, created to optimally serve one of our videos to web browsers by mw:Extension:TimedMediaHandler. After each video is uploaded, that extension creates a "Transcode status" section on the video's file description page, which contains a link to "Update transcode status" (which will purge the page) and then a table which details the following statistics for each transcode: "Format" (sorted by video format (VP9 then WebM) and then by decreasing video resolution); "Bitrate" (in kbps or Mbps); "Download" (a link to download that particular transcode); "Actions" (a link to "Reset transcode" for that particular transcode, in case the transcoding failed); "Status" (what happened last to that transcode and when (UTC)); and "Encode time" (how long it took a backend server to finish the transcoding process, in seconds or minutes and seconds).

(Note that, since 2017, new users are unable to upload video or audio files, because of frequent abuse of this related to Wikipedia Zero. See Special:AbuseFilter/180.)

For trimming videos these commands can be used:

1. Install ffmpeg and run the below commands in the console. You need to adjust the timings and the file paths.
2. ffmpeg -copyts -ss 00:00:23.000 -to 00:01:24.400 -i ./file.webm -c copy ./output.webm
3. The above command will run through very quickly. Now check the video: if it trimmed at the right times, you're done but if not you need to use the command below which can take a while to run.
4. ffmpeg -ss 00:00:23.000 -to 00:01:24.400 -i ./file.webm -c copy ./output.webm

We have a tool in the early stage of development here (currently dysfunctional). For extracting single images from videos, see Category:Still images from videos.

Creating a link that appears at first as a still image of a video and that plays the video after its play button is clicked is called “embedding a video”. The easiest way to embed a video directly into an article (or another page) is by using the same [[File:]] syntax as for image or sound files. The result is on the right. The video can be resized by adding a fixed size (like "|200px") or - preferable - the "|upright" parameter. In most cases you should stick to the default size. If it is higher than wide, use the pure "|upright".

In case of Ogg Theora files, a keyframe from the midpoint of the video is used by default for the initial thumbnail image. To use a different keyframe, use the thumbtime parameter. For instance:

Either specify the time in seconds or use colons to separate hours, minutes and seconds. Separate a fraction of a second by a "." (dot). Only tenths (0.1, 0.2, etc.) of seconds work, currently.

There are two types of links to a video:

• File – To create a link to the video's file description page,
  • use [[:File:Time Lapse of New York City.ogv]].
  • To make the text of a link to the video's file description page appear as some text other than the video's filename, use [[:File:Time Lapse of New York City.ogv|some text you prefer]].

• Media – To create a link that downloads the video,
  • use [[Media:Time Lapse of New York City.ogv]] or use [[:Media:Time Lapse of New York City.ogv]].
  • To make the text of a link that downloads the video appear as some text other than the video's filename, use [[Media:Time Lapse of New York City.ogv|some text you prefer]] or use [[:Media:Time Lapse of New York City.ogv|some text you prefer]].

Allows embed code to reference a segment of the video stream or set a start time. Hover over the player to see start time listed as 5s, press play and notice it stops playback at 7 seconds.

[[File:Weeding.ogv|thumb|300px|start=5|end=7|Starts at 5 seconds and ends playback at 7 seconds]]

This feature depends on an HTML5 video browser.

Note: For URLs used outside Wikimedia wikis, the start of a section can be linked to as https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:WikiCite_2020_The_frontend_of_WikiCite.webm?start=1:12:30 where the three colon-separated value represent hours, minutes and seconds respectively. Values in the format start=mm:ss and start=sss are also accepted.

In case of animated GIF files, the animation is played continuously in a loop. Animated GIFs are (currently) scaled down on server-side to the required thumb size if they do not exceed the 12.5 Megapixel limit. If they exceed it a still frame will be displayed.

Main article: Commons:Timed Text

To upload an already created subtitle file, open the file on your computer in a text editor (such as Notepad) and copy the text into a new page in the TimedText namespace that matches the filename of the video and the language code.

Keep in mind to paraphrase not spoken sounds and encompass them with rounded brackets. E.g.

You can also import subtitles from YouTube or create a transcript using machine transcription so you only need to correct any flaws if there are any. This can also be used to translate transcripts.

Make sure there is {{Closed captions}} below the file description once the file has closed captions.