Name: Video Frame Custom API: Extract Frames from Video
Brand: magicapi
SKU: api-magicapi-video-frame-extraction-littletry-video-frame-custom
Availability: InStock
Author: API Market

Shashank Agarwal

# 🎞️ Video Frame Extractor API (littletry Video Frame Custom)

## Overview
Video Frame Custom extracts frames from a video as images: the first, last or middle frame, specific frames by number, or evenly spaced frames.

Send a video URL and pick a `mode`. Each request returns a list of image URLs, one per extracted frame.

## Features
- **Six modes**: `first`, `last` (default), `middle`, `frame_number`, `frame_numbers` and `uniform`.
- **Specific frames**: `frame_number` (counting from 1) or a list in `frame_numbers`.
- **Evenly spaced frames**: `num_frames` frames between `start_percent` and `end_percent` of the video.
- **Image format**: `jpg` (default) with `jpeg_quality`, or `png`.

## Use Cases
1. **Thumbnails**: grab the first, middle or last frame of a clip.
2. **Chaining clips**: take the last frame of a generated video to start the next one.
3. **Review and analysis**: sample evenly spaced frames to inspect or send to an image model.
4. **Exact frames**: pull specific frame numbers for editing or QA.

## Visual Examples
### Example Input
The example extracts the last frame of a video as a JPEG at quality 95.

```json
{
  "mode": "last",
  "video": "https://blog.api.market/wp-content/uploads/2026/10/video-frame-custom-input-api-market.mp4",
  "num_frames": 1,
  "end_percent": 100,
  "frame_number": 1,
  "image_format": "jpg",
  "jpeg_quality": 95,
  "frame_numbers": "",
  "start_percent": 0
}
```

### Example Output
![Video Frame Custom output: the last frame of the input video](https://blog.api.market/wp-content/uploads/2026/10/video-frame-custom-output-52rb3x6m-api-market.jpg)

## Input Parameters
| Field | Type | Required | Default | Allowed values | Description |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| `video` | string (URL) | Yes | none |  | Video URL to extract frames from. |
| `mode` | string | No | `last` | `first`, `last`, `middle`, `frame_number`, `frame_numbers`, `uniform` | Which frames to extract. |
| `frame_number` | integer | No | `1` | 1 or more | Frame to extract in `frame_number` mode, counting from 1. |
| `frame_numbers` | string | No | `""` |  | Frame numbers to extract in `frame_numbers` mode, as a string. |
| `num_frames` | integer | No | `5` | 1 or more | Number of evenly spaced frames in `uniform` mode. |
| `start_percent` | number | No | `0` | 0 to 100 | Start of the range for evenly spaced frames, as a percentage of the video. |
| `end_percent` | number | No | `100` | 0 to 100 | End of the range for evenly spaced frames, as a percentage of the video. |
| `image_format` | string | No | `jpg` | `jpg`, `png` | Image format for every extracted frame. |
| `jpeg_quality` | integer | No | `95` | 1 to 100 | JPEG quality for `jpg` frames, from 1 to 100. |

## Pricing
- **Pay As You Go (PAYG) pricing**: you only pay for what you use.
- **Price**: $0.001 per API unit.
- **1 API unit = 1 successful request** that uses up to 9 seconds of processing time. A request that needs more processing time is billed one more unit for each started block of 9 seconds (for example, 10 to 18 seconds of processing is 2 units, $0.002).
- **Example cost**: the example request on this page used 1.3 seconds of processing, so it was billed 1 unit ($0.001).
- **Failed or cancelled predictions are not billed.**
- **GET requests to check prediction status** are free and don't count toward API unit usage.
- **No monthly subscription fee.**

## API Documentation

### Base URL
All API requests go to: `https://prod.api.market/api/v1/magicapi/video-frame-extraction-littletry-video-frame-custom`

### Authentication
Send your api.market API key in the `x-api-market-key` header:
```
x-api-market-key: YOUR_API_MARKET_KEY
```

### Asynchronous Processing
**IMPORTANT**: This API is asynchronous. The flow is:
1. Send a POST request to `/predictions`. A successful request returns **201 Created** with a prediction `id` and a `status` of `starting` or `processing`.
2. Poll GET `/predictions/{id}` with that ID.
3. Keep polling while `status` is `starting` or `processing`.
4. Stop when `status` is `succeeded` (read `output`), `failed` or `canceled` (read `error`).

A polling interval of 1 second and an overall timeout of 600 seconds (10 minutes) work well.

### Endpoints

#### Create a Prediction
```bash
curl -X POST "https://prod.api.market/api/v1/magicapi/video-frame-extraction-littletry-video-frame-custom/predictions" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -H "x-api-market-key: YOUR_API_MARKET_KEY" \
  -d '{
    "version": "ca7c5e27d473374e61d51d17bbde1941b654b01ab92c1bd36c6708efcd938bc0",
    "input": {
      "mode": "last",
      "video": "https://blog.api.market/wp-content/uploads/2026/10/video-frame-custom-input-api-market.mp4",
      "num_frames": 1,
      "end_percent": 100,
      "frame_number": 1,
      "image_format": "jpg",
      "jpeg_quality": 95,
      "frame_numbers": "",
      "start_percent": 0
    }
  }'
```

Response (201 Created):
```json
{
  "id": "52rb3x6mjsrmt0d1d11tt1y5mc",
  "version": "ca7c5e27d473374e61d51d17bbde1941b654b01ab92c1bd36c6708efcd938bc0",
  "status": "starting",
  "created_at": "2026-10-23T10:17:18.404Z"
}
```

#### Check Prediction Status
```bash
curl -X GET "https://prod.api.market/api/v1/magicapi/video-frame-extraction-littletry-video-frame-custom/predictions/{id}" \
  -H "x-api-market-key: YOUR_API_MARKET_KEY"
```

Response when the prediction has finished (200 OK):
```json
{
  "id": "52rb3x6mjsrmt0d1d11tt1y5mc",
  "status": "succeeded",
  "output": [
    "https://blog.api.market/wp-content/uploads/2026/10/video-frame-custom-output-52rb3x6m-api-market.jpg"
  ],
  "error": null,
  "created_at": "2026-10-23T10:17:18.404Z",
  "started_at": "2026-10-23T10:17:18.417Z",
  "completed_at": "2026-10-23T10:17:19.700Z"
}
```

`output` is a list of image URLs, one per extracted frame.

### Status Codes
- **201 Created**: prediction created (POST `/predictions`). This is the normal success response.
- **200 OK**: prediction details returned (GET `/predictions/{id}`).
- **400 Bad Request**: invalid input, for example a missing `video` or a `mode` that is not in the list.
- **401 Unauthorized**: missing or invalid API key.
- **404 Not Found**: no prediction with that ID.
- **429 Too Many Requests**: rate limit exceeded.
- **500 Internal Server Error** or **503 Service Unavailable**: temporary server problem; retry later.

## Rate Limits
All plans allow 10 requests per second. Requests above that return `429 Too Many Requests`; back off before retrying and honour any `Retry-After` header. Polling a prediction with GET is free but still counts toward the per-second limit, so poll every 1 to 5 seconds rather than in a tight loop.

## Error Handling
- Check the HTTP status code of every request and read the response body for the error message.
- A prediction can also end with `status` set to `failed`; the `error` field then explains why. Failed predictions are not billed.
- Retry 429, 500 and 503 responses with exponential backoff. Fix the input before retrying a 400.

## Implementation Guide
### Example Code

#### JavaScript
```javascript
const apiKey = "YOUR_API_MARKET_KEY";
const baseUrl = "https://prod.api.market/api/v1/magicapi/video-frame-extraction-littletry-video-frame-custom";

async function createAndWaitForPrediction(input) {
  const response = await fetch(`${baseUrl}/predictions`, {
    method: "POST",
    headers: {
      "Content-Type": "application/json",
      "x-api-market-key": apiKey
    },
    body: JSON.stringify({ version: "ca7c5e27d473374e61d51d17bbde1941b654b01ab92c1bd36c6708efcd938bc0", input })
  });

  if (response.status !== 201) {
    throw new Error(`API error: ${response.status} ${await response.text()}`);
  }

  const prediction = await response.json();
  return pollForResults(prediction.id);
}

const delay = (ms) => new Promise((resolve) => setTimeout(resolve, ms));

async function pollForResults(predictionId) {
  const maxTimeout = 600000;
  const pollInterval = 1000;
  const startTime = Date.now();

  while (Date.now() - startTime < maxTimeout) {
    const response = await fetch(`${baseUrl}/predictions/${predictionId}`, {
      headers: { "x-api-market-key": apiKey }
    });

    if (!response.ok) {
      throw new Error(`API error: ${response.status} ${await response.text()}`);
    }

    const prediction = await response.json();

    if (prediction.status === "succeeded") {
      return prediction.output;
    }

    if (prediction.status === "failed" || prediction.status === "canceled") {
      throw new Error(`Prediction ${prediction.status}: ${prediction.error || "Unknown error"}`);
    }

    await delay(pollInterval);
  }

  throw new Error("Prediction timed out after 10 minutes");
}

createAndWaitForPrediction({
    "mode": "last",
    "video": "https://blog.api.market/wp-content/uploads/2026/10/video-frame-custom-input-api-market.mp4",
    "num_frames": 1,
    "end_percent": 100,
    "frame_number": 1,
    "image_format": "jpg",
    "jpeg_quality": 95,
    "frame_numbers": "",
    "start_percent": 0
  }).then((output) => console.log(output));
```

#### Python
```python
import time
import requests

API_KEY = "YOUR_API_MARKET_KEY"
BASE_URL = "https://prod.api.market/api/v1/magicapi/video-frame-extraction-littletry-video-frame-custom"


def create_and_wait_for_prediction(input_data):
    headers = {"Content-Type": "application/json", "x-api-market-key": API_KEY}
    response = requests.post(
        f"{BASE_URL}/predictions",
        headers=headers,
        json={"version": "ca7c5e27d473374e61d51d17bbde1941b654b01ab92c1bd36c6708efcd938bc0", "input": input_data},
    )

    if response.status_code != 201:
        raise Exception(f"API error: {response.status_code} {response.text}")

    return poll_for_results(response.json()["id"])


def poll_for_results(prediction_id):
    max_timeout = 600
    poll_interval = 1
    headers = {"x-api-market-key": API_KEY}
    start_time = time.time()

    while time.time() - start_time < max_timeout:
        response = requests.get(f"{BASE_URL}/predictions/{prediction_id}", headers=headers)

        if response.status_code != 200:
            raise Exception(f"API error: {response.status_code} {response.text}")

        prediction = response.json()

        if prediction["status"] == "succeeded":
            return prediction["output"]

        if prediction["status"] in ("failed", "canceled"):
            raise Exception(f"Prediction {prediction['status']}: {prediction.get('error') or 'Unknown error'}")

        time.sleep(poll_interval)

    raise Exception("Prediction timed out after 10 minutes")


print(create_and_wait_for_prediction({
    "mode": "last",
    "video": "https://blog.api.market/wp-content/uploads/2026/10/video-frame-custom-input-api-market.mp4",
    "num_frames": 1,
    "end_percent": 100,
    "frame_number": 1,
    "image_format": "jpg",
    "jpeg_quality": 95,
    "frame_numbers": "",
    "start_percent": 0
}))
```

## FAQ
- **How do I get the first frame?**
  - Set `mode` to `first`. The default mode is `last`.
- **How do I sample frames across the whole video?**
  - Set `mode` to `uniform` and `num_frames` to the number of frames you want. Narrow the range with `start_percent` and `end_percent`.
- **Does extracting more frames cost more?**
  - Each request is one unit if it finishes within 9 seconds of processing. The example took 1.3 seconds.
- **Is the 201 response from POST an error?**
  - No. 201 Created means the prediction was accepted. Use the returned `id` to poll GET `/predictions/{id}` until `status` is `succeeded`, `failed` or `canceled`.
- **What if my prediction fails?**
  - Failed predictions are not billed. Read the `error` field, adjust the input and try again.

## Contact Us
If you have any questions, reach out to us through the chat on the bottom right of the page. You can also email our support team at hello@magicapi.com.


Extract first, last, middle, numbered or evenly spaced frames from a video as JPEG or PNG images. $0.001 per API unit, pay as you go.