Video, Supercharged—Faster Uploads and Instant Playback on Sked 🚀

Sked's video handling is now significantly faster from upload to playback. This article explains what's new, how each improvement works, and who benefits.

What’s new:

• Ultrafast Mode for Transcoding:
  Your video is now split into small chunks and processed in parallel, giving you up to 5x faster processing speeds for large files. Ultrafast Mode applies to videos longer than 1 minute, and delivers the biggest gains when your video exceeds 10 minutes, is exported at 1080p or 4K, or uses the HEVC codec.
  
  
• Lightning-Fast Video Playback:
  Videos load instantly in your browser whether you’re editing, scheduling, or sharing review links for approval.
  
  
• Faster, Smoother Frame Selection:
  Thumbnails and frame selectors load quicker, making it easier to pick the perfect shot and using less browser memory along the way.
  
  

How does it work?

When uploading longer videos or HEVC media to Sked, we'll use the new UltraFast option to transcode your video. We'll split the file into smaller pieces that are all processed at the same time before being joined back together, greatly reducing the time spent waiting for the file to be ready. We transcode your media to generate thumbnails and hover-preview GIFs for the media library.

We also create a smaller version that is used in the thumbnail selection tool when creating a post, so the scrubber loads quickly using the smaller version, while the full-resolution frame is used when publishing. 

This approach is especially beneficial for longer videos, since you no longer have to wait for the full-resolution file to load before selecting a frame.

We've also upgraded our CDN (Content Delivery Network) so media loads from our servers into your browser without the brief pause you may have noticed before. This improvement covers all areas of Sked—opening files, creating posts, browsing the media library, and viewing the calendar—and applies to images as well as videos.

Why this matters

Less time waiting, more time creating. Your videos are ready to edit, review, and publish—faster than ever. Approvers get instant previews, you get a smoother workflow, and everyone wins.

This is just the beginning of our video improvements. Try it out and experience how much smoother uploading, reviewing, and publishing video in Sked can be.