Save Time and Money

Written by Lisa Chapman | Edited by Rory Hart
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    video speed controller Chrome extension FREE

    FREE Video Speed Controller for Chrome

    Have you ever watched a video playback, feeling frustrated with the slow pace and your inability to move it forward? Well, if you’re a Chrome user, now you can grab this FREE HTML5 video speed controller (only for Google Chrome) and enjoy your new video speed control!

    Many video viewers report that accelerated viewing keeps their attention longer: faster delivery keeps the viewer more engaged with the content. In fact, with a little training many end up watching videos at 2x+ the recorded speed. Some studies report that after being exposed to accelerated playback, listeners become uncomfortable if they are forced to return to normal rate of presentation.

    The science of accelerated playback

    Faster playback translates to quick progress, better engagement and retention. Average adult reads prose text at 250 to 300 words per minute (wpm). By contrast, the average rate of speech for English speakers is ~150 wpm, with slide presentations often closer to 100 wpm. As a result, when given the choice, many viewers speed up video playback to ~1.3~1.5 its recorded rate to compensate for the difference.

    Faster HTML5 Video

    HTML5 video provides a native API to accelerate playback of any video. The problem is, many players either hide, or limit this functionality. For best results playback speed adjustments should be easy and frequent to match the pace and content being covered: we don’t read at a fixed speed, and similarly, we need an easy way to accelerate the video, slow it down, and quickly rewind the last point to listen to it a few more times.

    Install this Chrome Extension

    Once the extension is installed, simply navigate to any page that offers HTML5 video (example), and you’ll see a speed indicator in top left corner. Hover over the indicator to reveal the controls to accelerate, slowdown, and quickly rewind or advance the video. Or, even better, simply use your keyboard:

    • S – decrease playback speed.
    • D – increase playback speed.
    • R – reset playback speed.
    • Z – rewind video by 10 seconds.
    • X – advance video by 10 seconds.

    Note that you can customize these shortcuts in the extension settings page. Also, a few tips for enabling and forcing HTML5 video:

    • YouTube: make sure you enable the HTML5 opt-in experiment.
    • If you’re adventurous, try disabling the Flash plugin in Chrome in chrome://plugins/
    • If viewing a video on Wistia, right click to switch to HTML5 video, refresh the page, and the controls will appear.

    FAQ

    The video controls are not showing up? This extension is only compatible with HTML5 video. If you don’t see the controls showing up, chances are you are viewing a Flash video. If you want to confirm, try right-clicking on the video and inspect the menu: if it mentions flash, then that’s the issue. That said, most sites will fallback to HTML5 if they detect that Flash it not available. You can try manually disabling Flash plugin in Chrome:

    • In a new tab, navigate to chrome://plugins
    • Disable “Adobe Flash Player”
    • Restart your browser and try playing your video again

    The speed controls are not showing up for local videos? To enable playback of local media (e.g. File > Open File), you need to grant additional permissions to the extension.

    • In a new tab, navigate to chrome://extensions
    • Find “Video Speed Controller” extension in the list and enable “Allow access to file URLs”
    • Open a new tab and try opening a local file, the controls should show up

    This simple and convenient tool will save you time and money. Similar paid tools cost about $30 and don’t offer significant advantages. Feel free to share this link on your Facebook timeline or send to your friends via email!

    For more resources, see the Free Management Library topic: Marketing and Social Media.

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    About Lisa M. Chapman:

    Lisa Chapman helps company leaders define, plan and achieve their goals, both online and offline. After 25+ years as an entrepreneur, she is now a business and marketing consultant, business planning consultant and social media consultant. Online, she works with clients to establish and enhance their online brand, attract their target market, engage them in meaningful social media conversations, and convert online traffic into revenues. Email: Lisa (at) LisaChapman (dot) com. Her book, The WebPowered Entrepreneur – A Step-by-Step Guide is available at:

    Lisa Chapman