How to add Chapters to Stream Videos

If you watch videos on my YouTube channel, it is quite possible that you utilized the Timestamp functionality – the ability to jump to a certain part of the video quickly. We have the same functionality in Stream, which is called Chapters. So, in this article, I would like to explain how to set it up.

What is Stream?

If you are unfamiliar with Stream, I suggest you check out this article. Stream refers to the video files that are stored in SharePoint and OneDrive. Just like other types of files, videos are stored in SharePoint. However, videos have a whole lot of special “video” features, with Chapters being one of them.

Example of a Stream Video Stored in SharePoint

How to add Chapters to Videos

There are two (2) ways to create Chapters for the Video:

• Option 1: Automatically, from the Transcript
• Option 2: Manually, by setting time stamps

Option 1: Create Chapters from the transcript

If you generated a transcript for your video, which I explained in an earlier post, Stream can use that script to create Chapters. Here are the instructions:

1. 1. From the video, click on Video settings > Chapters, then click the Generate button
   2. It might take some time, but you will see the chapters being generate based off the script
   3. After a while, you can click on the Chapters tab to see the Chapters generated.

Option 2: Crate Chapters Manually

If you do not have a video transcript, that’s totally fine. You can create the chapters manually by specifying the time stamps. Here is how to do this:

1. Click on the Chapters tab, then click on New chapter
2. Next, give your Chapter a name and set the time stamp for its start. Click the checkbox.

User Experience

The video player’s progress bar will now contain different sections that allow the users to quickly jump to certain parts of the video.

Nuances about Stream Video Chapters

• If you decide to download the video locally on your computer, Chapter info is not included and will be lost.
• You can share a link to a specific chapter – similar to sharing a specific time stamp I wrote about previously
• You can also share a list of all chapters with links to Chapter Timestamps!
• Modifying a Transcript will not alter the chapter list – they are totally independent.
• If you generate chapters from the transcript, you can edit them manually later on.
• However, if you created chapters manually – you won’t be able to generate them from the transcript anymore – you must delete the manually created chapters first!