Video Notes — Timestamped, Searchable, Exportable

Video notes in Video Controls Plus are timestamped text snippets you capture during video playback with a single keyboard shortcut (Alt+. by default). The /notes page is the central index of every note you have ever taken — searchable, filterable by source video, and exportable as Markdown, plain text, or CSV. Each note links back to the exact second of the source video, so weeks later you can click a note from a Stanford lecture and jump straight to the moment the professor explained the concept. The page is public marketing surface; the personal note collection appears once you sign in.

Use cases

Studying lectures actively instead of passively

Take 5–15 notes per hour of lecture. Each note locks in the moment a concept landed, plus your one-line takeaway. Reviewing the notes later is faster than re-watching, and the timestamp links let you re-watch any specific moment in seconds.

Tracking ideas while watching long-form interviews

Hour-long interviews and podcasts are gold mines for ideas. Notes capture the moments that mattered without breaking flow; review the export later when you actually have time to think about each one.

Building a citable archive of video research

For writers and researchers, every note becomes a citable claim with a stable URL+timestamp pair. Faster than transcribing manually; more accurate than relying on memory.

Preparing for a conversation about a specific video

Before recommending a video to a colleague, scan your notes from it and pick the three most-useful timestamps. They get a curated entry point rather than a 90-minute commitment.

How it works

  1. Press Alt+. during playback. A small inline editor opens above the video. Type the note. Press Enter to save; the timestamp is auto-attached.
  2. Notes save instantly. Local-first storage means there is no save button — typing is the save. Cloud sync (opt-in) propagates to other devices within seconds.
  3. Open /notes to browse. The page renders all notes grouped by source video, newest first. Search box matches note text; filter by date or source platform.
  4. Click a note to jump. Each note has a "Replay this moment" button that opens the source video at the exact captured second.
  5. Export to Markdown / TXT / CSV. Settings → Export. Markdown export keeps timestamps as `?t=Hh:Mm:Ss` URL fragments so the linked moment opens in any browser.

Examples

  • A two-hour lecture with 14 notes. Reviewing the export takes ~3 minutes. Three notes worth re-watching get clicked; the rest serve as a permanent searchable record.
  • An interview-research workflow. Notes from 8 podcast episodes export as one Markdown file; 23 notes total, each a citable claim with a stable URL.

Frequently asked questions

How precise are the timestamps?

Captured at the moment you press the shortcut, accurate to the millisecond on most browsers. Click-to-jump lands within ~0.5 seconds of the captured time depending on the player's seek granularity.

Can I edit a note after I save it?

Yes. Click any note in the /notes view to edit text or adjust the timestamp.

Are notes private?

Local-only by default. Cloud sync is opt-in and individual notes can be exempted from sync if you prefer.

Can I attach images or links to a note?

Plain text and Markdown only today. Image attachments are a roadmap item.

Does the export include the source video URL?

Yes. Every export entry has the source URL plus the timestamped link so re-opening the moment is one click.

How many notes can I store?

Practically unlimited locally (browser quota allowing — typically 10MB+, plenty for tens of thousands of text notes). Cloud sync has no per-account cap today.

Tips

  • Capture liberally — pruning later is much easier than re-watching to find a missed concept.
  • Use the first word as a category tag ("def:", "q:", "todo:") so you can grep export files quickly.
  • For language learning, save notes in the target language; the timestamp link is your audio reference for pronunciation.
  • If a note ends up worth a full study session, convert it to a flashcard from the /flashcards page.

Limitations

  • The /notes page itself is public marketing surface; the personal note collection requires sign-in.
  • No image or audio attachments today — text/Markdown only.
  • Click-to-jump precision depends on the source player's seek granularity; some adaptive-streaming players land within 1–2 seconds rather than to the millisecond.

Last updated 2026-05-06 by Ahsan Mahmood, maintainer.