Mute Segment

Description

Mute segments are for segments that visually contain important information but have audio underneath that belongs in one of the categories. If a segment can be skipped, it should be skipped instead. If a "skip" segment is too short to make a smooth skip, it can be submitted as "mute" if it seems better.

Existing "skip" segments cannot be converted to "mute" segments unless resubmitted as a new segment.

The threshold for converting skip segments to mute is about 1.5 seconds, but can vary depending on the context.

Keeping Context

• While skip segments should include segues, mute segments sometimes do not include segues
• For segments, try to mute as much audio as possible while still preserving context, reducing confusion as to why there is suddenly no audio
  • Don't mute the audio leading up to the segment, e.g. at 9:15, bryonato's explanation of the encounter being "mainly just holding W" and the segue into "but we have time for our first round of donations" is not muted

Examples

Description	Video Link
Positive Examples
There are visual disclaimers which cannot be skipped but audio for a sponsor read	1 man, 27 impressions
The content creator is shouting out the creator of the source material they based off of at 16:57 but it is over a timelapse, which should not be skipped	I moved! (my base)
The product name mentioned at 0:52 is muted since it's irrelevant to the content and cannot show any bias, where a skip would dramatically interrupt the flow	Slow mo with a high-speed robot
GDQ donation segments still have gameplay but can be muted for the duration of the donation reads	Control by Bryonato in 1:08:47 - AGDQ2020
Negative Examples
While there is spoken audio at 8:08, it is an interaction reminder and the entire section can be skipped	8 minute guide to Sucrose
While the audio is irrelevant, it doesn't fit any category and should not be muted	Crazy spinning cat

Tips for submitting

• Mute segments do not need a 2 frame buffer at the start
• When chaining a skip after a mute segment, add a 2 frame buffer to the start of the skip segment
• Preview as skip to see if there is a clean cut between the start of the mute and the end of the mute, avoiding unmutes in the middle of dialogue or a sound effect
• Make sure that other audio in the middle of the segment is not muted
• If the section has a part that should be skipped and a 2nd part that should only be muted — make two consecutive segments.
  • It is preferred to chain them on exactly the same millisecond but some overlap is okay.
  • Instead of chaining multiple skips and mutes in sequence, replace the smaller mute segments with a larger mute that covers all the segments