Time formats

Every duration in iLoveVideoEditor passes through a single parser. You can give it a number, a string with a unit, a clock form, or a frame count — the parser returns seconds, and every downstream API works in seconds.

Supported inputs

Input	Seconds	Notes
5	5	Any plain number is seconds.
0.5	0.5	Fractions fine.
'2s'	2	Seconds with suffix.
'500ms'	0.5	Milliseconds.
'3m'	180	Minutes.
'1h'	3600	Hours.
'120f'	depends on fps	At 30 fps → 4s. At 60 → 2s.
'00:30'	30	mm:ss form.
'01:20:05'	4805	hh:mm:ss form.
'00:05:10:15'	depends on fps	hh:mm:ss:ff — ff is frames.

Where you can pass them

Anywhere the API accepts a duration. A partial list:

$.wait('2s');
$.wait(0.5);
$.wait('120f');                                    // 120 frames

layer.animate({...}, {...}, { duration: '750ms' });
layer.animate({...}, {...}, { duration: '30f' });  // frame-exact
layer.fadeIn('500ms');
layer.fadeOut('1s');

// Trim a clip's source — start 5s in, play sourceStart-relative.
$.addVideo({}, { source, sourceStart: '00:00:05' });

// Schedule a layer with the flow pattern instead of an explicit sourceDuration.
$.wait('2s');
const t = $.addText({ text: 'hi' });
$.wait('3s');
t.remove();

Frames and fps

Frame-count inputs ('120f', 'hh:mm:ss:ff') are parsed against the project's fps. If your flow is 30 fps, '30f' is one second. If you change the fps after the fact, all frame-based durations shift accordingly.

NOTE

Tip. Mix units for readability: $.wait('1s'); $.wait('15f') is clearer than $.wait(1.5) when the 15 frames matter.