VidMark turns the Google Drive video player into a real video-review tool. Open a comment while paused and the current timestamp is auto-stamped at the start. Each timestamped comment drops a clickable color-coded circle on the timeline. Click a marker to jump the video and flash the matching comment. Sort comments by timecode, commenter, or completion. Export the whole feedback session to a clean text file with one click.

Built for editors, agencies, marketing teams, and anyone reviewing video files shared over Drive — without paying for, syncing to, or uploading to Frame.io.

✨ Features

• Auto-timestamp every comment — Click Comment while paused at any frame and the current video time is inserted as [m:ss] at the start of your reply. No more typing timecodes by hand.
• Live-updating timestamp — While the comment box is empty, the inserted timestamp tracks your scrubs in real time. The moment you start typing past it, the timestamp locks in.
• Color-coded timeline markers — Every timestamped comment drops a clickable circle on the seek bar, each in its own pastel hue (golden-ratio distributed) so adjacent comments stay visually distinct.
• Click a marker to jump and highlight — Click any timeline circle and the video seeks to that moment while the matching comment flashes in the same color and scrolls into view.
• Clickable [m:ss] inside comments — Every timestamp inside every comment becomes a blue underlined link that seeks the video when clicked.
• Frame.io-style sorting — Reorder Drive's comment list by Timecode, Oldest, Newest, Commenter, or filter to Completed (resolved). Same modes Frame.io reviewers expect.
• Hide / Show comments — One-click toggle that closes the comments panel and expands the video player to fill the freed space (16:9, viewport-aware), then snaps back when you reopen them.
• Auto-reopen comment box — After you click Post Comment, VidMark auto-clicks the + Comment toolbar button so you can immediately type the next note without losing your place in the video.
• #tags color-code your timeline — Drop #fix #color #audio #approve (or any hashtag) into a comment and the marker on the timeline switches to that tag's color. The floating panel gets a tag filter dropdown that filters both the comments list and the timeline.
• Search comments + filter the timeline — Type into the search box and only matching comments + their markers stay visible. Press / from anywhere to focus the search.
• Loop between two markers — Click 🔁 Loop in the panel (or press L), pick two markers, and the video loops between them on repeat — perfect for tight editing review.
• Drawing / annotations — ✏️ Annotate pauses the video and overlays a canvas; draw on the frame with color + brush-size + undo, save, and the drawing re-displays whenever you scrub back to that moment. Saved locally per video, never transmitted.
• Side-by-side compare — Compare two video versions side-by-side via the popup → Side-by-side compare. Paste two Drive video URLs and review v1 vs v2 in one tab.
• Keyboard shortcuts — n new comment · , . previous / next marker · / focus search · L loop mode · Cmd+E open export · Esc close any open menu.
• Export to nine formats — One-click export to .txt, Markdown, CSV, JSON, printable HTML (save as PDF), .srt / .vtt subtitles, .fcpxml for Final Cut Pro & Adobe Premiere, and .edl for DaVinci Resolve / Avid / any NLE.
• Toolbar popup menu — Click the VidMark icon in your Chrome toolbar for quick access to every export format and a Settings panel that toggles each feature on or off (synced across browsers via your Google account).
• Folder-view support — Works in Drive's standalone video viewer and in the video preview opened from inside a folder.
• 100% local — Runs entirely in your browser on drive.google.com pages. No account, no server, no telemetry.

🚀 Getting Started

Prerequisites

• Google Chrome 110+ or any Chromium-based browser (Edge, Brave, Arc, etc.)
• Access to videos in Google Drive

Install (developer mode)

git clone https://github.com/markksantos/VidMark.git

1. Open chrome://extensions in Chrome
2. Toggle Developer mode (top-right)
3. Click Load unpacked
4. Select the cloned VidMark folder
5. Open any video in Google Drive — VidMark is now active

Usage

1. Open a video in Google Drive
2. Pause where you want to leave a note, click Comment
3. The comment box pre-fills with [1:45] (or wherever you're paused)
4. Type your note → Post Comment
5. The next comment box opens automatically; rinse and repeat
6. Click any colored circle on the timeline to jump to a timestamped comment
7. Use the floating panel (top-right) to sort comments or export them
8. Click the VidMark icon in your Chrome toolbar for the full export menu and feature toggles

📤 Export Formats

For the NLE formats, all comments are placed as markers at the right timecode on a synthetic track, with the author + comment body as the marker note.

🔧 How It Works

You pause the video at 3:25
  -> Click "Comment"
  -> VidMark reads the seek-slider's value/aria-valuetext
  -> Inserts "[3:25] " into Drive's contenteditable comment editor
  -> You type your note and post
  -> VidMark detects the new comment in the [role="list"], clicks "+ Comment"
  -> Cycle repeats

Existing comments
  -> VidMark walks text nodes for [m:ss] patterns (idempotent, skips contenteditable)
  -> Wraps each match in a clickable span with a stable hue derived from seconds
  -> Overlays a circle on the seek bar at (seconds / duration) * 100%
  -> Click marker  ->  set slider.value via native setter, dispatch input/change
                    ->  Drive seeks the underlying YouTube iframe
                    ->  the matching comment card flashes in the same hue

Drive's video is a YouTube iframe (cross-origin) but Drive renders its own seek slider in the parent frame. VidMark reads time from <input aria-label="Seek slider"> and seeks by setting that input's value via the native setter plus dispatching input/change events — Drive's own jsaction handlers then proxy the seek to the iframe.

🛠️ Tech Stack

📁 Project Structure

VidMark/
├── manifest.json          # MV3 manifest — content script + popup action + storage perm
├── content.js             # All in-page behavior — runs on drive.google.com
│   ├── Settings + storage      # chrome.storage.sync load + onChanged listener
│   ├── 1. Auto-stamp            # insertTimestamp + live updater
│   ├── 2. Timestamps            # wrapAllTimestamps + clickable [m:ss] + #tag parsing
│   ├── 3. Markers               # timeline overlay, hue per timestamp + per tag
│   ├── 4. Sort / Filter / Search # sort modes, tag filter, text search, 9-format export
│   ├── 5. Loop between markers  # set-start / set-end / interval-driven re-seek
│   ├── 6. Drawing / annotations # canvas overlay, save to chrome.storage.local
│   ├── 7. Auto-reopen           # mutation-based detection, click + Comment
│   ├── 8. Hide / expand         # comments panel toggle + video player resize
│   ├── Keyboard shortcuts       # n / , . / / L / Cmd+E / Esc
│   └── Popup messaging          # VIDMARK_EXPORT / VIDMARK_SETTINGS_CHANGED handlers
├── styles.css             # Markers, flash, sort layout, panel + dropdown + annotation UI
├── popup.html / popup.css / popup.js   # Toolbar popup — Export | Settings | About + Compare
├── compare.html / compare.css / compare.js  # Side-by-side compare page (v1 vs v2)
├── icon-16.png            # Toolbar icon
├── icon-32.png            # Windows context menu
├── icon-48.png            # Extensions management page
├── icon-128.png           # Chrome Web Store listing
├── icon-source.png        # 1024×1024 master
├── store-listing.txt      # Copy-paste-ready Chrome Web Store fields
├── PRIVACY.md             # Privacy policy (linked from manifest + Web Store)
└── README.md

🔐 Privacy

• VidMark runs entirely in your browser on https://drive.google.com/* and never on any other site
• It does not collect, transmit, sell, or share any data
• It does not require an account, log-in, or external server — no background service worker
• It does not read or modify videos themselves; only the comment text and timeline UI inside Drive
• Permissions: content script injection on drive.google.com only — nothing else

📄 License

MIT License © 2026 Mark Santos

Built by Mark Santos · Replace Frame.io with the Drive you already pay for.