I should be doing work/studying for my exam tomorrow, but I wanted to share a small bit of code that helped me get through a couple weeks of lecture videos a bit faster.¹ Most lecture video platforms already have a playback rate option that lets you speed through lecture videos at 2x speed. While that is usually fast enough, sometimes you just need to push it a little bit faster 😝.

Below is a bit of code that lets me change the playback rate of lecture videos on Panopto².

javascript:
p = flowplayer($(".flowplayer")[0]);
l = document.getElementById("playSpeedMultiplier");

document.addEventListener('keydown', (e) => {
	s = p.currentSpeed;
	if(e.code == "KeyT") {
		s = 1;
	} else if (e.code == "KeyR") {
		s = p.currentSpeed+0.2;
	} else if(e.code=="KeyE" && p.currentSpeed > 0.4) {
		s = p.currentSpeed-0.2;
	}
	if(l !== null) {l.innerHTML = s + "x"};
	p.speed(s);
});

To use it, copy the code and put it in the URL of a bookmark (and name it anything you want). NOTE: Make sure you include the javascript: part when copying. When on the website with the lecture video, click the bookmark to enable it. Once enabled…

• Pressing E decreases playback rate by x0.2
• Pressing R increases playback rate by x0.2
• Pressing T resets playback rate to x1.0

Good luck studying! ³