Targeted re-processing of digital content

A system includes a computing platform having processing hardware, and a memory storing software code. The software code is executed to receive digital content indexed to a timeline, receive insertion data identifying a timecode of the timeline, and encode the digital content using the insertion data to provide segmented content having a segment boundary at the timecode, and first and second segments adjoining the segment boundary, wherein the first segment precedes, and the second segment succeeds, the segment boundary. The software code also re-processes the first and second segments to apply a fade-out within or to the first segment and a fade-in within or to the second segment, wherein re-processing the first and second segments provides encoded segments having the segment boundary configured as an insertion point for supplemental content.

BACKGROUND (1) Due to its nearly universal popularity as a content medium, ever more audio-video (AV) content is being produced and made available to consumers. Moreover, as streaming platforms have become increasingly important distribution hubs for AV content, adjustable bit-rate (ABR) AV content has become increasingly important as well, due to variable network conditions and differences in data processing capabilities among the wide variety of consumer devices that receive streaming content. As a result, the efficiency with which AV content, including ABR content, can be supplemented or enhanced post production has become increasingly important to the producers, owners, and distributors of that content. (2) By way of example, in some use cases it may be advantageous or desirable to add supplemental content, such as advertisements (ads) for instance, to existing AV content, post production. In cases in which the AV content was originally produced without predetermined insertion points for supplemental content, introducing that content post production can result in an unpleasant or confusing experience for a consumer viewing the content during playback. For example, an ad that has been naively inserted into AV content may appear mid-scene, or even mid-shot, thereby jarringly disrupting the viewing experience of the consumer. A conventional approach to adding supplemental content that avoids viewer disruption and aesthetic unpleasantness is to re-encode the content in its en