[ModifyChapters] Allow removing sections by timestamp

Eg: --remove-chapters "*10:15-15:00".
The `*` prefix is used so as to avoid any conflicts with other valid regex

4 files changed, 30 insertions, 5 deletions

diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index cbd3f337d..141be3315 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -847,7 +847,11 @@ Then simply run `make`. You can also run `make yt-dlp` instead to compile only t
     --no-split-chapters              Do not split video based on chapters
                                      (default)
     --remove-chapters REGEX          Remove chapters whose title matches the
-                                     given regular expression. This option can
+                                     given regular expression. Time ranges
+                                     prefixed by a "*" can also be used in place
+                                     of chapters to remove the specified range.
+                                     Eg: --remove-chapters "*10:15-15:00"
+                                     --remove-chapters "intro". This option can
                                      be used multiple times
     --no-remove-chapters             Do not remove any chapters from the file
                                      (default)
diff --git a/yt_dlp/__init__.py b/yt_dlp/__init__.py
index 4b82efea7..b952cc062 100644
--- a/yt_dlp/__init__.py
+++ b/yt_dlp/__init__.py
@@ -31,6 +31,7 @@ from .utils import (
     expand_path,
     match_filter_func,
     MaxDownloadsReached,
+    parse_duration,
     preferredencoding,
     read_batch_urls,
     RejectedVideoReached,
@@ -490,8 +491,14 @@ def _real_main(argv=None):
     if opts.allsubtitles and not opts.writeautomaticsub:
         opts.writesubtitles = True
     # ModifyChapters must run before FFmpegMetadataPP
-    remove_chapters_patterns = []
+    remove_chapters_patterns, remove_ranges = [], []
     for regex in opts.remove_chapters:
+        if regex.startswith('*'):
+            dur = list(map(parse_duration, regex[1:].split('-')))
+            if len(dur) == 2 and all(t is not None for t in dur):
+                remove_ranges.append(tuple(dur))
+                continue
+            parser.error(f'invalid --remove-chapters time range {regex!r}. Must be of the form ?start-end')
         try:
             remove_chapters_patterns.append(re.compile(regex))
         except re.error as err:
@@ -501,6 +508,7 @@ def _real_main(argv=None):
             'key': 'ModifyChapters',
             'remove_chapters_patterns': remove_chapters_patterns,
             'remove_sponsor_segments': opts.sponsorblock_remove,
+            'remove_ranges': remove_ranges,
             'sponsorblock_chapter_title': opts.sponsorblock_chapter_title,
             'force_keyframes': opts.force_keyframes_at_cuts
         })
diff --git a/yt_dlp/options.py b/yt_dlp/options.py
index d2dc7687b..1c99e7e7c 100644
--- a/yt_dlp/options.py
+++ b/yt_dlp/options.py
@@ -1378,7 +1378,11 @@ def parseOpts(overrideArguments=None):
     postproc.add_option(
         '--remove-chapters',
         metavar='REGEX', dest='remove_chapters', action='append',
-        help='Remove chapters whose title matches the given regular expression. This option can be used multiple times')
+        help=(
+            'Remove chapters whose title matches the given regular expression. '
+            'Time ranges prefixed by a "*" can also be used in place of chapters to remove the specified range. '
+            'Eg: --remove-chapters "*10:15-15:00" --remove-chapters "intro". '
+            'This option can be used multiple times'))
     postproc.add_option(
         '--no-remove-chapters', dest='remove_chapters', action='store_const', const=None,
         help='Do not remove any chapters from the file (default)')
diff --git a/yt_dlp/postprocessor/modify_chapters.py b/yt_dlp/postprocessor/modify_chapters.py
index 72a705fc5..a0818c41b 100644
--- a/yt_dlp/postprocessor/modify_chapters.py
+++ b/yt_dlp/postprocessor/modify_chapters.py
@@ -20,11 +20,12 @@ DEFAULT_SPONSORBLOCK_CHAPTER_TITLE = '[SponsorBlock]: %(category_names)l'
 
 
 class ModifyChaptersPP(FFmpegPostProcessor):
-    def __init__(self, downloader, remove_chapters_patterns=None, remove_sponsor_segments=None,
-                 sponsorblock_chapter_title=DEFAULT_SPONSORBLOCK_CHAPTER_TITLE, force_keyframes=False):
+    def __init__(self, downloader, remove_chapters_patterns=None, remove_sponsor_segments=None, remove_ranges=None,
+                 *, sponsorblock_chapter_title=DEFAULT_SPONSORBLOCK_CHAPTER_TITLE, force_keyframes=False):
         FFmpegPostProcessor.__init__(self, downloader)
         self._remove_chapters_patterns = set(remove_chapters_patterns or [])
         self._remove_sponsor_segments = set(remove_sponsor_segments or [])
+        self._ranges_to_remove = set(remove_ranges or [])
         self._sponsorblock_chapter_title = sponsorblock_chapter_title
         self._force_keyframes = force_keyframes
 
@@ -97,6 +98,14 @@ class ModifyChaptersPP(FFmpegPostProcessor):
             if warn_no_chapter_to_remove:
                 self.to_screen('There are no matching SponsorBlock chapters')
 
+        sponsor_chapters.extend({
+            'start_time': start,
+            'end_time': end,
+            'category': 'manually_removed',
+            '_categories': [('manually_removed', start, end)],
+            'remove': True,
+        } for start, end in self._ranges_to_remove)
+
         return chapters, sponsor_chapters
 
     def _get_supported_subs(self, info):