diff --git a/coffee/src/shells/videolink.shell.coffee b/coffee/src/shells/videolink.shell.coffee
index b00799e..796bf8d 100644
--- a/coffee/src/shells/videolink.shell.coffee
+++ b/coffee/src/shells/videolink.shell.coffee
@@ -291,6 +291,12 @@ class VideoLinkShell.RemixView extends LinkShell.RemixView
   _setTimeInputMax: =>
     @timeRangeView.setMax @model.timeTotal()
 
+  _setClipRange: =>
+    @timeRangeView.values {
+      start: @model.timeStart()
+      end: @model.timeEnd()
+    }
+
 
   onChangeTimes: (changed) =>
     changes = {}
diff --git a/coffee/src/shells/youtube.shell.coffee b/coffee/src/shells/youtube.shell.coffee
index 488f242..ffad243 100644
--- a/coffee/src/shells/youtube.shell.coffee
+++ b/coffee/src/shells/youtube.shell.coffee
@@ -21,7 +21,6 @@ YouTubeShell = acorn.shells.YouTubeShell =
   ]
 
 
-
 class YouTubeShell.Model extends VideoLinkShell.Model
 
 
@@ -57,6 +56,20 @@ class YouTubeShell.Model extends VideoLinkShell.Model
 
     pattern.exec(link)[3]
 
+  parseTime: (time) =>
+    validTimePatterns = [
+      /(\d+)/
+      /(\d+)m(\d+)s/
+    ]
+
+    # the second one is more general, work backwards
+    match = validTimePatterns[1].exec time
+    if match
+      return 60 * parseInt(match[1]) + parseInt(match[2])
+    match = validTimePatterns[0].exec time
+    if validTimePatterns[0].test time
+      return parseInt(match[1])
+    return undefined
 
   embedLink: (options) =>
     # see https://developers.google.com/youtube/player_parameters for options
@@ -95,16 +108,46 @@ class YouTubeShell.RemixView extends VideoLinkShell.RemixView
     super
     @metaData().sync success: @onMetaDataSync
 
+  _timeLinkParam: (keys) =>
+    unless _.isArray keys
+      keys = [keys]
+    param = acorn.util.fetchParameters this.model.link(), keys
+    return @model.parseTime _.values(param)[0]
+
+  # Default start/end can only be set once player metadata
+  # is avaiilable and initialized. Otherwise, default values
+  # will override the start/end times.
+  initializeDefaultClip: =>
+    firstNumber = (args) ->
+      _.find args, _.isNumber
+
+    start = firstNumber [
+      @model.timeStart()
+      @_timeLinkParam ["t", "start"]
+      0
+    ]
+
+    end = firstNumber [
+      @model.timeEnd()
+      @_timeLinkParam ["end"]
+      @model.timeTotal()
+    ]
+
+    end = if end >= start then end else @model.timeTotal()
+    # Clip range must be set before progress bar is initialized
+    @model.timeStart(start)
+    @model.timeEnd(end)
+    @_setClipRange()
 
   onMetaDataSync: (data) =>
     @model._fetchedDefaults ?= {}
     @model._fetchedDefaults = title: data.data.title
+    @model._updateAttributesWithDefaults()
     @model.timeTotal data.data.duration
 
-    @model._updateAttributesWithDefaults()
+    @initializeDefaultClip()
     @_setTimeInputMax()
 
-
   metaData: =>
     if @model.metaDataUrl() and not @_metaData
       @_metaData = new athena.lib.util.RemoteResource
diff --git a/coffee/src/util/util.coffee b/coffee/src/util/util.coffee
index 86c8980..939340d 100644
--- a/coffee/src/util/util.coffee
+++ b/coffee/src/util/util.coffee
@@ -274,7 +274,24 @@ util.parseUrl = (url) ->
 
   result
 
+# function takes a URL and an array of parameters
+# returns JSON object with matching parameters and values, if any
+# otherwise, returns empty object
+# http://stackoverflow.com/a/8649003
+util.fetchParameters = (url, params) ->
+  url = $.trim url
+  url = "http://#{url}" unless /^([a-z0-9]+:)?\/\//i.test url  
+  anchor = document.createElement 'a'
+  anchor.href = url
 
+  search = anchor.search.substring(1)
+  search = '{"' + search.replace(/&/g, '","').replace(/\=/g, '":"') + '"}'
+  
+  parameters = JSON.parse search, (key, value) -> 
+      if key is "" then value else decodeURIComponent value
+  
+  _.pick parameters, params
+  
 
 # track mouse location at all times
 util.mouseLocationTracker = (->
diff --git a/coffee/src/views/index.coffee b/coffee/src/views/index.coffee
index 5145292..9c2647e 100644
--- a/coffee/src/views/index.coffee
+++ b/coffee/src/views/index.coffee
@@ -21,7 +21,6 @@
 `import "shell_editor_view"`
 `import "shell_options_view"`
 `import "shell_selector_view"`
-`import "slider_handle_view"`
 `import "sliding_bar_view"`
 `import "sliding_object_view"`
 `import "sources_view"`