Trimming & Refining Your Edit
Trimming is fine-tuning where one clip ends and the next begins — the moment-to-moment pacing of your edit.
The trim tools
- Ripple trim — move an edit point and the rest of the timeline shifts with it.
- Roll trim — move the cut between two clips without changing the total length.
- Slip — keep a clip’s position but shift which part of the source it shows.
- Slide — move a clip along the timeline, borrowing from its neighbors.
- Rate stretch — change a clip’s speed by dragging its edge (press R).
- Razor — the cutting tool.
Trim mode (frame-by-frame)
Select an edit point and press T to enter trim mode, then:
- ⌥← / ⌥→ nudge one frame at a time (×5 with ⇧).
- ⌃T cycles the trim type (ripple → roll → trim).
- E extends the edit to the playhead.
- Q and W ripple-trim to the playhead.
Dynamic trimming
The Trim Monitor shows both sides of the edit. Dynamic trimming lets you trim while it plays: press L to trim forward, J back, K to stop — and it commits as one undo step.
Markers
Drop markers on the timeline to flag spots (music hits, B-roll needed, a title). Markers can have colors, names, and durations, and you can export notes as a CSV (Markers → Export Markers as CSV…).
Try it yourself
Put three clips on the timeline. Ripple-trim two edit points frame by frame, then do a roll trim. Watch the pacing change.
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