Editing, trimming and export

The keys on this page are the ones for PPro (Premiere). See editor personalities for the others.

Bring in footage

Click Import in the Project Bin, drop files on the bin, or double-click an empty part of it. Video and audio files both work.

When a file comes in, the editor reads its exact frame count, frame rate, rotation and start timecode. If it can’t read one of them for sure, the import fails and tells you the file type and codec. It never guesses.

Make a three-point edit

1. Open a clip

   Double-click a clip in the bin. It opens in the Source Monitor.

2. Mark the part you want

   Point at the Source Monitor, play to the start and press I. Play to the end and press O. The marks show on the monitor.

3. Target a track

   In the timeline, click a track’s name, such as V1 or A1. The edit lands on the targeted tracks.

4. Pick where it goes

   Park the playhead, or point at the Program monitor and mark an In. If you mark only an Out, the clip ends there instead.

5. Edit

   Press , to insert. Later clips move down the timeline to make room. Press . to overwrite. The clip covers what was there.

Other edits with the same marks:

Key	Command	What it does
;	Lift	Removes the marked part of the targeted tracks and leaves a gap.
’	Extract	Removes it and closes the gap.
F	Match Frame	Opens the clip under the playhead in the Source Monitor, with its part marked.
⌘K	Blade / Add Edit	Cuts the clip at the playhead.
⌘Z, ⇧⌘Z	Undo, Redo	Each edit is one undo step, whether it came from a key, a button or a drag.

Two more commands, Fit to Fill and Append at End, have no Premiere key. Give them one in Settings if you want them. Fit to Fill stretches or squeezes the source to fill marked space on the timeline. Append at End puts it after the last clip.

Trim and move clips

Do this	What happens
Drag a clip’s edge	Trims it.
⌘-drag an edge	Rolls the cut between two clips.
⌥-drag a clip	Slips it: same place, different part of the source.
⌥⇧-drag a clip	Slides it between its neighbours.
Drag a clip	Moves it and overwrites where it lands.
⌘-drag a clip	Inserts it where it lands.
Q, W	Ripple trim the start or end to the playhead.
E	Extend the selected edit to the playhead.
Esc	Cancels a drag.

The toolbar has Select (V), Blade (C) and Trim (N). With the Trim tool, dragging an edge ripples and dragging the body slips. Snap (S) makes clips, trims and the blade land on cuts, markers and the playhead.

Each track has M (mute), S (solo), L (lock) and ✕ (remove an empty track). +V and +A add tracks.

The Inspector

Click Inspector on the toolbar and select a clip. Color has exposure, contrast, saturation, temperature, tint and opacity. Under Speed, pick ¼× to 4×, or Reverse. Scale, position, rotation and crop live in Transform. The Audio gain runs from −48 to +12 dB.

In Markers, press M or click + Add to drop a marker at the playhead. Each one can be renamed, recolored, deleted, or saved as a still.

To add a transition, select a cut and click Transition, or press ⇧D.

Arrange the panels

1. Float or dock a panel

   Each panel’s header has ❐ to float it, ⊞ to dock it again, and ⇱ to open it in its own window. Drag that window to a second screen.

2. Save or reset the layout

   Open Settings (the gear) and go to Workspace. Click Save layout to file…, Load layout from file… or Reset layout.

The layout saves itself as you work. It also remembers the playhead, the tool and the zoom.

Export an MP4

1. Open Deliverables

   Click Deliverables or Export MP4 on the toolbar. The panel starts with Master, set to 1920×1080.

2. Add other shapes

   Click + Add a format for a vertical, square or other size. Each one can be framed on its own.

3. Export

   Click Export current for the selected format, or Export all for every one. ◳ Still saves the frame under the playhead as an image.

The MP4 is made in your browser, so your footage is never uploaded. Audio-only formats export as WAV or M4A.