Skip to content

Cutting faster

The modifier keys that change an edit, selecting from the keyboard, and music by hand, each linked to the page that owns it.

Hold a key to change the edit

Hold While you You get
Ctrl drag a clip's edge A ripple: every later clip moves to close the gap or make room.
Alt drag a clip's face A slide into the empty space beside it.
Ctrl+Alt drag a shortened clip's face A slip: which part of the shot plays changes, and the clip stays put.
Ctrl drag a clip by its top strip onto another clip A replace: it takes that clip's place and screen time.
Shift drag anything that snaps Snapping reversed for that one drag.

N turns snapping on or off until you press it again. Every one of these is explained in Arrange clips.

A plain tail trim leaves a gap; the same trim with ++ctrl++ held closes it

Select from the keyboard

  • Up and Down step the selection through the reel, and the playhead follows. Click the reel timeline first so it has focus.
  • Del or Backspace removes what is selected: a clip, several clips, a fade, or the template on one shot.
  • Alt+Right and Alt+Left jump to the next or previous cut.
  • Drag across clip faces to box-select. Ctrl-click and Shift-click add to a selection.
  • Right-click inside a selection and it stays selected, with Remove 3 Items, with its count, at the top of the menu.

See Select several.

Box-selecting clips, Ctrl-clicking one back out, ++delete++ removing the rest as one step, and Undo bringing them back

Add without leaving the reel timeline

  • Right-click empty space on the reel timeline and choose Add › Shot… to append a shot.
  • Right-click a clip and choose Add After › Shot… to insert right after it.
  • Right-click a gap and choose Fill with a Shot….
  • Replace With… on a clip swaps in another shot where it stands.
  • The same submenus add cards: Add › Image Card…, Add After › Color Card…, Fill With › Title Card… and so on. See Cards.

See The ways in.

Shape music by hand

  • Drag a song bar's body to move it along the reel. Alt-drag it to slip the song underneath instead, which moves the beats while the bar stays put.
  • Drag the line inside the bar up or down to set its level. A readout shows the level in dB while you drag.
  • Drag a fade handle at the end of the bar to lengthen the fade. A handle appears once that fade is longer than zero, so start a fade in the panel.
  • Double-click the bar to mute the song, and again to bring it back.
  • Click the beat lane under the bar to select the song.

See Shape a song on the timeline. Every right-click menu on this tab is listed in Menus and windows.