Cuts and speed

Clips

After recording, the Clip row holds one clip covering the whole take, drawn as a strip of thumbnails. Each cut splits it in two, and every piece can then be removed, trimmed or given its own speed. Every edit is one step of Undo, ⌘Z.

Cut at the playhead

1. Move the playhead to the frame where the cut belongs. The arrow buttons under the preview step one frame at a time.
2. Click the scissors at the end of the Clip row, Cut at playhead, or press ⌘B.

The clip splits there and the right-hand piece is selected, ready for ⌫ or a new speed. The button is greyed out while the playhead sits exactly on an existing cut or at either end.

Cut mode

For several cuts in a row, press B or click the scissors above the timeline, Enter Cut mode (B).

• The other rows dim, and over the Clip row the pointer becomes a pair of scissors.
• A dashed playhead follows the pointer, and the preview shows the frame under it.
• Click to cut at that spot. Cut as many times as you like.
• Timeline zoom and scrolling keep working, so zoom in for a cut to the frame.

Press Esc or B, or click the scissors again, when you are done.

Remove or trim a clip

Click a clip to select it and press ⌫. The clips on either side close up, and the zooms, position keys and effects after it move up with the footage. The last clip on the row always stays.

To trim, hover a clip’s edge and drag its handle. Drag inward to shorten the clip; drag outward to bring back footage, up to the start and end of the original recording. While you drag, a band shows the time added or removed, such as +0.8s. The rest of the timeline shifts when you let go.

Set the speed

Select a clip. The inspector shows Clip with two rows: Speed, and Source, the stretch of the original recording the clip plays.

Drag across the Speed row to set anything from 0.2× to 40×. The row runs on a logarithmic scale, with 1× about a third of the way along. Hold ⌥ for fine steps. The clip grows or shrinks on the timeline as you drag, and a badge on its thumbnails shows the speed.