Trimming a Clip on the Timeline

The Clip Properties tool lets you make trims with great precision. However, trimming on the Timeline is generally much quicker and provides much more interactivity with other project elements (audio, video, and so on). Most producers use both tools extensively when crafting their videos.

Trimming on the Timeline is generally easier when you're zoomed into the project and the Timescale covers a relatively short duration, since grabbing and moving the edge shifts only a few frames at a time. When long stretches of video are showing on the Timeline, grabbing and moving the edge may shift a few seconds at a time, making precise adjustments much more difficult to make. If you're going to trim on the Timeline, be sure to adjust the Timescale to a comfortable view (see "Customizing Your Timeline View," earlier in this chapter).

To trim a single video on the Timeline

1.	Select the clip you want to trim by placing the pointer on the right edge of the clip. The pointer becomes an arrow pointing right (Figure 7.52), or a bidirectional arrow if you previously trimmed the clip (Figure 7.53). Figure 7.52. Trimming on the Timeline is much faster than trimming using the Clip Properties tool, but it is a touch more difficult to precisely select the desired start and end frames. Figure 7.53. The arrow becomes bidirectional when you can edit in both directions.
2.	While holding down the mouse button and watching the video frames displayed in the Player, drag the arrow to the desired end frame.
3.	Release the mouse button to set the trim. Studio sets the end frame to the new location. As soon as you shift a single frame to the left, the single arrow becomes bidirectional, signifying that you can now drag the edge both ways.