Section 33. Add or Move a Clip on the Timeline

33. Add or Move a Clip on the Timeline

BEFORE YOU BEGIN

10 Capture to the Timeline or Media Panel

13 About the Media Panel

14 Add Media with the Adobe Media Downloader

29 About the Timeline and Video Tracks

SEE ALSO

35 Delete and Close Gaps in the Timeline

41 Move Several Clips at Once

43 About Rendering the Timeline

Now it's time to really get down to business: getting clips onto the Timeline. Although you can trim clips while they are still in the Media panel (as explained in 19 Trim Clips in the Media Panel), you can do nothing beyond that without getting those clips onto the Timeline, where editing begins (and when you're finished editing, what is on the Timeline is what gets burned to DVD). Before we begin this task, you must have a few clips in the Media panel that can be added to the Timeline (see 13 About the Media Panel, 14 Add Media with the Adobe Media Downloader, and 4 About Video Capture). Of course, if you have captured your clips and used the default Capture to Timeline option, your clips are already there. The sooner you get the clips down there, the sooner you can start your editing process and burn that DVD. Note that there are two ways a clip can be added to the Timeline: with the Insert or Overlay option.

The Insert option places the new clip on the Timeline, splitting an existing clip, or (if positioned at the beginning, end, or between video clips), inserting the new clip and moving all clips to the right to make room for the new clip. The Overlay option places the new video over existing video, removing any of the existing video it is placed over.

NOTE

You can capture clips directly to the Timeline as explained in 10 Capture to the Timeline or Media Panel.

1.	Select a Clip in the Media Panel Click the clip thumbnail in the Media panel that you want to add to the Timeline and to your project. The clip is selected and appears highlighted.
2.	Drag the Clip to the Timeline Drag the clip thumbnail to the Timeline. 33. Add or Move a Clip on the Timeline TIP Instead of dragging the clip to the Timeline, you can right-click the clip in the Media panel to open the context menu and choose the Insert to Timeline option to insert the selected clip on the Timeline at the CTI. If the CTI is positioned in the middle of a clip, the clip on the Timeline is split and the new clip is inserted at that point.
3.	Position and Drop the Clip Position the clip where you want it to be on the Timeline and release the mouse button to drop the clip. NOTE If you have selected the Snap option from the Timeline's More menu, the clip snaps to the beginning of the Timeline (if there are no other clips present on the Timeline). If there are other clips on the Timeline, the current clip snaps to an adjacent clip (see 29 About the Timeline and Video Tracks). With the Snap option enabled, you don't need to be perfect when you drop your clips, just close. The Snap option also prevents you from overlaying or splitting a clip already on the Timeline by accident.
4.	Move a Clip If, by chance, you don't hit your mark when you drop your clip on the Timeline, don't worry. Simply grab the clip on the Timeline and drag and drop it to a new position.