Replacing Edits

In the previous exercise, you marked the Timeline to replace portions of clips already in the sequence. But you can also replace the full length of one clip with another. You do this with the Replace edit function in the Edit Overlay. In the following exercises, you will duplicate the original Jimbo Tracks sequence and replace all but two of the original Jimbo video clips.

Replace edit replaces any clip in the sequence with a new source clip from the Viewer. The clip length and position in the sequence remain the same. So whatever new source clip you replace it with must be at least the same duration as the clip that is being replaced. If you don't select a clip that's long enough to replace the Timeline clip completely, a message appears saying "Insufficient content for edit."

An important consideration in replacing edits is where the playhead is located in both the source clip in the Viewer and the original clip in the Timeline. In fact, the Replace edit function is dependent on the alignment between the two playhead positions. Replacing edits in the Timeline is a very fast, easy process but requires a little thought and preparation to get the desired effect.

Replacing from the Head of a Clip

For the first Replace edit you perform, let's park both the Viewer and Timeline playheads on the first frame of the two clips that are involved in the Replace edit. Here, the Replace function will fill the duration forward from the playhead position.

1.	In the Browser, locate the original Jimbo Tracks sequence and duplicate it. Name the duplicate Jimbo Tracks Replace and double-click it to open it in the Timeline.
2.	Since you want to edit only the video portion of this clip, make sure the v1 source control is patched to the V1 destination control and disconnect the a1 and a2 source controls.
3.	Park the playhead on the first frame of the wax every time clip.
4.	To find the duration of this clip, press X to mark the clip where the playhead is located. Note the duration in the Canvas Duration field, then press Option-X to remove the edit points.
5.	From the Cutaways clips bin, open the waxing board med clip into the Viewer and make sure the playhead is parked at the beginning of this clip. Check the clip duration to make sure it is long enough to replace the sequence clip. Note Replace editing responds to the playhead position in the Viewer and Timeline and ignores any In and Out points when you make the edit.
6.	Drag the source clip to the Canvas, drop it on the blue Replace section of the Canvas Edit Overlay, and play the edit. The entire video portion of the sequence clip is replaced by footage starting at the source playhead position.

Replacing from the Tail of a Clip

You can also use the Replace edit function to backtime a replacement clip into position. This is similar to the backtiming exercise, except you are replacing an entire clip. You will place the Timeline playhead on the last frame of a clip in the sequence. Then choose the corresponding frame on a source clip in the Viewer. Final Cut Express will line up the two clips and fill in, or backtime, the duration from that point.

1.	In the Timeline, place the playhead on the last frame of the carry head clip. Tip Be careful that you don't accidentally park on the first frame of the next clip. If you do, use the left arrow key to move one frame back.
2.	Open the board on head clip in the Viewer, and position the playhead after Jimbo leaves the frame, toward the end of the clip.
3.	Drag the source clip to the Canvas and drop it on the Replace section in the Edit Overlay. You can also use the Replace shortcut, F11.
4.	Play the new edit. The last frame you parked the Viewer playhead on appears as the last frame of the new sequence edit. All earlier material is filled in automatically to cover the duration of the sequence clip.

Replacing from a Specific Point

The most fun you can have with Replace edit is replacing a specific action point with another one. Maybe it's a certain action move, where the baby spits up or where the touchdown pass was caught. You select a replacement source clip and position the playhead in the Viewer on the frame that you want to align with the frame in the Timeline. Once again, Final Cut Express will align the frame at the Viewer playhead with the frame at the Timeline playhead.

The question to ask yourself as you begin this type of Replace edit is: What frame from the new source clip do I want to be placed at the playhead location in the Timeline? This time, rather than filling from first frame forward (the first exercise) or last frame backward (the second exercise), Final Cut Express will fill out the frames before and after the playhead to fill the existing duration.

In this example, you will find a spot in Jimbo's sound track to match with a different video clip.

1.	In the Timeline, play the nose ride clip, and park the playhead before he says, "... walk up to the nose of the board." This is the point you want to match with new video.
2.	Open the nose riding clip into the Viewer, and park the playhead where Jimbo actually begins to walk up to the nose of the board. This is the point that will line up with the place in the sequence clip where Jimbo refers to walking up to the nose of the board.
3.	Drag the source clip to the Canvas, and drop it on the Replace section of the Edit Overlay.
4.	Play the sequence. Tip You can change your mind and undo what you did by pressing Cmd-Z, or simply readjust your playhead positions and perform another Replace edit.
5.	Press Cmd-S to save project changes.

Project Tasks

1.	Create a new sequence and open it in the Timeline.
2.	Mark new Jimbo interview sound bites.
3.	Place them in a different order in the sequence.
4.	Use cutaways to either replace clips or cover jump cuts in the sequence.