Clipping: cutting a section out

Clipping is the operation everything else is built on. You mark where a section starts and where it ends, and the program writes that section out as a new file.

Set In and Set Out

Load a file, choose Clip, and move the playhead to where you want the section to begin. Press I, or the Set In (I) button. Move to the end and press O, or Set Out (O).

The two numbers appear as In (seconds) and Out (seconds), and you can type into them directly when you already know the times.

Set Out to Source End takes the out point to the last frame, which saves hunting for it when you only want to trim the front.

Nothing is deleted. In and out points change what gets written out. Your source file is not touched.

Moving to the right place

Space plays. Left and Right nudge 0.1 seconds. Hold Shift and they nudge 0.01 seconds.

In Video mode, Previous Frame and Next Frame step exactly one frame, which is the only way to land a cut precisely. Frame stepping needs the file's analysis to have finished, so the buttons stay disabled for a moment after loading and explain why when you hover them.

In Audio mode, drag the edges of the selection directly on the waveform, and use Waveform zoom to get close enough to see what you are doing.

Cutting audio without a click

A cut through the middle of a waveform leaves a step, and a step is an audible click. Snapping to zero crossings puts both sides at silence so there is no step to hear.

That is why a cut sometimes lands a few milliseconds from where you clicked. It is deliberate and it is doing you a favour.

Cutting video in the right place

Cut on the action, not between it. A cut that lands while something is moving is close to invisible. A cut between two still moments is visible every time. See When to cut, and why most cuts fail.

Checking before you commit

Preview Selection plays exactly what you marked. Use it every time. It takes seconds and it catches the cut that was a quarter of a second early.

Undo Cut takes back the last in or out you set. Ctrl+Z does the same.

Exporting the clip

Set the format and quality in the properties panel, choose your output folder, and export with Ctrl+E or the export button. The job appears in the queue with progress and a Cancel button.

The command that will be run is shown in the panel and can be selected and copied. That is useful when something goes wrong and you want to see exactly what was asked for.