Refining with the Trim tool
The scene is now looking a lot better than the original 'story' you created in the first task. It's also about 10 seconds longer. The aim of this project is to create a 60-second scene, the introduction perhaps to a much longer film, so you still have around 10 seconds of action to play with.
In this task you will fill up that time by reclaiming some footage lost during the overwrite of the BB_Flyby.avi clip. You'll accomplish this with the Trim tool, and then go on to use the same tool to tidy up some of the other clips on the Timeline. Once again, you will attempt to do as much of this as possible using just the keyboard.
Engage Thrusters
Use the Trim tool to tidy up your edit points. Perform the following steps to do so:
- Press Shift + 3 to make the Timeline active, and use the up or down arrow to place the Timeline indicator over the edit point between the BB_Flyby.avi and BB_Rear.avi clips (hint – this should be around the 19;27 mark).
- With the Timeline indicator over the edit point between the BB_Flyby.avi and BB_Rear.avi clips, press T on the keyboard to open the Trim tool.
- By default both the outgoing clip (BB_Flyby.avi) and the incoming clip (BB_Rear.avi) will be selected; this is signified by a blue border that runs over the top of both clips (as seen in the preceding screenshot). Cycle through the trim modes by pressing Shift + T until the right panel (the incoming clip) has a blue border above and below it, the left panel (the outgoing clip) has none, and the bracket on the Timeline is yellow.
- Hold down the K key (and don't release it until you read step 5) and press the J key while still in the trim mode. The blue bottle will now fly backwards. Stop by releasing the J key on the keyboard (but not the K key) when the screen counter in the right-hand side panel reaches 09;20.
Tip
Use the L key to move forward if you miss that point (hint – holding down K + L or J will move forward or backward at 8 frames per second. You can also tap the L or J key to move one frame at a time in either direction).
If you press K + J to move back and if you get the message Trim Blocked on Video 1, then you probably have the wrong trim mode selected. Check that the bracket is yellow; if not, use Shift + T to cycle through the trim modes.
- Now release the K key. Once you release that key, the clip on the Timeline will expand, moving any clips to the right up the Timeline. This is known as a ripple edit.
- It's time to move on now to the next trim job. Deselect the current trim by clicking anywhere on the Timeline. Then place the cursor over the edit point between BB_Rear.avi and BB_Landing.avi (hint – at 33;23). Now press Shift + K on the keyboard to show how this edit plays back.
- Note at the end of BB_Rear.avi that the insect begins its landing approach and the camera follows the creature as it dips down. However, in the next clip, BB_Landing.avi the insect is flying at the same level as it approaches the grass. To correct this continuity error press T on the keyboard to open the Trim tool.
- Press Shift + T to cycle the trim mode to show the left-hand side panel (the outgoing clip) as the active one with a top/bottom blue border and a yellow bracket shown on the left-hand side clip on the Timeline (hint – you may have to go past the red bracket to reach the yellow bracket).
- Hold down the K key and don't release it until instructed, then use the J key to move the Out point of the BB_Rear.avi clip backwards. Stop when the insect reaches level flight at about 21;00. Now release the K key and note the clip retracts and the other clips follow it down the Timeline.
- Perform one last trim edit before leaving this section. Begin by clicking anywhere on the Timeline to deselect the last edit point. Then place the Timeline indicator over the edit point between BB_Landing.avi and Horse_Rear.avi. Press Shift + K to playback this edit point.
- About 10 frames into Horse_Rear.avi, the camera begins an upward crane shot and this should really happen from the start of that clip. Worse still, the insect is shown dead on the ground for too long, creating a 'dead' frame space where nothing is happening. Correct this by opening the Trim tool (hint – press T).
- Use the techniques learned before in this chapter to trim BB_Landing.avi back to around 7;08 (hint – with the Trim tool open, press Shift + T to cycle to the left blue border and left yellow bracket; reduce using K + J).
- Repeat to trim the start of the Horse_Rear.avi clip to around 00;12 (hint – with the Trim tool open, press Shift + T to cycle to the right blue border and right yellow bracket; reduce using K + L).
- Save your project when you have completed any additional trims you might want to make. Don't forget to render any areas that display as a red line (hint – press Enter when Timeline is active).
Objective Complete - Mini Debriefing
Once again you have covered skills vital to the work of a video editor. Here you looked at the Trim tool and performed a ripple edit. Understanding how these work will save you an enormous amount of time when you come to work on your own, perhaps more complex, projects.
Keyboard shortcuts covered in this task are as follows:
- T: Open the Trim tool
- Shift + T: Cycle through the trim modes
- K + J or L: Trim backward or forward
Classified Intel
With the Trim tool open, you can press the Spacebar to start a looped playback centered on the edit point. While the playback performs this loop, you can still use the ripple and rolling edit functions covered in this task to trim the clip(s).