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170Final Cut Pro User Guide
• Move selected connected clips to the primary storyline: Choose Edit > Overwrite to
Primary Storyline (or press Option-Command-Down Arrow).
Depending on the amount of overlap on the connected clip, the Overwrite to Primary
Storyline command either creates a split edit or overwrites any video clips at the new
location and converts the audio portion of the overwritten clip to a connected clip.
The Overwrite to Primary Storyline command is not available for audio-only clips.
Note: The Overwrite to Primary Storyline command works on individual connected
clips only. To use this command on a clip in a connected storyline, first move the clip
out of the storyline.
You can achieve the same results by dragging clips with the Position tool.
Cut and trim clips
Intro to trimming in Final Cut Pro
After you’ve roughly assembled your clips in chronological order in the timeline, you begin
to fine-tune the cut point (or edit point) between each pair of contiguous clips. Any time
you make a clip in a project longer or shorter, you’re trimming that clip. However, trimming
generally refers to precision adjustments of anywhere from one frame to several seconds.
If you’re adjusting clip durations by much larger amounts, you’re still trimming, but you may
not be in the fine-tuning phase of editing yet.
In Final Cut Pro, you can use a variety of techniques to trim timeline clips and edit points,
including ripple edits, roll edits, slip edits, and slide edits.
No matter how you trim or make other edits in Final Cut Pro, the underlying media is never
touched. Trimmed or deleted pieces of clips are removed from your project only, not from
the source clips in your library or from the source media files on your Mac or storage
device.
Tip: You can see a “two-up” display in the viewer as you trim edit points in the timeline.
See
Show trimming details in the Final Cut Pro viewer.
Cut clips in two in Final Cut Pro
After you add clips to the timeline, you can easily cut them to adjust their durations or
remove unwanted sections.
The most basic edit is a straight cut. The term comes from the film editing process of
cutting a filmstrip with a razor and attaching a new “clip” with glue.
Each time you cut a clip in your project, it’s split into two clips. You can cut one clip at a
time or multiple clips at a time.