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178Final Cut Pro User Guide
Cut the start or end of a clip at the playhead
Some of your video clips may have sections at the beginning or the end that you don’t want
to include in your project. You can easily trim off these ranges with a single command, even
while playing back the project. No selections are required. This type of edit is sometimes
called a top and tail edit.
1. In the Final Cut Pro timeline, position the playhead or the skimmer on the frame at which
you want to trim the clip.
2. Do one of the following:
• Trim off the start of the clip: Choose Trim > Trim Start, or press Option-Left Bracket
([).
• Trim off the end of the clip: Choose Trim > Trim End, or press Option-Right Bracket
(]).
• Trim the edit point closest to the playhead: Choose Trim > Trim to Playhead, or press
Option-Backslash (\).
The clip is trimmed to the playhead (or skimmer) position, and the timeline is updated
accordingly.
In the case of connected clips or storylines, the selected clip is trimmed. If there’s no
selection, the topmost clip is trimmed.