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181Final Cut Pro User Guide
Make slip edits in Final Cut Pro
Performing a slip edit doesn’t change a clip’s position or duration in the timeline, but
instead changes what portion of the clip’s media appears in the timeline. A slip edit allows
you to change a clip’s start and end points simultaneously.
Whenever you arrange clips in the timeline so that edit points line up with musical beats or
other fixed sync points in a movie, you want to keep your clips in position to maintain the
alignment. These situations leave you with very little room to adjust a clip, because you can’t
change its duration or move it elsewhere in the timeline. All you can do is move both the
start and end points of the clip simultaneously, keeping the clip’s position and duration fixed.
Surrounding clips are not affected, and the overall duration of your project doesn’t change.
In the example above, the slip edit changes the start and end points of clip B, but not its
duration or position in the timeline. When the project plays back, a different portion of clip
B’s media is shown.
Note: To slip a clip, it must have media handles on both sides, meaning that there must be
additional media available on both sides of the clip. If you’re having trouble slipping a clip,
check that it has media handles on both sides. You can double-click any edit point to view
or adjust media handles in the precision editor.
If there are no media handles available, consider using the Position tool instead. See
Overwrite clips using the Position tool.
For more accurate visual feedback on edits involving contiguous clips, you can see a “two-
up” display in the viewer. For a slip edit, the two-up display shows the start and end points
of the clip you’re slipping. See
Show trimming details in the Final Cut Pro viewer.
1. In Final Cut Pro, click the Tools pop-up menu in the top-left corner of the timeline and
choose Trim (or press T).
The pointer changes to the Trim tool
.
Tip: To switch to the Trim tool temporarily, hold down the T key. When you release
the T key, the tool reverts to the previously active tool.