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546Final Cut Pro User Guide
Apply a constant speed change without rippling the sequence
You can also create speed changes that don’t cause the downstream clips to ripple. In this
case, if you slow down a clip (which ordinarily makes the clip longer), the clip remains at
its current length but a shorter piece of the action is seen. For example, if you slow down a
5-second shot of a football being thrown and caught to 50 percent, you see the ball being
thrown (slowly), but because the action now takes twice as long, the clip ends before the
ball is caught.
Note: If there’s a gap to the right of a clip that’s being slowed down, the clip’s duration is
lengthened to cover the gap.
When a clip is sped up, the duration of the clip is shortened and a gap fills the space
between the changed clip and the remainder of the project.
1. In the Final Cut Pro timeline, select a range, a whole clip, or a group of clips whose
speed you want to change.
2. Click the Retime pop-up menu below the viewer and choose Custom.
3. Select a direction (Forward or Reverse), deselect the Ripple checkbox, then type a
percentage in the Rate field.
4. Press Return.
The speed effect is applied to the clip, and the rest of the project remains in place.