- Understanding Trimming
- Trimming Types
- The Trimming Process
- Performing Trims
- Additional Methods for Adding and Removing Frames
- Slipping and Sliding Segments
- Review Questions
This chapter is from the book
This chapter is from the book
This chapter is from the book
Additional Methods for Adding and Removing Frames
In addition to using the Trim buttons and dragging trim rollers, you can add and remove frames while trimming in several other ways.
You can use any of the following methods to trim:
To trim using the numeric keypad, do one of the following:
- Type a plus (+) sign and the number of frames (from 1–99) that you want to move the transition forward, and then press Enter.
- Type a minus (–) sign and the number of frames (from 1–99) you want to move the edit backward, and then press Enter.
- Type a number larger than 99 to enter a timecode (for example, to enter one second and two frames, type 102). Or with Caps Lock disabled, type f after a large number to enter it as a frame count (for example, to enter 200 frames, type 200 f, and press Enter).
You can use the J-K-L navigation buttons on the keyboard to trim while you are in Trim mode.
To Trim using the J-K-L keys:
- Press J to trim earlier in real time.
- Press L to trim later in real time.
- Press J and K to trim earlier in slow motion (at either 6 fps or 8 fps, depending on the project type).
- Press L and K to trim later in slow motion (at either 6 fps or 8 fps, depending on the project type).
- Press J up to five times to trim earlier in fast motion (at 1x, 2x, 3x, 5x, and 8x speeds).
- Press L up to five times to trim later in fast motion (at 1x, 2x, 3x, 5x, and 8x speeds).
Practice Your Skills
For this exercise, you’re going to depart from Urban Nutcracker to explore a dialogue-intensive scene from Pearl, a film based on the true story of America’s youngest aviator, Pearl Carter.
This sequence needs quite a bit of work fixing the timing and pacing, and you will achieve this by trimming. (As you trim, remember to make it easier on yourself by zooming in to each transition. Also, display the audio sample plot in the Timeline if necessary.)
- From the DVD provided with this book, load Pearl Parlor Scene SCRIPT. You will use the script to match against the sequence.
- Open the _Sequences Chap 4 bin, and load the Pearl Parlor Scene Trimming sequence into the Timeline.
- Place the position indicator at the first edit point, between the first and second shots (01:00:11:05).
- Enter Trim mode by lassoing the transition through all three tracks—V1, A1, and A2.
- Press the space bar to loop the playback around this transition and get a feel for the way it plays. Press the space bar again
to stop playing the loop.
You should notice that some extra unwanted frames exist at the tail of the A-side clip. Therefore, you need to shorten the A-side.
- Click the A-side monitor to enter A-side single-roller trim.
- Trim to the left (earlier) until you cut out the unnecessary frames, and stop cleanly at the end of George Sr.’s “She’s a
bit young, yet, Wiley” line.
You can use any trim method that you learned in this chapter, including the following:
- Clicking the Trim buttons
- Clicking and dragging rollers
- Entering a numeric value in the numeric keypad
- Using J-K-L trim
- When you’ve completed the trim, loop the playback again to see how it works. Tweak the trim if necessary. (You should have trimmed away about 40 frames from the A-side.)
- When you’re satisfied with your edit, click in the timecode track to return to Source/Record mode.
- Continue to play through the sequence, transition by transition, and trim each edit as necessary using single-roller trim.
For the sake of practice, let’s do one more, and then you can do the rest on your own.
- Wiley’s line, “There’s not a timid bone in her body,” is cut off on the A-side. Also, George Sr.’s line, “She certainly took
to driving in no time,” is cut off on the B-side.
Therefore, you need to add frames by extending the A-side, and you likewise need to add frames by extending the B-side. Just take it step-by-step and edit one at a time.
- Lasso the transition through tracks V1, A1, and A2 to enter Trim mode.
- Play the loop around the transition to try to get an idea of exactly how you’d like to fix it.
- Click the A-side monitor to enter A-side single-roller trim.
- Trim to the right (later) to add frames until you get to the end of Wiley’s line. Again, use any trim method that you prefer.
- Play the loop around the transition to make sure that you like the edit on the A-side.
- Now, click the B-side to enter B-side single-roller trim.
- Trim to the left (earlier) to add frames until you get to the beginning of George Sr.’s line.
- Loop the playback around the transition to make sure you like the edit. Both the A-side and the B-side should flow perfectly. (Make sure to use the script to check the dialogue.)
- Finish playing through the sequence, transition by transition, and trim each edit as necessary, using single-roller trim.
- When you’re finished, play the entire sequence and check it against the script. At every single transition, ask yourself the
following:
- Does this edit work?
- If not, which side needs tightening or lengthening?
- Does the A-side need to end sooner or later than it does?
- Does the B-side need to begin sooner or later than it does?
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