Trimming Clips Before Editing

I know how to shorten clips in Premiere when working on a project.
However, I have lots of clips saved to my computer that are way too long. For future viewing purposes, I would like to trim them down so that I don't have to view all the non singnificant parts when I go back to review the footage.
Example: I have a 5 minute clip and only want to save 20 seconds worth of footage.
Is there a way I can trim the bad parts out and save the good parts to my computer without having to import and export into a software program? I don't want to lose any quality.

In Quicktime Player Pro, you can trim movies and then save the trimmed version without recompressing or losing quality.
I'd been told that if you export from Ae or Pr using the same as source codec and dimensions, etc., there is no loss in quality.  However, I saw a test debunking this once, where the tester exported this way, imported the exported clip, and repeated the process 10 times.  The "10th generation" was inferior, which is easy to see when you stack the two versions and put the higher one in DIFFERENCE mode.  This was using a codec, of course.  If the original source was uncompressed, then all succeding generations should be the same.  But, how often do people get uncompressed footage?  Hardly ever, unless it's from that Convergent Gemini gizmo or a RAID connected to a high end camera, like a Viper or Genesis.

Similar Messages

  • Trimming video clips before editing.

    Hi everyone,
    I have searched around and can't seem to find what I'm looking for.
    My computer was running very slow and running out of memory to export movies.
    After speaking to a friend, he suggested trimming down the clips to the relevant sections then export them as much smaller clips ready for the real edit.
    Is there a set procedure for trimming down clips or do you use the raw files to edit with?
    I hope this all makes sense.
    My PC setup is:
    4GB RAM
    Quad AMD
    Onboard graphics card (next upgrade)
    Win XP
    I'm using Abobe Premiere Pro CS3.
    Thanks in advance for your help.

    you should do everything humanly possible to make the pc you now have as fast and "lean" as possible for editing. check out hardware section and browse subjects about hard drives and settings and so on.
    I have a mousey computer but added an internal hard drive ( 2 internal now ) so programs are on C and media cache is on the other internal. Then I also got an external graid (firewire 800 for me, but if you can use esata thats even better ) and I now use that for my source files..
    the thing is, the more you spread the load around the faster it is ( indexing off on all drives )..
    check out the threads on hardware and 'best setups' for editing ...there are hundreds of threads...but you do that and it will help you a lot.  just have to do some reading and note taking and then work on the computer to do what you've learned.
    after that...if you are still slow and having probs... you can load clips onto timeline one at a time.. and cut ( not trim but cut ) out what you want to use for editing and move those cuts up one video level ( you can cut and then copy paste so your original video clip stays complete in terms of having all the clip there )
    use a new sequence for each LARGE CLIP ( eg. one hour clip from tape ?? )..and keep track of everything by naming the sequences well etc...
    Then you can create a "final" sequence and move all your CUTS into that... into say for example video 2...
    now scrub through stuff and bring what you want down to video level 1 which will be your final edit...
    turn off all video and sound in sequences you're not currently using ( after you get done with cuts there ).
    I only edit SD as I cant do more than a few minutes of HD before this mouse starts to gasp....fact of life... so if you have to , downscale your hd stuff to SD ( 16: 9 ) and edit THAT instead of HD.
    hope this helps...

  • I get the error message in QuickTime "operation stopped the operation is not supported for this media" most times when I try and export an .AVI file as something else (.m4v). I have not touched the file in any way (no trimming, clipping or other editing)

    I get the error message in QuickTime "operation stopped the operation is not supported for this media" most times when I try and export an .AVI file as something else (e.g. .m4v). I have not touched the file in any way (no trimming, clipping or other editing), all I want QuickTime to do is export the file in a compressed format. Bizzarely, if I shutdown and open QuickTime many times I can occasionally export a clip as another format (maybe one in 10 times). I have seen that other users have had a similar problem after clipping files in QuickTime but this seems to be a slightly different bug in that all I do is open the file and then try and export the file as is - either way, this is a very annoying bug

    @Z_B-B, thank you for taking the time to respond to my cry for help. However, the link you supplied does not address the problem: I am not trying to export from Final Cut Pro to QuickTime, I am trying to export from QuickTime to the rest of the world (like people's iPhones and Ipads) in .m4v format (so I am not emailing my freinds such huge files).
    If I were to spend hundreds of Dollars on a copy of Final Pro I could export directly from there and not have to bother with QuickTime, but I do not take enough video clips to justify the cost. I must say that I never had any of these problems before I decided to switch from Snow Leopard to Mountai Lion.

  • PE 10 Archive not trimming clips

    From the PE 10 Help manual
    "Archive Project - Creates a folder containing a new project file, and a new clip for each clip used in the original Timeline or Sceneline at its edited length. The trimmed project includes up to 30 frames of extra footage, called handles, before the In point and after the Out point of each trimmed clip for minor adjustments you may want to make after archiving the project."
    I am using Premiere Elements 10 on a Windows system (XP) and using "archive" (and the archive option within archive) it is not trimming clips at all, it simply copies the full clip to the archive folder. This is extremely wasteful of disc space and is not what is described in the above cut from the manual which is what one would expect an archive function to do (trim clips plus handles). Why not and is there any way around this.
    Cheers
    Andrew

    Andrew,
    This a bit of a guess, as I use Project Manager in PrPro, and it has some major differences.
    I suspect that you have a large Clip, or Clips, and have used Instances of that/those on the Timeline. Is that the case?
    If you had discrete, separate Clips, that had been Trimmed, in either the Source Monitor, or on the Timeline, then those would be Trimmed, with X Frames as Handles.
    Discrete Clips are different than Instances of a larger "master Clip."
    Maybe someone else will chime in, and either validate my thoughts, or tell us both, where I am going wrong.
    Good luck,
    Hunt

  • Exporting trimmed clips

    Hi, how do I export a trimmed clip from a Premiere Elements project to another project or just to a folder on the hard drive? I have about 10 hours of raw footage (from a number of contributors) for a community video. I've captured it all on my 1.5 terrabyte external drive in one project. I would like to trim clips in that project before using them in the final edit, but I would like to create a separate project on another drive for the final edit. Hence the need to export trimmed clips. I think the huge volume of raw footage in the edit would be slow-loading and likely to freeze the computer. The raw footage is in .avi format. I have Premiere Elements 3, I'm using Windows XP-SP3, 3gb RAM 3.06gHz hyperthreading, Intel integrated graphics. Would be grateful for some advice.

    Once you've trimmed your clip on your timeline, use Share/Computer to output the trimmed video.
    For standard definition video, use Share/Computer/AVI with the appropriate DV preset.
    For high-definition video, use Share/Computer/MPEG with the 1440x1080 30i (25i PAL) preset.
    If you'd like to know more about the basics of the program, check out my free 8 part Basic Training tutorial series on Premiere Elements support site Muvipix.com.
    http://forums.adobe.com/thread/537685

  • IMovie Won't Let Me Trim Clip Length To Less Than 1.0 Seconds

    Anyone have any luck trimming clips down to less than 1.0 seconds?
    I'm doing some video editing on iMovie for which I want to trim clips down to about 0.4 to 0.6 seconds depending on the audio track I'm trying to match. I can't seem to get iMovie to let me trim a track down past 1.0 seconds. When I try to trim it, the length just stays at 1.0 seconds. I HAVE been able to take a clip that's 1.0 seconds, split it, and then end up with two clips of 0.5 seconds each. However, when I try to make any length adjustment on these shorter clips they automatically jump back out to 1.0 second lengths and I'm back to square one.
    Thanks in advance and happy iMovie-ing!

    I find that splitting a clip is much easier then trimming.
    http://help.apple.com/imovie/iphone/1.2/index.html#kna257fc915
    So I tend to scroll through to where I want to make and edit, and then split the clip, and delete the bit to cut out.
    And then you can go as close as about .4 seconds.
    Sadly iMovie iOS isn't really made for fast cuts.
    So the only advise I can give is to split clips to get them shorter.

  • "Export Movie" exports original, non-trimmed clip! Help!

    Hello everyone. I'm using iMovie '11, and trying to make a series of videos.
    I have taken clips imported from iPhoto, dragged them to create new projects, then used the "clip trimmer" tool to cut off the beginning and ends of the clip.
    So here's the problem. When I "Export using QuickTime" and select MPEG-4 and various settings, I get the video as I edited it.
    However, when I use "Export Movie" and select 720p, the result file uses the entire non-trimmed clip.
    This makes my HD videos unusable. Does anyone know what is going on or how to fix it?
    Thanks for your help!

    Bumping this in the hopes someone has an answer.
    I've tried exporting other video sizes, and it appears this only happens with 720p. This is the size of the original recording, which possibly holds a clue. But I still need it fixed!

  • Should I convert my MTS (AVCHD) file to another file type before editing with elements 10

    I know premiere elements 10 has project settings for working with AVCHD footage but after doing a bit of reading about how AVCHD (MTS) files are a lot harder for your computer to work with I'm thinking it might be better to convert my raw video files to another video file type before editing with premiere elements 10.
    I have a reasonably good computer, but it's only a laptop with 361gb free memory, radeon graphics card, core i5 processor and 8GB ram.
    If I should convert these files first what file type should I convert them to without loosing too much video quality and where can I find a program to convert them.
    Many thanks
    Sally

    I have a reasonably good computer, but it's only a laptop with 361gb free memory, radeon graphics card, core i5 processor and 8GB ram.
    My granddaughters and I have been using one of those to edit videos taken in (two) Sony and (one) Panasonic cameras.  The computer is a mid grade Toshiba laptop that is about three years old.  The cameras were purchased after the computer.  Our computer does not have a graphics card, but the other specs are about the same. 
    I know premiere elements 10 has project settings for working with AVCHD footage but after doing a bit of reading about how AVCHD (MTS) files are a lot harder for your computer to work with I'm thinking it might be better to convert my raw video files to another video file type before editing with premiere elements 10.
    I didn't read that until after we had made videos.  The issue is the project preset that is set when you open a new project. If you guess wrong, PrE10 tells you so when you slide the first clip to the timeline. 
    There is confusion about AVCHD because there is a 1.0 and a 2.0.  The "high" setting for many cameras the last couple of years was 1080p60.  That did not become part of AVCHD until last July.  Now it is and is called 2.0.  PrE10 specs include AVCHD 1.0, so the 1080p60 is "officially" unsupported.   I didn't know that, so I tried a few presets when my files were 1080p60.  A preset of 720p60 worked best. 
    The "work harder" part primarily has to do with the preview window during editing.  If it is not going smoothly there will probably be a red line above the clip.  Pressing "Enter", getting a cup of coffee and patience will make the red line go away and the preview will be smoother.  The relationship between project presets and final output is a mystery.  My experience is that the presets have only to do with real time preview and little to do with output.  Output requires an entire re-encoding for the chosen viewing platform.  PrE10 seems to ignore the project presets, uses all the markers set in editing and builds the final products from scratch. 
    If I should convert these files first what file type should I convert them to without loosing too much video quality and where can I find a program to convert them.
    Steve and Bill invest a lot of time here helping people like you and me.  But, my experience is that they are wrong.  I see no need to convert the files.  Conversion always has the risk of loosing a little picture quality.  PrE10 seems to handle AVCHD fine.  Let it do the final render using the actual source clips.
    Sally, consider upgrading to version 11 where AVCHD 2.0 and 1080p60 is included.  I have.  Processing is a little smother.
    Bill
    PS:  Please, with all due respect to Bill and Steve who work hard here, I disagree based only on experience with 3 cameras and one computer.  User experience varies!

  • Having trouble getting premiere pro trimmed clips into compositions

    I'm working on a TV intro mashup in the style of the tv show happy days with another editor.  I'm a complete noob with after effects.  I've never used it before for anything.  The other editor has created template in after effects of the record player with compositions of the actor intros in the center of the record and sent me the project.  He's created a composition for each character intro and I'm trying to go in and replace the clips he used as place holders with clips i've trimmed in premiere pro.
    At first I was successful by dragging and dropping the premiere pro sequence into the after effects project.  Then when I looked at the sequence composition I could see the trimmed clips and could copy paste the clips I wanted into their respective intro compositions.  I noticed the first time I imported the sequence into after effects and made changes to it in premiere pro it updated in real time.  Now all of a sudden any changes I make to the premiere pro sequence no longer update in after effects.  What's weird is they do update to the extend if I watch the sequence play in the after effects viewer I can see the changes but on the timeline where the clips are laid out the changes aren't reflected and it's showing me an earlier version of the sequence.
    So my two main questions are
    1) how come the time line in after effects is no longer updating the changes I make to the sequence in premiere pro?
    2) what is the easiest way to get trimmed premiere pro clips into after effects compositions?

    Question 1:
    Since you're so new to AE, it's quite possible that any of a number of things happened without you being aware of it. That and you haven't given much information for troubleshooting. I mean, we don't even know the rough versions you're using, much less minor version numbers. (For example, we don't know if you're using CC 2014, much less if you're running the 13.2 update for AE or not.) Here's some info we would need to help: http://forums.adobe.com/thread/961743
    http://forums.adobe.com/thread/961743
    Question 2:
    You can choose File>Import Premiere Pro Project and it'll bring the clips in. It won't update at all, but it will give you the clips you need in a way that's easier to deal with in AE.
    Alternatively, you can choose to dynamically link a Premiere Project (which sounds like what you initially did). In most cases, I prefer the first way.
    Since you've never used AE before, there are going to be a lot of things that frustrate you if you try to plow ahead without a knowledge of the basics. I strongly recommend going through the resources linked here: Getting started with After Effects Granted, there is an extensive set of resources there, but that's because AE is such a deep and complex program. Without a foundation in the basics, you are going to just keep on being frustrated.

  • Never figured out trimming clips with transitions. :)

    I've gone through Ripple Training's training movies and read the manual and, for whatever reason, I can't figure out how to trim clips that have transitions on them. Once I apply a transition to the end of a clip, I can only edit the duration of the transition itself and I cannot click and drag to change the duration of the clip. What I end up doing is deleting the transition and then trimming and then reapplying the transition.
    Ugh! Is this just me?!! LOL
    Thank you for wasting your time on me.

    You trim the transition duration by dragging here:
    You ripple the edits by dragging the handles on either end of the transition bar:
    You roll the edit by dragging the handle in the middle of the transition bar:

  • Need to split long movie into many clips to edit video

    I upgraded to iMovie 11 from iMovie HD 6...it was a long wait to get audio and video editing that was at least as good as HD 6. We had some 40 year old Super 8 movies digitized and used HD 6 to split them into clips so I could edit parts that were almost black, or some almost totally blown out. I realized that this could probably be done better with 11, so purchased it, but couldn't import the HD 6 clips. Was told I had to export the whole movie as a single clip, then import into 11 and break them apart again to edit.
    While I was proficient in HD 6 enough to produce some good stuff, iMovie 11 is befuddling to me, which is a surprise since I do fine with the latest iPhoto, which uses similar terms and processes. I have ordered David Pogue's book; while waiting for it to arrive, my main question is: how do I split this 75 minute movie into multiple clips for editing purposes? Apparently splitting can only be done in the project library, and apparently 11 will only let you split into 2 or 3 clips???
    Thanks for any help.

    First, you may not need to spit the event clips at all. You can select short bits of the long event clip and drag it into your project as you wish.
    Having said that, there are good reasons to split event clips. For example, the 75 minute movie may contain many logical events that you wish to split out by date. In this case, iMovie 11 can do it, but I would not recommend it. It is a slow process and is prone to error.
    I would recomment that you use a free app called MPEG Streamclip from Squared Five (google it).
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    Then, move the cursor to the "in" point of the clip, and press i. Move the cursor to the "Out" point of the clip, and press o. Then, FILE/EXPORT TO QUICKTIME (or FILE/EXPORT TO DV if it is DV). Then repeat until you have done this for all clips you want.
    If you know the date and or time of the footage, name your file
    clip-yyyy-mm-dd hh;mm;ss
    (let mpeg streamclip provide the extension). This will provide metadata that iMovie will use to put the event in the right year and month.
    When finished splitting your long clip, import into iMovie by using FILE/IMPORT...MOVIE

  • Move iMovie event to DVD before editing for storage

    Hello,
    I need to move a few iMovie events to DVD before editing to free up some space on my MBP. I'm making room for a live AV recording and have no idea how much space I will need. Will moving the event cause any problems? How is an event burned to DVD? I saw no options to do this (or move it to another HD) in any way.
    ThankU,
    DarrellSY

    I am very sorry. I misread your original post.
    You could maybe save it as a Data DVD, if your event is smaller than 4GB (or 8GB if you do a double layer DVD).
    In Toast, create a Data DVD and drag these files in.
    In iDVD, you can look up the instructions for creating a DVD ROM. Normally, you would burn your movie so you could view it on a regular DVD, then add the files you used to make it to the DVD ROM part.
    Finally, you can create a burn folder on your Desktop, and burn to a DVD from there. That is probably the simplest way. it has been a while since I have done it, so maybe someone else can give you the step by step.

  • How to completely remove the excess footage from a trimmed clip?

    I'm sure there is a very basic answer for this, and I'm simply inexperienced.
    I just can't seem to find this exact problem stated anywhere.
    My issue involves time remapping.
    I'm working on a MacBook Pro, using dynamic link between Premiere Pro CC and After Effects CC. When I select a single "slice" of a clip I have trimmed down with the razor and open it in AE via direct link, it works well, and I proceed to enable time remapping. All goes as I want it to.
    The issue arises when, immediately, I notice that the start and end key frames are not visible because they are actually placed at both ends of the full clip, NOT my trimmed down version. When I place key frames at the ends of the smaller area I want to work with, I notice that if I want to move those end frames inward, it actually pulls the excess footage from the sides into the work area, which I would expect if I didn't have the comp trimmed to the work area.
    I'm sure this is just ignorance, but I want to be able to work ONLY with the trim I made, and if I want to pull my end keyframes around, I need them to leave blank black space, NOT the rest of the footage. How do I actually chop out the trim so this works the way I want it to?
    Thanks so much in advance. I'm not well versed in the terminology for this program yet and I hope I was able to explain the issue at least halfway clearly.

    When you enable time remapping, AE automatically creates keyframes at the start and end of the entire clip, regardless of how it's been trimmed (as you already know).
    While there's no way to automatically do what you want, it's an easy manual process.
    Enable Time Remapping.
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    Go to the out point of the trimmed clip (press o) and add a keyframe.
    Use the keyframe arrow buttons in the timeline to step forward to the end-of-layer keyframe.  Even if it's outside the composition time so you can't see it, it can still be (invisibly) navigated to.  Then remove the keyframe by clicking on the remove/add keyframe button between the two arrows.
    Navigate to the start-of-layer keyframe and do the same.
    Now you should have just two keyframes, at the start and end of the trimmed layer.

  • Saving a trimmed clip as new file?

    hi
    i'm tring to resize clips down to just the parts i want, i'm not wanting to make a dvd or anything at this point.
    in ulead i often used a feature let me save a clip that i trimmed down off as a new file. i did this to save on disc space and get rid the junk frames.  in elements i can see how to trim from the left and from the right, and to split a clip, but i can not figure out how to save off that trimmed video to a new file.  or even change the length of the original.
    thanks

    Once you have your trimmed clip on your timeline, just go to Share/Personal Computer/DV-AVI to output it.

  • Changing transition changes time of clip before and after???

    When I add or change the transition time, after it renders, the time of the clip before and after the transition automatically changes. I've done it several times and it shortens the time of the clips before and after the transition. Why does it do tht? Its driving me nuts. I keep changing back the time on the clip but when it re-renders it goes back to the time after I changed the time on the transition. Help please thanks lots

    Hi Iluvvartan - that is normal. Transitions use portions of the clips adjacent to them. Cross dissolves for example take a portion from each, and the total length of the project is reduced. The Overlap transition only affects the length of one of the adjacent clips, and the total length of the project remains unchanged.

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