Learn to edit faster and have more fun while editing your videos and movies by learning just how powerful the tools in Premiere Pro CC are! In this tutorial we’ll cover the very basic Selection tool and Razor tool, but we’ll also dive into using the Track Select Forward and Backward tools, making super fast edits with the Ripple Edit tool, the Rolling Edit tool to adjust the transitions in your project, speeding up and slowing video with the Rate Stretch Tool, Slipping and Sliding video clips with the Slip and Slide tools (for real. It’s really useful, too!), how to actually use the Pen Tool, and why Lift and Extract are actually super useful features for cutting and editing video. If you want to enjoy video editing a little bit more and work faster in Premiere Pro, this video tutorial is for you!
Here are a spattering of five of the ten tools that will be covered in the full video tutorial at the top of this page.
The Selection Tool
The Selection Tool is the Go-To tool in Premiere Pro as you’re working on editing your video. You’ll use it as you select and move clips around or even select clips to further use other tools on. A simple click and drag in pretty much any of the panels, including your timeline, will give you a lasso which will select anything that you encircle within it. We can also use this tool to trim clips in or out on the timeline directly. TIP: The hotkey for this tool is the letter V.
Hotkeys: Alt/Opt + drag a clip to duplicate it with this tool. Cmd/Ctrl + Alt/Opt + drag a clip to move a clip to a new location and ripple out the rest of your timeline. Cmd/Ctrl + click a clip to select both the audio and video. Shift + click to select multiple items in the timeline. You can also nudge clips by selecting them and pressing Cmd/Ctrl + left or right arrows keys or nudge them in larger increments by holding Cmd/Ctrl + Shift + left or right arrow keys.
The Ripple Edit Tool
This tool will allow you to trim a clip and shift all adjacent clips to fill that gap that would have been created by the area you’ve trimmed from your video. You can also use this tool to ripple edit forward which will extend your clip and shift the clips that follow the cut point forward in time. TIP: Using the Selection Tool, you can simply hold the Cmd/Ctrl key while hovering near the edge to get the Ripple Edit tool.
The Rate Stretch Tool
The Rate Stretch Tool allows you to stretch out (and slow down) or compress (and speed up) a clip of video on your timeline. TIP: Select the clip which is having its speed being changed and go Clip>Video Options>Time Interpolation>Frame Blending to help smooth the frames in a sped up clip.
The Slip Tool
The Slip Tool will allow you to drag through the footage contained in the selected clip while it maintains the size (duration) of that clip in your timeline. This way you can effectively choose a different part of your footage without messing up the timing and surrounding clips which you already have set in place. TIP: By having the play head located over the clip you are Slipping, you will be able to see the action being taken place in real time and get just the perfect Slip Edit.
The Lift / Extract Edit Feature
In your timeline place an In point (I) where you want to begin cutting a clip and place an Out point (O) and use the Lift or Extract buttons in the button bar at the bottom of the monitor or use the hotkeys “;” to lift or “ ‘ “ (apostrophe) to perform an Extract edit. Take note of targeted tracks because they will determine what is lifted or extracted.
Be sure to watch the full video at the top of this post to see all ten features and tools that will help you edit faster and more effectively!
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