With the In and Out columns, a cue plays only part of a file. The program does not cut, convert or save the file: the trim is a setting of the cue, so the same file can appear three times in a list with three different trims.
Setting the points
Both columns have separate boxes for minutes and seconds. Click a box, type a value and press Tab to go to the next box.
- In is where the cue starts. Leave it at
00:00to start at the beginning of the file. - Out is where the cue ends. It is a position in the file, not a length.
The program fills in the Out box with the full duration as soon as it has read the file, so a new list shows the length of the show at once. It never overwrites an out point that you set yourself.
What the trim affects
The whole program uses the trimmed length and not the length of the file:
- The countdown on the transport bar counts down to your out point.
- Follow actions run at the out point.
- The timeline on the transport bar runs from the in point to the out point.
A forty-minute recording that is trimmed to three minutes therefore behaves exactly like a clip of three minutes.
Trimming during a show
You can change an out point while the cue is on air, and the new value applies at once. This is useful when a speaker takes longer than planned and the next clip must be shorter.
Changing the in point of a cue that is playing does not move the playback position. To move to another position, use the timeline on the transport bar.
Splitting a video
To make room for something in the middle of a video, such as an announcement, right-click the video and choose Split…. The video becomes two cues on the same file: the first plays up to the split point, and the second plays from that point onwards. If the video is on air, the window suggests the current position; otherwise it suggests the middle.
You can then drop another cue between the two halves. If you leave them together, they play one after the other, in the same way as the single cue they used to be.
What trimming does not do
- It does not change the file, because the program never writes to it.
- It does not create a new file. A bundle contains the original media, and the trim stays a setting of the cue.
- It is not accurate to the frame, because the boxes work in seconds. For a trim to the exact frame, trim the file in an editor and add the result to the list.
Stills and other cues without a timeline
A still has no duration of its own. For a still, the Out box therefore sets how long the still stays on screen before its follow action runs. At 00:00, the still waits for a GO. See Follow actions.