Cut and arrange
Trim, split and reorder clips with the editing tools, join shots with transitions, mark spots on the timeline, and fill a gap with a generated clip.
This is the main work of editing: deciding what stays, in what order, and how one shot becomes the next. It happens on the timeline at the bottom of the 'Edit' workspace, with the tool strip down its left side.
Lanes
A lane is one row of the timeline, and you can have as many as you need. A higher lane covers what is below it, which is how you put a logo over a shot.
Each lane has a header on the left:
- 'Lane color' and the name, which you can change
- 'Hide lane' takes a video lane out of the picture
- 'Mute lane' silences an audio lane, 'Solo track' plays only that one
- 'Lock track' stops the lane being changed by accident
- 'Disable sync lock' controls whether this lane shifts when an edit elsewhere moves things along
- 'Move lane up' and 'Move lane down'
Right-click a lane header for 'Add track', 'Rename lane' and 'Delete track'. 'Track height', the button above the headers, sets every lane to 'Small', 'Medium' or 'Large'.
Editing tools
The tool strip runs down the left of the timeline. Each tool changes what dragging does. Press its key to switch.
| Tool | Key | What dragging does |
|---|---|---|
| 'Selection' | V | Moves clips, and trims them by their ends. You will use this most. |
| 'Select forward' | A | Grabs everything from one point to the end, to shift it all at once |
| 'Range' | None | Marks a stretch of the timeline as an in/out range. See In and out range. |
| 'Blade' | B | Cuts a clip in two where you click |
| 'Rolling trim' | R | Moves the join between two clips. One gets longer, the other shorter, so the video stays the same length. |
| 'Slip' | Y | Changes which part of a clip plays, without moving the clip |
| 'Slide' | U | Moves a clip while the clips around it fill the space |
| 'Speed' | E | Plays the clip faster or slower |
| 'Hand' | H | Drags the view when the timeline is wider than the screen. Holding Space does the same. |
| 'Mask tools' | None | Press and hold for 'Rectangle', 'Ellipse', 'Pen' and 'Track subject'. Select a clip first. See Masks. |
| 'Comment' | C | Clicking or dragging on the ruler starts a comment there. See Timeline comments. |
'Snapping', at the foot of the strip, makes clip edges line up with other clips and the playhead. Press N to turn it off.
Trim and split
- Drag either end of a clip with 'Selection' to trim it.
- Press S to split the clip under the playhead in two, or click with 'Blade' where you want the cut.
- Press Q to trim a clip's start to the playhead, or W to trim its end. Later clips move up to close the gap.
- Press , or . to nudge a selected clip one frame left or right.
Delete and duplicate
Right-click a clip for 'Cut', 'Copy', 'Duplicate', 'Add adjustment layer', 'Add mask', 'Frame', 'Rename', 'Split at playhead', 'Link clips' or 'Unlink clips', 'Mute clip', 'Lock clip', 'Delete' and 'Ripple delete'.
The two deletes differ:
- 'Delete' leaves a gap.
- 'Ripple delete' closes the gap, pulling later clips earlier.
'Mute clip' works on audio clips only. To silence a video clip's sound, mute its audio clip on the lane below.
Gap fill
Compose can generate a new shot for a gap, using the frames on each side as a guide.
- Right-click an empty stretch between two clips and choose 'Generate clip'. To make room first, right-click a clip on a video lane and choose 'Generate clip on left' or 'Generate clip on right', which opens a 3 second gap.
- The Chat opens with the frames on each side of the gap attached and "Generate a clip for this gap: " typed in.
- Finish the sentence with what should happen in the shot, and send it.
Copilot picks the model and places the clip in the gap. It costs what that generation costs in the Chat, and nothing is charged until you send.
Transitions
A transition is a blend between two clips instead of a straight cut.
- Select the clip you want it on
- In the right panel, open 'Video' and find 'Transition'
- Pick a 'Kind', choose which 'Edge' it goes on, and set a 'Duration'
The list includes cross dissolve, slide, wipe, circle, push, dip to black, dip to white, barn doors, clock wipe, diagonal wipe, blinds, checkerboard, diamond, cross zoom, whip pan, pixelate, glitch and light leak. Type in the search box to find one.
Each transition has its own settings beyond duration, including which direction it runs and how soft its edge is. The 'Audio' tab has a 'Transition' section too, with an 'Audio curve' for how the sound crossfades. To take a transition off, right-click the clip and choose 'Remove transition'.
A transition needs two clips, so to fade up from black at the very start, drag the fade handle on the clip instead.
Markers
A marker pins a note to a moment, such as a beat in the music or a change to come back to. Markers do not appear in the exported video.
- Press M, or click 'Add marker' at the left of the playback controls, to add one at the playhead. You can also right-click the ruler and choose 'Add marker'.
- Press '[' and ']' to jump between markers.
- The 'Markers' tab in the media browser lists every marker with its time.
To name or color a marker, right-click it and choose 'Edit marker'. Type a name, click the dot beside it to pick one of seven colors, and click 'Save'. 'Delete marker' is in the same menu.
In and out range
An in/out range marks one stretch of the timeline to work on.
- Move the playhead to the start and press I ('Mark in')
- Move to the end and press O ('Mark out')
You can also drag across the timeline with the 'Range' tool. Then:
- Shift + Space plays just the range
- ; lifts the range out and leaves a gap, ' extracts it and closes the gap
- Option + X clears the range
Right-click the range on the ruler for the same actions. While a range is set, Copilot works on that part of the timeline only.
Using Copilot
Sweeping changes across a long cut are what it is quickest at. Try 'put a cross dissolve between every clip', 'trim two seconds off the start of each clip', or 'reverse the order of these shots'.
Each of Copilot's edits shows up in the 'History' tab, marked 'AI', so you can go back to before it. See Edit with Copilot.
Guides
Guides draw lines over the picture to help you place things. Open 'More options' (…) at the right end of the playback controls and choose 'Guides'. 'Thirds' gives the nine-box grid, 'Safe areas' shows the margins that stay visible on every screen, and 'All' shows both. Guides do not appear in the exported video.
Playback
The playback controls sit under the preview:
- Space plays and pauses; J, K and L shuttle backward, pause and forward
- Left and right arrows step one frame, Shift jumps ten
- Up and down arrows jump to the previous or next join between clips
- 'Loop playback' repeats the timeline, the quickest way to judge a cut
- 'Fit' sets how large the picture shows in the preview
- 'More options' (…) holds 'Capture frame', which saves the picture under the playhead as a still, and 'Mute monitor'
The full list of keys is on Keyboard shortcuts.
That's how you cut and arrange in Compose on Morphic. Get the order and lengths right first, then move on to how each clip looks.
If you have any trouble or have any questions, feel free to reach out. We're happy to help. Write to us at support@morphic.com.