PremierePro

Move clips

You can place clips in playback order to create a sequence in the Timeline panel. You can also change the order of clips once they are there, replace them, remove them, or insert additional ones.

Move clips in the Timeline panel

You can drag a clip and place it in an empty spot or snap it to another clip. You can also lift, extract, insert, and overlay clips that you move. Watch the translucent rectangle that represents the clip’s duration as you drag it. To move multiple clips, select a range of clips, or move a group of clips.

Lift/Overlay is the default mode and is indicated by the Lift/Overlay icon when dragging clips. Pressing Ctrl (Windows) or Command (Mac OS) when you drag a clip extracts it, and pressing Ctrl (Windows) or Command (Mac OS) as you drop a clip performs an insert edit. The Extract/Insert icon  appears when you drag clips while pressing Ctrl (Windows) or Command (Mac OS).

 Do one of the following:

  • To lift and overwrite, drag one or more clips to a new destination. A tool tip displays the amount of time moved as you drag. The window displays a negative number if you drag the clip toward the beginning of the sequence, and a positive number if toward the end.

  • To lift and insert, drag one or more clips, and press Ctrl (Windows) or Command (Mac OS) as you release the mouse button and drop the clip or clips into a new location.

  • To extract and overlay, Ctrl-drag (Windows) or Command-drag (Mac OS) one or more clips, and release Ctrl (Windows) or Command (Mac OS) before you release the mouse button and drop the clip or clips into a new location.

  • To extract and insert, Ctrl-drag (Windows) or Command-drag (Mac OS) one or more clips, and press Ctrl (Windows) or Command (Mac OS) as you release the mouse button and drop the clip or clips into a new location.

    Note: To affect only one track of a linked clip, press Alt (Windows) or Option (Mac OS) when you first click the clip. You do not need to hold the Alt (Windows) or Option (Mac OS) key after you initiate the edit. The video and audio will lose sync.

Move clips using the keypad

You can change the position of a clip in a sequence by typing the number of frames that you want to move.

  1. Select the clip in the sequence.
  2. Using your numeric keypad with Num Lock on, type + (plus) and the number of frames that you want to move the clip to the right, or type ‑ (minus) and the number of frames you want to move the clip to the left. Then, press Enter (Windows) or Return (Mac OS).

    Adjacent clips are moved the same amount. If any gaps exist between clips, those gaps are filled first, then nearby clips are moved by the remaining number of frames.

Move clips to a different track

 Drag the audio portion or video portion of a clip up or down into the track you want. Only the portion of the clip you drag will move into a new track.
Note: When dragging audio, you can drop it into the next compatible track, or if one doesn’t exist (for example, if you are dragging stereo audio and only a mono track exists), a new one is created.

Rearrange clips in the Timeline panel

A useful variation of insert and overlay edits in the Timeline panel is known as the rearrange edit. A rearrange edit extracts a clip and inserts it into its new location. However, only clips in the destination track are shifted; clips in other tracks are unaffected. This technique lets you quickly change the order of clips in a sequence, a task that would otherwise require additional steps. When you perform a rearrange edit, the Rearrange icon  appears.

 Click and drag a clip; then press Ctrl+Alt (Windows) or Command+Option (Mac OS) as you drop it to a new location.

As you press Ctrl+Alt (Windows) or Command+Option (Mac OS), the Rearrange icon appears. Releasing the clip performs an extract edit, and an insert edit that shifts clips in the destination tracks only.