Performing a swap edit in Final Cut Pro

By jeff on March 14, 2008 12:41 PM | Permalink | TrackBacks (0)

Inserting a clip from one position to another within a sequence usually involves having to delete a clip and close a gap. By dragging a clip into the Insert pop up menu in the Canvas you can insert the clip to the playhead position, but it leaves the original clip, and then you have to delete it and close the gap. By performing a swap edit you insert the clip at the playhead and shift all clips form the playhead towards the original clip position, into the space the original clip was in. Another way to look at a Swap Edit is to think of it as a rearrange edit.

To perform a Swap Edit you need to left/control click and drag the clip you are moving towards the position you are going to be inserting it into, then press the option key to initialize the swap function. When you have the clip in the correct position you need to release the mouse before the option key. It is very important that you move the clip from it's original position before you depress the option key, otherwise you will be inserting the original clip into the edit point. The original clip will still be in it's original position as well, and the entire sequence from that point will have shifted down the length of the clip, so be careful.