The Ripple Edit tool in Premiere is a powerful tool to master. It will save you time and frustration when refining your cut.
Adobe Premiere is one of the top NLE’s for video editors and content creators alike. With a more wide range group of people using Premiere and teaching themselves, we think it’s important to look into essential tools and time savers in Adobe Premiere Pro. Today we will explore the Ripple Edit tool. Let’s dive in!
What is the Ripple Edit Tool?
In Adobe Premiere, the ripple edit tool can be used to move an edit point and the entire sequence of clips that follow. This is extremely handy when you want to shorten or extend a specific clip, and have the rest of your timeline unaffected. Below, we’ve shared how to harness the power of the Premiere ripple edit tool in your video projects, so you save time and avoid doing unintentional harm to your creative work.
Using the Ripple Edit Tool
1. First, load your current Premiere project and find the main toolbar, which is typically located in the top left section of the screen. Then click on the ripple edit icon, which looks like two arrows bisected by a vertical line. You can also press the B key to select it. In fact, the most commonly used editing tools have shortcuts along the bottom row of your keyboard, such as the rolling edit tool (“N”) and selection tool (“V”).
2. With the ripple edit tool selected, hover your cursor over an existing edit point in your timeline, and notice how the cursor’s brackets change direction when you move it towards a new clip. These brackets indicate which way you can trim a particular clip. For example, if you shorten the first clip, the subsequent clips will snap to the first clip’s new endpoint. This allows you to make precise edits, without affecting the rest of your project.
3. For even more convenience, if you have the selection tool enabled and hold the Ctrl key (or Command on Mac) when your cursor is over an edit point, it will automatically shift to the ripple edit function. This way, you can make a ripple edit, release the left mouse button, and then let go of the Ctrl key to change your cursor back to a normal pointer.
4. Likewise, if you perform a ripple edit on a clip located after an edit point, it will automatically snap to the previous clip in the sequence. This allows you to trim the start point of a particular clip, without affecting the length of any subsequent clips or creating empty space.
5. Besides using the Premiere ripple edit tool directly, you can also right click on any empty space in your timeline and choose “Ripple Delete” to shift all of the subsequent clips to the left, filling the space. This is much easier than selecting all of the clips manually, and then dragging them to fill the empty space.
Cover Image via Arthur Bargan.
For more Premiere Pro tips and tricks – check out these articles!
- 80 Free Transitions for Premiere Pro Video Editors
- 10 Premiere Pro Video Editing Hacks You Probably Don’t Use
- Premiere Pro Playbook: 10 Video Editing Workflow Tips
- Video Tutorial: How to Change Colors on Footage in Premiere Pro
