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Replacing a Clip in an Existing Sequence


GavinG

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Hello All,

I have an existing sequence of clips, and I have determined that one clip in the sequence needs to be replaced with a new clip. How do I remove the existing clip and replace it with the new clip without otherwise changing the sequence? Thanks in advance to all those who reply.

GavinG

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SPLIT at the head and the tail of the clip to be removed, if necessary.  Click the focus to that clip.  Press the <alt-del> keys simultaneously.  This will leave a gap into which the new clip can be inserted.  If the new clip is longer than the original, click on the clip that is to the right of the gap.  The, while holding down <alt>, drag the clip to a time later in the timeline, so the gap can accommodate the new clip's length.  Insert the new clip into the gap.   If gaps remain. right-click|CLOSE GAP.  Experiment...

<ctrl-Z> will UNDO an action or several, if there's a mistake.  It's also wise to FILE|SAVE PROJECT AS, using a unique # or filename, so as to not overwrite the existing file.  This will allow restoration to that point if needed.

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Hi

As an alternative..

Leave your existing set of clips on the timeline and place your new clip on the overlay track. In effect it will "cover up" the clip you want to replace. The sequence underneath will remain untouched. This is the simplest option to start with.

To do this step the cursor line through the sequence using II<  or >II  so it is on the front edge of the unwanted clip. Now add the new clip to the overlay track using the "Overlay on Sequence at Cursor " option. This will overlap it at the precise start of the unwanted clip.

If the new clip is longer than the lower clip it will obviously cover up too much but it can be shortened (if considerd OK) by either trimming it or dragging in the right hand end  so it just overlaps the unwanted clip.  (You can also use >II to step to the end of the unwanted clip, splitting the overlay and deleting the overlapping bit

If it is shorter or the new clip can't be trimmed  then it would best to insert it into the main sequence track at the same cursor point as above using the  "Place on Sequence at Cursor" option. Follow this by deleting the unwanted clip and closing the gap.

Nat

 

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Thanks to Borate and Nationalsolo for the responses -- two Einsteins with Videopad no doubt!

One question for Nat - I am unfamiliar with the symbols //< or >//. Can you please describe the function in Videopad these symbols relate to? Many thanks; AND

two questions for Borate -  first, when you say "click the focus to that clip", what does that mean? Second, if the new clip will be longer than the clip it is replacing, if I need to move clips that follow the replaced clip to later in the timeline, will this push multiple following clips together to a later time, or will the technique only work if there is but one following clip to the longer, new clip in the sequence?

I hope I am being clear in my questions. Thanks again.

Regards,

GavinG

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Hi

When you are Sequence Preview and with multiple clips on the timeline there is a panel of controls under the preview window....

mujPJ.jpg

On the left are...

  1.   I<    Clicking this moves the cursor on the main track to the start of the timeline.
  2. II<     Clicking this moves the cursor left to the previous clip edge.
  3. <I       Clicking this steps the cursor backwards 1 frame.
  4. >     Play button....Plays the clip from the cursor position
  5. I>       Clicking this steps the cursor forward 1 frame
  6. >II    Clicking this moves the cursor forward to the edge of the next clip
  7. >I     Clicking moves the cursor to the end of the timeline

Note that they are also active if you have a single clip on the timeline but oviously the start and end of the sequence equates to the previous clip edge and the next clip edge. "Play" is self evident.

These buttons are useful if you want to insert at a specific join between clips. Step the cursor to that particular clip edge and then you can quickly place or insert a new clip at the cursor position using the Place option in the clip bin. Moving to a particular frame would enable precise positioning for overlays; effects and titles.

Nat

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6 hours ago, GavinG said:

 

Quote

First, when you say "click the focus to that clip", what does that mean?

Simply to position the pointer on the clip and left-click, to be certain that this is the clip to be actively worked on.

Quote

Second, if the new clip will be longer than the clip it is replacing, if I need to move clips that follow the replaced clip to later in the timeline, will this push multiple following clips together to a later time, or will the technique only work if there is but one following clip to the longer, new clip in the sequence?

Group the clips first, by selecting (highlighting) each while holding down the <ctrl> key.  Or select the first clip, then hold down the <shift> key while selecting the last.  Standard Windows procedure. Then that method should move all selected clips to a later timeline location.

 

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Borate and Nat,

Took the advice you provided on replacing a clip in an existing sequence, and it worked great. Thanks for your help! Saved me from having to re-do a rather longish sequence over again. I appreciate the help.

Regards

Gavin G.

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  • 2 years later...

I know this is a couple of years late... but I have found quite an easy solution. Before you insert your new video clip (to replace another one), you must group together ALL of your individual clips.

So for example, if you have a video clip, with its sound underneath it, and maybe text above, or another sound underneath it - you will need to highlight each one individually:

Step 1: Click on the video clip so that it is highlighted in grey

Step 2: Hold down on the "Ctrl" button and click on your text and sound etc beneath/above

Step 3: Right click, and select "Group Selected Clips"

Step 4: Repeat this for every clip

To insert/replace your new video clip:

Step 1: Delete the clip you want to replace it with

Step 2: Place your cursor exactly where you want your new clip to be inserted (drag the red vertical line)

Step 3: Once you have added your new video clip in the bin, right click on it and select "Place on Sequence at Cursor"

This worked perfectly for me! Hope it works for you.

And you can move around your clips easily. This doesn't really work if you have a song attached. You may need to redo your song, or after you have done all of the steps, right click on your audio and "remove clip from group) then you can move it to where it needs to be.

- Ashleigh 

 

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  • 1 year later...

Hi

All clips have to be in the bin before you can use them. The answer to your question is my reply higher up on this (oldish) thread. You basically place the clip from the bin on an overlay track and adjust its duration to equal the clip you are replacing.(covering up)  Use the timeline cursor line to position it. If the overlaid clip has attached audio, eithere unlink this and delete it or simply mute it.

Nat

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Thanks. I tried doing that earlier, replacing a clip of a still image with another one, and found that the duration of the clip automatically reset itself to the standard clip length for images (in my case 3 seconds). Is there a way I can ensure that the duration of the existing clip is retained? I don't want to have all the subsequent clips shifted in time because of this.

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Hi

With the "overlay" method the clip/image on the upper track will cover the clip/image on a lower track. The existing image on the lower track will not be altered in any way and won't need to be. If the image placed on the upper (overlay) track has a duration that is different to the existing image then it is easily altered by dragging the ends in/out.

To "replace" an image on track 1...

  • Use the II<  or >II tabs under the Sequence Preview window to place the red cursor line at the START of the existing image on Video Track 1
  • Select the replacement image in the bin and select Overlay on Sequence at Cursor. This will place the image from the bin  on the upper track at the cursor position. It will have the default duration which may be different to the existing image but that doesn't matter. You are going to alter this.
  • Use the II<  or >II tabs under the Sequence Preview window to place the red cursor line at the END of the existing image on Video Track 1
  • Drag the right hand end of the overlaid image left/right to the cursor line. The upper image will now play over the existing image and will have the same duration.

The upper image will effectively "replace" the existing image when the timeline is played. Nothing on the main track will alter. 

Nat

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Just to add to this. I found that if I wanted to replace a clip that is already in a sequence with a new file, all I needed to do was to right click on the clip in the bin, select "replace file" option, which will open a window to browse and select the file I wish to replace it with. When done, it replaces the sequence with all the  previous effects intact (eg. pan & zoom with the same criteria), which is a huge time saver. Glad I found it!

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