Razor Cutting a Clip in AE

[Brendan Maghran]

You can use the split layer function. Edit > Split layer. Or I think the shortcut is cmd+shift+D (or E I can’t remember)

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[Dale Paquette]

Thanks for the replies. What I had in mind was a real cut so that, for example, if I cut half way through a 10 sec clip, only 5 sec would remain, the other 5 sec would be gone – non-restorable. Thus, if the clip were opened in the layer panel, the total duration would be 5 sec. This would be analogous to opening a clip in PPro, razor cutting the clip in half, and then exporting only one of the halves to AE. Dale

[Walter Soyka]

If you want the second half of the clip to be totally gone, I think you’ll have to export only the part you want to keep (to a lossless format, of course), then reimport it and delete the original.

If you just don’t want the second half on your timeline, set a layer out point as Dave suggested.

Walter Soyka
Principal & Designer at Keen Live
Motion Graphics, Widescreen Events, Presentation Design, and Consulting
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[Steve Smede]

So just a followup here some four years later… What I’m seeing and experiencing is that there is no simple way to chop off the end of a clip like you would in FCP or PP. The fact that there is some “other” way to do it means zilch to me. Why can’t you just simply select a razor tool and chop???

[Walter Soyka]

[Steve Smede] “What I’m seeing and experiencing is that there is no simple way to chop off the end of a clip like you would in FCP or PP”

Sure there is. Position the current time indicator where you want the clip to end, select its layer in the timeline, and press Alt+].

OP was not asking about anything resembling standard razor blade behavior.

Walter Soyka
Designer & Mad Scientist at Keen Live [link]
Motion Graphics, Widescreen Events, Presentation Design, and Consulting
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