Change the duration of specific clips without altering the length of clips to either side?

Sandy.A

I have created a sequence of a number of video clips all together with no gaps. I want to adjust the duration of some of the clips on the sequence. I am content to do that for each clip in turn either on the sequence or using the clip preview box, but I'd like to be able to do it without altering the clips around. At present, if I adjust one clip to increase its length, then the clip to the side of it becomes shorter. Can this be avoided please? In other words, if I increase the length of one clip, I'd like all the clips to the right of it to move right to make space for it. If I reduce the length of a clip I'd like all the clips to the right to move left to close the gap. I have Videopad 4.48.

borate

Doesn't do that here.

Select those to be changed, right-click on one of them, click CHANGE DURATION, input the new time, click the timeline or press <enter>.

All clips ripple - no gaps.

4.48 is ancient. Update to the latest.

That said, it's wise to export with the release used for editing, or one close to its release date - to avoid incompatibility.

Uberprutser

Try moving the clip to another track, adjust the end points but keep the same length, then move the clip back in position.

Sandy.A

Thanks very much for the quick response Uberprutser. I'll give that a try. I could update but so far, apart from a feature that did what I'm describing and what 4.48 doesn't do, it seems to have the features that I need so I'm wary of introducing something that might not work so well as what I have currently.

Sandy.A

Hi, looking around at some other posts and elsewhere is "ripple editing". Is that possible on Videopad? I've seen reference to an auto-ripple feature - does that exist? Does it matter for the purposes of ripple-editing whether there are any gaps in the video or audio track? Thanks very much.

borate

Normally, on the context menu that pops up when right-clicking on a clip, there's both a DELETE and a DELETE (ripple) choice.

Ripple works only when applicable, but not on existing gaps.

If a clip is removed using DELETE (ripple), and a gap is left, right-click in the gap and CLOSE GAP. This works for any gap. If the video is on track 1 gaps can best be seen in Storyboard mode.

ripple.mp4

Sandy.A

Hi, thanks Borate for the further reply. I looked at this again last night. In fact, the effect that I want: being able to trim (to reduce or increase) the duration of a single clip on a sequence without effecting other clips, occurs if there no gaps between the clips and all the audio clips are linked to the video. However, if there is an unlinked audio track in the project then the editing behaviour changes, and reducing the duration of one clip creates a gap in the video track, any increase in the length of one clip potentially results in a reduction in the length of a clip next to it. So, my question is: is it possible to trigger the first kind of editing behaviour: ripple editing etc, when there are unlinked audio tracks in the project, eg a soundtrack? I hope this is clear. Thanks again for your help.

borate

Here, using the latest release, dragging the right handle of a clip to the left, shortening it, ripples those to the right but does not change their length.

Dragging the left handle to the right, shortening it, leaves a gap which can be closed with a right-click | CLOSE GAP. This action may require holding down the <alt> key, to keep the clip edge from snapping back. Again, no change in adjacent clip length.

When the right handle of a clip is dragged right, lengthening it, the clip to the right is moved without changing its length. When the left handle is dragged left, the clip is lengthened but the prior clip length is unaffected.

If an entire clip is dragged (not by the handles) then it's another story; adjacent clips may split.

Different VP versions don't necessarily act precisely the same. And there are many scenarios, depending upon project layout, so results can be unpredictable. If you make a mistake immediate press <ctrl-Z> (EDIT | UNDO) to backtrack, step-by-step. You might also try dragging a clip to a new track, then changing its length.

Save Project File AS routinely, giving it a unique # or name, so as not to overwrite prior saves. Using Save Project Files (no AS) will overwrite.