Editing the Rough Cut - The Craft of the Cut - page 100

Figure 6.11 The options available for a Replace edit.
Choosing Replace from the pop-up menu exchanges the clip in the Timeline with the clip from the Event
Browser, and the other clips in the sequence shift in the Timeline to accommodate the new clip's duration.
Choosing either Replace from Start or Replace from End retains the duration of the clip in the Timeline without
affecting the other clips in the sequence. Use these choices if you want to start or end a shot at a specific point
in the new clip. For example, if you want the new clip to end on a particular piece of action or dialogue, set an
Out point at the desired moment by making a selection in the Event Browser, and then drag the new shot over
the old one on the Timeline; then choose Replace from End. As you've probably guessed, this is another ex-
ample of three-point editing because this method aligns the chosen Out point at the end of the clip in the
Timeline and back-times the rest of the media to fill the duration of the replaced clip. If the new clip is shorter
than the clip being replaced, an alert dialog box appears. Choosing Continue performs a standard Replace edit
and switches the clip in the Timeline with the new shorter clip. (The other pop-up menu options Replace and
Add to Audition and Add to Audition are discussed in the next section.)
To perform a Replace Edit, do one of the following:
• Drag a clip or selection from the Event Browser onto the clip that you want to replace in the Timeline.
When the clips turns white, release the mouse and choose an option from the pop-up menu.
• Press Shift + R to perform a basic Replace edit.
• Press Option + R to perform a Replace from Start edit.
Auditioning clips
The Replace edit function is a great way to try out different takes, but there's an even more flexible way to
achieve the same result by adding a clip as an audition. Rather than replace the clip outright, an audition retains
both clips inside a single clip in the Timeline and you can switch between the two at any time. This allows you
to make fast comparisons between two takes and keep both clips in an edited sequence until you decide on
which to use. As you saw in the previous section, dragging a clip onto another in the Timeline turns both clips
white and displays a pop-up menu when you let go of the cursor. Selecting Replace and Add to Audition adds
the clip to the audition and makes it the current clip in the Timeline. Selecting Add to Audition adds the clip to
the audition without changing the current clip.
An audition is identified by the spotlight icon that displays on the clip. Clicking the icon reveals a new window
that allows you to scroll through the clips that the audition contains (Final Cut Pro calls these picks) and select
the one that you want to use in the edited sequence (see Figure 6.12).
To open a clip's audition window from the Timeline, click the spotlight icon displayed on the clip or select a
clip and choose Clip ⇒ Audition ⇒ Open or press Y.
To scroll through the picks in an open audition window, choose Clip ⇒ Audition ⇒ Next Pick/Previous Pick or use
the keyboard's left and right arrow keys.
You can scroll through the picks without opening the audition window by either selecting the clip and choosing
Clip ⇒ Audition ⇒ Next Pick/Previous Pick or Control-clicking on an audition and choosing Audition ⇒ Next Pick/
Previous Pick.