A roll edit adjusts the edit point between two clips in your timeline. As one clip gets shorter, the other one gets longer.

No other clips move in the Timeline. Only the edit point between the two clips moves. The total duration of the project stays the same, but each of the two adjacent clips change duration. To create a Roll edit in Final Cut Pro, go to the tools pulldown menu and choose Trim.

Your mouse cursor will change into a Trim Icon. In your timeline, click the center of the edit point you want to roll so that both sides of the edit point are selected in yellow, then drag the selected edit point to the left or right. As you drag, you’ll see the last frame of the first, or outgoing clip displayed in your Viewer window.

If you can’t roll the edit point any farther and one side of the edit point appears red, you’ve reached the end of the media for one of the two clips. Go back to the Tools pulldown menu and choose the Select tool to exit the Trim tool, or press the A key on your keyboard.

© Michael Rosenblum & Lisa Lambden 2015