Roll & Ripple 101

Continuing our week-long workflow lesson, we’re going to discuss Roll and Ripple edits today. How to do them efficiently and when to use them. Yes, this will tie in with V and U soon, but let’s continue to nail the basics. The Roll Tool (R) is pretty useful in certain situations, but the Ripple Tool (RR, tapped in rapid succession) is extremely important and you should be using it all the time. Just memorize ‘em now: R for the Roll, RR for the Ripple. Think of the RR as a “rippling of R’s” (and yes, since it is more often used, I do wish it was the other way ’round, but hey).

So here’s a shocker: I happen to know that there are editors out there who do not even use the Ripple Tool to fine tune their edits! Yes, it’s true. They do grotesque things with the Selection Tool involving moving clips around, clumsily dragging in or out points, etc. They just find it too kludgy to use this wonderful tool (because they never got used to it). I know this does not apply to you, but you should watch for this bad behavior with new hires (always ask a potential editor for hire to edit in front of you–it’s amazing what you’ll learn).

Some editors also spend far too much time in the rough-cut phase micromanaging in and out-points, so let’s review a good (but very simplified) workflow for creating a typical video:

1. Log & cap, review footage, import other assets
2. Open clips in Viewer (this way) and set “rough” in/out-points, send to timeline (using F10, usually)
3. Fine tune edit points on the timeline (and in context) using Ripple (and sometimes Roll and Slip and Slide)
4. Add b-roll, effects, graphic components (i.e., lower thirds, bumpers) and other visuals.  Lock picture.
5. Edit audio tracks, add music beds, compression markers chapter markers (if applicable)

The key here is that you do the fine-tuning on the timeline where you can better evaluate the flow and rhythm of the piece. If you use the Ripple function properly, you can also make these edits very quickly and efficiently on the timeline.

Hit RR to bring up the Ripple Tool (a note on why I’m so focused on Ripple as opposed to Roll is included after the jump) and move it over an edit point. Notice how it will “point” to either the outgoing clip’s out-point or the incoming clip’s in-point (see animation to right). Now you simply click and drag to adjust the desired in or out-point. If you want more precision–and this is a real help, zoom in or use the gear down key (CMD). You’ll notice a very useful “two-up” display in the canvas showing the outgoing and incoming frames side by side. Very cool. Get nimble with this versatile tool and make much more efficient adjustments to the fine cut. When you can make adjustments so easily and quickly, you’ll find yourself doing much more quality finishing with the time you have and your work will be better.

When you do need to make a Roll edit, just hit R and the same rules apply (though there is no need for the tool to indicate one or the other side of the edit as both sides are affected in roll edits).

More on Roll vs. Ripple after the jump…

The real powerhouse tool here is the Ripple Tool because in most editing scenarios, you’ll need to adjust the ins and outs for each clip independently of the the other clip’s in or out point. You’ll usually use Ripple 10 times more than Roll (unless you frequently work with multiple angle content)

The Roll Edit Tool changes both edit points simultaneously such that if you extend the outgoing clip’s out-point by 10 frames, you are also moving the in-point of the incoming clip back 10 frames. Robs “peter to pay paul,” so to speak and that’s why it’s not a “rippling” edit–the net run time does not change since you’re adding to one clip and taking an equal amount away from the other.

When then, would you use a Roll Edit? Well, if you have time-synchronized clips on the same track (maybe different camera angles) and are bouncing between shots, you won’t want to throw them off-sync by using a Ripple edit, you’ll merely want to roll the cut point back or forth. This is exactly the scenario when you’re using FCP’s (complicated but excellent) Multiclip edit functionality and in that mode, you’ll use Roll almost exclusively. Might also be useful for cutaway shots, but I tend to keep cutaways on a separate video track for easy adjustment.