Move Clips Up or Down From Track to Track

Say you want to move a clip or group of clips straight up (or down) into another track while retaining timecode position. You might do what I used to do when I started out using FCP: you click and drag the clip while holding the SHIFT Key down. That works OK, but I’ve always found that sometimes, if I release the key at the wrong time or flub the mouse, the clip nudges left or right a tad and you have to undo and start over. Well, there’s a better way to move clips straight up or down. First, select the clips then use:

Fast and precise. There is one caveat however, you can only do this if the path is clear. If you want to move a clip from say, Track 3 down to Track 1 and there’s a clip in the way on Track 2, this will not work. In those cases, you’re stuck with the SHIFT-mouse method.

And here’s a ninja-level tip for using this handy command. When you have a mono audio track that you want to make into a pair (often a great quick way to strengthen a weak audio clip), use the Up and Down Arrow Keys to snap your playhead to the first frame of the audio clip. Then select the clip and use CMD C to copy it. While its slected, just OPT Up or Down Arrow to move the clip down one track, then hit CMD V to paste. Voila! Super fast, easy creation of a pair.

This shortcut was previously discussed on 3/12/2010.