WHY TRIM?

When we are editing, we look at all the different clips available in the Project panel and decide which one goes next in our sequence. We then “mark” the clip by setting an In and an Out in the Source monitor and edit it into the Timeline at the position of the playhead.
Editing is the process of getting all our clips in the right order in the Timeline. Trimming is the process of adjusting the point where we switch between clips so that both the action and the story flow smoothly from one clip to the next.
In my experience, trimming takes far longer than editing simply because there are so many potentially good places to make the cut. I can generally make an edit decision quickly, often in less than a minute. But trimming… Well, I can easily recall many times where I’ve spent 45 minutes trying to figure out the best place to switch shots.
As with all editing tasks, there is both a creative decision and a technical skill. While Premiere can’t help you creatively, it can make the technical process of trimming a whole lot faster.
In Premiere, there are five ways we can trim where two clips touch:

• Trim the Out
• Trim the In
• Ripple the Out
• Ripple the In
• Roll both the In and the Out

Trimming Example: