To begin this tutorial, you can start the same way as with Pinnacle Studio. We'll just add a little more detail to the procedures to become more familiar with Studio.

1. Drag the first clip from OurFunVacation.mpg to the timeline;
2. Right click on the clip to bring up Adjust Duration;
3. Set duration to 00:00:10:00;
4. Click "OK".

You then drag the fourth clip OurFunVacation.mpg on the timeline. This clip has a duration of 00:00:18:10. You want to have two clips of 10 seconds each, so trim about 8 seconds from the beginning of this clip.

1. Position the cursor at 00:00:18:00 and use the razor blade for, or hit the "n" key if you prefer keyboard shortcuts.
2. Select the part before the cut of the second clip and delete it. (Click on "Trashcan" or "Del" key or CTRL + X.

Take note of the three editing modes (Smart, Insert and Overwrite) determined by the last icon, just right of the toolbar on the Timeline.

With the adjustment pointer, you can increase the length of the first clip and reduce the length of th second if you don't exceed 00:00:16:17.

Notice that the end of the first clip (right edge of the clip) is highlighted with a green bar and the length of the two clips remains at 20 seconds.

Or you can increase the length of the second clip at the expense of the first but not more than 00:00:18:05.

Notice that the beginning of the second clip (left edge of the clip) is highlighted with a green bar and the length of the two clips remains at 20 seconds.

In this example of what NOT to do, I cut 8 seconds from the end of the second clip so that only the first 10 seconds remain. This clip can not be extended past it's beginning point.

If you go beyond the limits permitted or if you make a mistake like the one explained above, Studio will notify you by displaying a pink area on invalid parts: the image will be frozen in the over-trimmed section.

1. Place your cursor at the end of the first clip;
2. Click on the icon of the toolbar in the timeline (-»|«-) to enter the Trim mode.

1. As soon as you click on the toolbar icon to enter Trim mode, the preview window switches to "Trim mode" (orange frame with special orange buttons);
2. Notice that the end of the first clip (right edge of the clip) is highlighted with an orange bar: the trim point is now defined;
3. The title of the preview window has changed ("Trim mode" replaces the name of the project).

Opening a trim point on the second clip :

1. Place your cursor at the start time of the second clip;
2. Hold down the CTRL key to set a second trim point on the same track without erasing the first trim point.
3. CTRL + Click to define the trim point.

"Trim both" operation : In this operation, two adjacent clips are trimmed simultaneously. Any frames added to the left-hand item are taken away from the one on the right, and vice versa, as long as space and material are available. One application for this technique is adjusting visual cuts to the beat of a music soundtrack.

The two clips now have their trim points defined. You can adjust the frame cut between two clips using the buttons on the preview window which is in "Trim mode", one way or the other (1 single frame or 10 frames at a time). The total length of the two clips remain exactly the same, thus avoiding any risk of desynchronization in the rest of the track.