Advanced Video Editing Tips - QWE Editing
Here's a workflow tip to help you edit faster.
Note: I use Adobe Premiere, but most editing software have similar features. Davinci Resolve and the video editor in Blender are excellent free alternatives to Premiere.
QWE Editing (aka Ripple Editing) is a well known editing technique but one I only started using last year. It, along with other workflow efficiencies, has massively improved my editing speed. It’s named for the shortcut keys you use. QWE editing speeds up editing by mapping important functions to keys you can easily press with one hand.
Setup
In Premiere go to Edit > Keyboard Shortcuts.
Setup the following shortcuts.
Q - Ripple trim previous edit to playhead.
W - Add Edit.
E - Ripple trim next edit to playhead.
How it Works
Move the playhead to the point where you want a clip to start and press Q. This deletes all of that clip before the playhead.
Move the playhead to where you want to insert a cut and press W to add one.
Move the playhead to the point where you want a clip to end and press E. This deletes all of that clip after the playhead.
QWE Editing turns what would normally be several actions (selecting a clip, making a cut, selecting the parts of the clip to delete, deleting them, moving the rest of the clips down to fill the gaps) into single button presses. While small, the timesave from doing this adds up, especially in large projects.
