How to Trim Start, Middle & End of Video in After Effects

Learn how to not just remove the ends and middle of a video in After Effects, but also how to quickly snap together the remaining pieces. Details below...

To trim the start of a video within a Comp, drag its left edge.

To trim the end of a video within a Comp, drag its right edge.

To remove a piece from the middle of a video...
- Move the Playhead (Current Time Indicator) to the time to cut.
- Use the slider to zoom in for fine precision changes to the Playhead position.
- Select the video.
- From the Edit menu choose "Split Layer" (Shift + Command/Control + D).
- Move the Playhead and make a second cut.
- With the video now split across three layers, select and delete the middle piece.

When dragging elements on the Timeline and wanting to align them, hold down the Shift key to have them snap to one another.

Video by:
cottonbro

[SEKando]

Finally after researching for about 3 hours, somebody with a good and short explanation. Thank you!

[kawskii]

thanks dud I've been searching so long for someone to actually do it fast and easy.

[rajprasad]

Bro you're the on to the point and clear Thanks a ton !

[zozo]

finally someone explained it, thanks.

[lundertied]

Great, right to the point! Thanks a lot!

[-pepito]

That is what I have been looking for. That you . Now how do you glue those pieces together and for one continuous layer

[RealJares]

tried it but when i delet the clip that i split and then drag the clip that follows it, for some reason the clip is still shown

[firstnamelastname]

Nice job. Your next vid: take that finished comp and create a new shortened output file for us beginners!

[encrol]

how do we also trim the audio with it?

[local_peanut]

how do i remove the transparent layer tho? the removed clip of the layer

[yunhosbb]

what if you want to delete the middle clip instead? ive tried multiple times and when i drag the last clip over to replace the deleted one, the deleted clip shows up again

[xAyukax]

after i split them it just stops when the first part stops can i merge them somehow? or is there a other sulution???

[PanicDrone]

I tried to trim the start and ending of a vid, but when I rendered the video those sections were still present--just blue and no video. :\

[LennWeltmeister]

After Effects doesn't actually cut it at all. One prove is that time mapping maps the whole video, not the cut part