If you’re following along with the DCP Web Designers Magix Movie Edit Pro Plus beginner series, this fourth installment tackles one of the most essential editing skills: cutting and trimming your video content on the timeline. In the previous tutorial, footage was dragged and dropped into the timeline in sequence – intro, title slide, and the main video tutorial. Now it’s time to clean that footage up so it flows smoothly from one section to the next.
Navigating the Timeline
Editing starts with the timeline marker – a small orange indicator you can drag across your project. As you move it, the preview window updates to show exactly what’s happening at that point in your video: the intro, the title slide, and then the tutorial footage itself.
With the layout confirmed (intro → slide → tutorial), the next step is deciding what actually needs trimming. In this case, the intro and the title slide were already in good shape from earlier edits, so the focus shifts to the main video content.
Trimming the Start of a Clip
A key habit shared in this tutorial: always leave about 5 seconds of still image at the beginning and end of raw footage. Why? That extra buffer gives you room to build a clean transition between the title slide and the start of the tutorial video, rather than cutting abruptly into speech.
To find the right cut point:
- Drag the timeline marker to roughly where speech begins (in this example, around the 20-second mark).
- Press play to confirm exactly where the presenter starts talking.
- Scrub back slightly before that point – leaving a little blank space intentionally for the transition.
- Use the Split Object tool to divide the clip into two sections at that marker position.
- Select the unwanted leading section and delete it.
This keeps just enough “dead space” to work with later, without leaving in a long, awkward pause.
Adjusting Still Image Duration
Title slides and static graphics can have their on-screen duration adjusted two ways:
- Drag the edge of the clip directly on the timeline to shorten or lengthen it.
- Right-click → Change Photo, then enter a specific duration (around 8 seconds is the recommended default) and click OK.
This gives precise control over how long a still graphic displays before the video content begins.
Trimming the End of a Clip
The same principle applies to the tail end of the footage:
- Move the timeline marker toward the end of the clip and click above the video track to preview playback from that point.
- Listen for where the audio actually stops – in this example, right after the presenter finishes their closing line.
- Just like the intro, leave a small buffer of still frame before the true end for an outgoing transition.
- Use the cut tool again to split off the excess trailing footage.
- Select the unwanted section and press Delete.
Wrapping Up the Edit
Once both the beginning and end of the clip are trimmed, the project timeline is left with three clean sections: the intro, the title slide, and the correctly edited video content – each with just enough buffer at the edges to support transitions. The final step is simple: save your work.
What's Next
With the raw cutting complete, the next tutorial in this Magix Movie Edit Pro Plus series covers adding transitions between the slide, intro, and tutorial footage – turning these trimmed clips into a polished, professional-looking final video.
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