Fit a clip to a length
Fit to makes a clip last the length you type, by changing its speed rather than trimming it. Use it to fill a gap or to land a clip on a beat, without working out the rate yourself.
- Where
- Clip tab ▸ Clip sub-tab ▸ Speed section ▸ Fit to
- Agent tools
set_speed
Fit a clip
Section titled “Fit a clip”-
Select one or more clips of a video or audio file.
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In the Clip tab’s Clip sub-tab, open the Speed section.
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Type a length in Fit to, then press Return or Tab. The tooltip reads “Type a length: the rate changes so the clip plays in it”.
The field takes a timecode such as 00:00:12:15 or 00:00:12.500, a shorter form such as 01:30, or a number of seconds such as 12.5. Text that isn’t a time beeps, and the field goes back to the clip’s length.
With several clips selected, each one is fitted to that length, as one undo step, Fit to Duration. Captions the change re-times are part of the same step, which is then named Fit to Duration and Re-time Captions.
The field shows the first selected clip’s length, with a mixed tag when the selected clips’ lengths differ.
Fit to lives only in the inspector. The Speed sheet has no Fit to control.
The new length
Section titled “The new length”The length you type snaps to the frame grid. A length that snaps to zero or less shows an error and changes nothing. Typing the clip’s current length changes nothing.
The same applies to any speed change: the clip’s new length snaps to a whole frame, and never runs past the end of its file at the new rate.
The rate is still held to ×0.1 – ×1000. A length that needs a rate past a limit stops at that limit, so the clip ends up a different length from the one you typed. For example, a 10 s clip at ×1 fitted to 200 s stops at ×0.1 and lasts 100 s.
On a clip with a speed ramp, Fit to scales the whole ramp. It stops where any rate in the ramp would pass a limit, and the clip ends up a different length in the same way. See Edit a ramped clip.
Everything else works as it does for any speed change:
- The clip’s start stays where it is, and later clips don’t move.
- A fit that runs into the next clip follows the overlap rule.
- A fit that takes a clip with sound past ×12 asks first, with Set Speed and Cancel. Cancel puts the field back. See Sound at high speed.
When Fit to is unavailable
Section titled “When Fit to is unavailable”- An action is selected. Fit to belongs to the clip and can’t be set inside an action, so its row is marked ⊘. Anything you type there changes the whole clip, not the action.
- The selection holds another kind of clip. The Speed section appears only when every selected clip is a media clip.
- The clip is linked to its detached sound. Frame Job won’t change its speed until you attach it. See Linked clips.
With an agent
Section titled “With an agent”set_speed with duration in place of rate does the same job, one clip at a time. A duration of zero or less is an error. See set_speed.