Cut Techniques
Cutting is the single most-used skill in screencast editing. Remove dead air, mistakes, and filler — fast, with keyboard shortcuts.
The Razor tool (X) + Delete key is your power duo. Learn this combination and you can edit a 10-minute raw recording down to a 2-minute tutorial in under 20 minutes.
The Core Cutting Workflow
For screencast editing (remove dead air / mistakes):
Step 1: Play with Space / L
Step 2: When you find a bad section, press K (pause)
Step 3: Navigate precisely with Left/Right (frame step)
Step 4: Press X → switch to Razor tool
Step 5: Click or press Shift+R to cut at playhead
Step 6: Navigate to where the bad section ends
Step 7: Press Shift+R to cut at this position too
Step 8: Press S → switch back to Selection tool
Step 9: Click the bad section to select it
Step 10: Press Shift+Del → Extract (delete + close gap)
Repeat for each bad section.
The Razor Tool
Activate Razor: X
Exit Razor: S OR Esc
With Razor active:
- Click on a clip → cuts that clip at the click position
- Shift+R → cuts the active track clip at playhead (without clicking)
- Ctrl+Shift+R → cuts ALL tracks at playhead position simultaneously
Use Ctrl+Shift+R (Cut All Clips) when cutting across all tracks at once — essential when your video and audio are separate and you want clean cuts through both simultaneously.
Cut Keyboard Shortcuts
| Action | Shortcut |
|---|---|
| Activate Razor Tool | X |
| Return to Selection Tool | S or Esc |
| Cut clip on active track at playhead | Shift+R |
| Cut ALL clips at playhead | Ctrl+Shift+R |
Deleting Sections
After cutting, you have three options for removing a section:
Option 1: Simple Delete (leaves a gap)
Select clip → Del or Backspace
→ Clip removed, gap left in its place
Option 2: Extract (removes + closes gap)
Select clip → Shift+Del
→ Clip removed AND all clips after it shift left to fill gap
Option 3: Lift (removes + leaves gap — zone-based)
Set zone (I/O) → Z (Lift Timeline Zone)
→ Zone content removed, gap remains
Option 4: Extract Zone (removes + closes gap — zone-based)
Set zone (I/O) → Shift+X (Extract Timeline Zone)
→ Zone content removed, gap closed, clips shift left
Shift+Del (Extract) most of the time. You almost never want gaps — you want the video to flow without black frames.The Keyboard-Only Cut Workflow
Full cut workflow without touching the mouse:
L → Play
K → Pause when bad content found
Left/Right → Find exact cut point
Shift+R → Cut at this position
Shift+Right → Jump forward to find where bad content ends
Left/Right → Find exact endpoint
Shift+R → Cut at endpoint
S → Switch to Selection
Click bad clip → Select it
Shift+Del → Extract (delete + close gap)
S → Back to Selection
Space → Continue playing
Splitting Audio and Video Independently
When you need to cut only audio or only video:
Right-click clip → Split Audio/Video
→ Clip splits into video-only (V1) and audio-only (A1)
→ Now trim each independently
Or for just one clip's audio:
Select clip on timeline
Right-click → Detach Audio
→ Audio goes to a separate track, unlinked
Removing Silence / Dead Air Efficiently
For long screen recordings with pauses:
Fast workflow:
1. L → play at 2x speed (press L twice)
2. K → stop when you see dead air or mistake
3. Go back a few frames: Shift+Left x3
4. Shift+R → cut start of bad section
5. Skip to end of bad section
6. Shift+R → cut end
7. S → Selection tool
8. Click bad section → Shift+Del
Repeat 10-15 times = a 10-minute recording becomes 3 minutes
Grouping and Ungrouping for Multi-Track Cuts
When clips are grouped (video + audio linked):
Ctrl+G → Group selected clips
Ctrl+Shift+G → Ungroup selected clips
Behavior with group:
Cut video → audio cuts at same position
Delete group → both tracks delete together
For cutting all tracks at once: Ctrl+Shift+R is always faster.
The Mix Clips Tool (Soft Cut)
Create a blend between two clips on the same track without a composition:
Position playhead between two adjacent clips
Press U → Mix Clips (creates a soft cross-blend)
OR double-click the border between two clips
Mix Clips (U) creates a same-track transition — a dissolve without needing to overlap clips on different tracks. Ideal for quick topic transitions in screencasts.
Common Cut Mistakes
| Mistake | Fix |
|---|---|
| Cutting wrong position | Ctrl+Z → undo, try again |
| Gap left after delete | Select gap → Shift+Del to extract |
| Accidentally cut audio but not video | Ctrl+Shift+R cuts all tracks next time |
| Cut left both clips selected | Click empty space to deselect, then select only the unwanted clip |
| Accidentally moved a clip | Ctrl+Z immediately |
Keyboard Reference
| Action | Shortcut |
|---|---|
| Razor Tool | X |
| Selection Tool | S |
| Return to Selection | Esc |
| Cut at playhead (active track) | Shift+R |
| Cut all tracks at playhead | Ctrl+Shift+R |
| Delete (leave gap) | Del |
| Extract (delete + close gap) | Shift+Del |
| Lift zone (remove, leave gap) | Z |
| Extract zone (remove, close gap) | Shift+X |
| Mix clips (soft cut) | U |
| Undo | Ctrl+Z |
Hands-On Practice
1. Open project with a 2-min screen recording on V1
2. Play at 2x speed (L, L) → find a dead-air section → K (pause)
3. Press Left to find the exact start of dead air
Press Shift+R to cut there
4. Press Right to find where content resumes
Press Shift+R to cut there
5. Press S → Selection tool
Click the dead-air section → press Shift+Del (extract)
→ Gap closes automatically
6. Press Space → preview the cut → it should flow smoothly
7. Practice Ctrl+Z and redo to compare before/after
8. Do 5 more cuts on the same recording
Goal: reduce by 30 seconds total