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The Cut tool lets you trim the beginning or end of a clip, remove unwanted ranges, and split content at the playhead.

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Open the Cut tool

  1. Open your video in the Tella editor.
  2. Click Cut in the toolbar.
The Cut timeline starts in a compact view with removed ranges collapsed. Open More actions → Show cuts to see the full source, with removed waveform and transcript content dimmed. Outside the Cut tool, the timeline shows only the content that remains in the video.

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Trim the start or end

  1. Move to the beginning or end of the clip.
  2. Drag the edge handle inward.
  3. Use the live preview and audio waveforms to choose the exact frame.
For precise trimming, click a start or end handle, then press the left or right arrow key. Each press moves the handle by one pixel at your current timeline zoom. Hold Shift while pressing an arrow key to move it by 10 pixels.
If a scene has multiple audio sources, such as a camera microphone and screen audio, their waveforms are overlaid on the timeline. Repeat these steps for each clip you want to trim.
  • Click the timeline to move the playhead. Hover over the waveform or transcript to preview a frame before clicking.
  • Drag across the waveform to select any time range, or click and drag across transcript words to select whole words.
  • Hold Shift and drag to add more ranges. Shift + click extends the current range instead.
  • Drag inside a selected range to move it, or drag either edge to resize it. Touching or overlapping ranges merge automatically.
  • Hold Option on Mac or Alt on Windows while dragging to turn snapping off.
  • Scroll to pan. Hold Cmd on Mac or Ctrl on Windows and scroll to zoom around your pointer. Shift + scroll over the timeline zooms too.
  • Press Escape to clear the current selection.
Selections and trim edges snap to useful points such as word boundaries and the parked playhead. When cuts are hidden, click a cut marker to zoom into it. At a closer zoom, click the pin labeled Click to undo… to restore that individual cut or split.

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Remove a range from the middle

  1. Drag across the unwanted range in the Cut timeline or Script panel.
  2. Click Delete in the Cut toolbar, or press Backspace or Delete on your keyboard.
Tella cuts the selected range from the video. You can also move the playhead and click Split (or press X) to add a boundary before selecting and deleting a segment.

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Remove multiple ranges at once

  1. Drag across the first unwanted range in the timeline or transcript.
  2. Hold Shift and drag across another range. Your first selection stays highlighted.
  3. Repeat the Shift-drag gesture for any other ranges you want to remove.
  4. Click Delete. Tella removes every selected range in one undoable action.
On the timeline, drag inside a selected range to move it, or drag either edge to resize it. The video preview follows the moving edge while you drag. If selected ranges overlap, Tella combines them into one range.

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Timeline menus and shortcuts

Right-click a selected range to choose:
  • Cut selection — remove the selected range.
  • Create zoom from selection — add a zoom to eligible screen recordings or uploaded videos.
  • Add layout from selection — create layout sections from eligible selected ranges.
  • Copy to new clip — add the selected content to this video as a separate clip.
  • Copy to new video — create a separate video from the selected content.
When you add layouts to multiple ranges, Tella uses every eligible range and fits each new section around existing layouts. Creating zooms is different: every selected range must be at least one second, and the new zooms trim, split, or replace overlapping zooms so they do not overlap.
Copy to new clip and Copy to new video use the primary selected range. Cut selection, Create zoom from selection, and Add layout from selection can use every selected range.
The Cut toolbar also includes:
  • Split or X — add a split at the playhead.
  • Delete or the Backspace/Delete key — remove the selected ranges or segment.
  • More → Show cuts / Hide cuts — choose whether removed ranges are visible in the Cut timeline.
  • More → Reset all cuts — restore all content removed with the Cut tool.

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Split one clip into two clips

This action creates two independent clips that you can reorder, delete, or place other clips between. It is different from adding a cut boundary in the Cut timeline.
  1. Select the clip you want to split.
  2. Move the playhead to the split point.
  3. Open the clip’s menu and choose Split at current time.
Each half keeps its recording, transcript, subtitle edits, zooms, and layout. Subtitles remain available immediately after the split. Press Cmd + Z (Mac) or Ctrl + Z (Windows) to undo it. You can split anywhere at least 0.2 seconds from the clip’s start or end.

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Tips

  • Zoom for precision: Use the Cut timeline’s zoom controls to inspect smaller ranges.
  • No audio: If a clip has no audio, the Cut panel says This clip has no audio. You can still trim and cut it with the timeline.
  • Remove silences and filler words: Use Tella’s dedicated tools to remove pauses or filler words automatically.