The Fastest Way to Rough Cut Footage in Premiere Pro

If you need to rip through a simple video edit, this information will be invaluable to get it done in record time.

In this video, Kevin of The Basic Filmmaker shows exactly what you need to know in order to make rough cuts to slim down your working video files as quick as possible. For Kevin, it begins with the way he films his segments. For this technique to be its most productive, it helps to leave a pause in the sound pickup between each take. In doing so, the timeline in Adobe Premiere Pro (or the editor of your choice) will show obvious gaps that you know you can cut away.

Once you have your footage imported, it's just a matter of smartly using a combination of keyboard shortcuts and hovering your mouse in the right general area. Kevin takes us through step by step starting from the slowest way most beginners will edit video and then building onto it everything you need to know to blaze through cutting video like a pro.

Do you have another technique you prefer to make rough cuts, or a fast way to rough cut video that's a little more complex? Let us know in the comments below.

Ryan Mense's picture

Ryan Mense is a wildlife cameraperson specializing in birds. Alongside gear reviews and news, Ryan heads selection for the Fstoppers Photo of the Day.

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3 Comments

you showed what you were doing but did not show how. to me it's like voice commands: cut. cut. rip. cut

Hey Rashad! It's a YouTube video and missing the comments and description where I explain this. Here's what's going on: The PPro default "Q" is RIPPLE TRIM PREVIOUS EDIT TO PLAYHEAD in the keyboard shortcuts. The cut keyboard command is for SEQUENCE -> ADD EDIT which is a default of CONTROL-K. I added an "X" to it.

Use SendToX 😜