Overwrite & Insert editing

Report · Jun 17, 2017

Hello , I am very new to After effects . . just starting right now so I'll be asking quite a lot of what seem to everyone to be very simple questions , but to me there are very hard questions . So thanks in advance for your patience and assistance so here we go . . . .

I have a clip in the monitor with the in \ out points selected but I cannot get it into the timeline . The tutorial says that there are supposed to be insert / overwrite buttons in the timeline but I cannot find anything in my timeline , are there shortcut insert / overwrite keys etc ?

Thanks .

Report · Jun 17, 2017

are there shortcut insert / overwrite keys etc ?

Ae is not that good in editing tools. you got ripple insert and insert edit in the footage window

you can also drag the video from the project panel to the timeline or use the shortcut Ctrl+/ (on Windows).

if you want to replace source from project window to the timeline, you can drag the video from the project panel to the timeline and hold Alt as you place it on top of another video in the timeline. can also use the shortcut Ctrl+Alt+/ if both are highlighted.

having said all that, if you want to control you edits, or if you are doing mainly editing, you will feel much more comfortable doing this in premiere. Ae is your tool for things you can't do in Premiere.

Report · Jun 17, 2017

Thanks very much , but those two edit buttons are not showing in my timeline .

Report · Jun 18, 2017

Please , please , please ! ! ! Is there anyone on this forum who can kindly tell me how to get the overwrite / ripple edit buttons to appear on my timeline ?

Thanks very much.

Report · Jun 18, 2017

These buttons are not in the timeline but in the footage window. you access it by clicking twice on an item in the project window.

Report · Jun 19, 2017

Chisnamic wrote
Please , please , please ! ! ! Is there anyone on this forum who can kindly tell me how to get the overwrite / ripple edit buttons to appear on my timeline ?
Thanks very much.

No, because After Effects DOES NOT DO that kind of editing. You are using the wrong application. You need a video editing application, which After Effects IS NOT. You need to use Premiere Pro.

Frankly, I'm a little stunned that you couldn't spot the obvious user interface differences between After Effects and Premiere Pro.

Report · Jun 19, 2017

Use AE to work on a shot that you can't modify, improve, add something to or do something amazing with. Use a non linear editor like Premiere Pro to edit your shots into a sequence and a sequence into a movie. More than 90% of my comps are a single shot under seven seconds long because most shots in the movies I work on are under seven seconds long. I have spent hours working on 20 frames.

The only kind of editing or trimming tools you have are in the footage panel as Roei explained. You use these to set the in and out points of footage by double clicking on the footage in the project panel which opens the footage in the footage panel which allows you to set in and out points for the footage. You then can create a new composition from the footage that is exactly the length of the edited footage. Other than that it's one footage item per layer in a comp. In and out points of a layer can be set in the comp, the layer can be shifted in time, but if you want ton insert or overwrite you are using the wrong application.

As others have said, you have to take the time to learn the UI and the techniques for compositing and motion graphics. AE is difficult. If you are new - start here: Basic AE, and start using the Search Help field at the top right corner of AE to find answers to specific questions about effects and techniques. Google is not a good or reliable resource for a lot of training because way too many amateurs are demonstrating inefficient and ineffective and some just wrong techniques and putting their work on YouTube. You have to vet your training.

If you are serious about learning visual effects and compositing I strongly suggest that you find some good online training from folks like Lynda.com or Total Training. Many effects manufacturers have their own training. Go there first.

Report · Jun 20, 2017

Thanks very much to all for you very kind responses and advice, everything is greatly appreciated.

In poster Rol Tzoref demo clip there are two edit buttons ( insert / overwrite ) in a red circle and those are the two edit buttons that is missing from my timeline. Any idea how to get those same buttons in my timeline also ?

Thanks.

Report · Jun 20, 2017

Chisnamic wrote
Any idea how to get those same buttons in my timeline also ?

You can't. Those buttons aren't available in the timeline.

Why?

People have been telling you this in about a half-dozen ways. Maybe this time it will sink in. AFTER EFFECTS IS NOT A VIDEO EDITOR. To do insert & overwrite edits, you need a video editing application. Think FCP. Think Premiere Pro. Think Avid. Think Vegas.

But for heaven's sake, don't think After Effects.

Report · Jun 20, 2017

Chisnamic wrote
In poster Rol Tzoref demo clip there are two edit buttons ( insert / overwrite ) in a red circle and those are the two edit buttons that is missing from my timeline. Any idea how to get those same buttons in my timeline also ?

In Roei's screenshot, they are NOT available in the Timeline. They are available in the Footage panel.

Double-click on a footage item in your Project Panel (note: NOT the Timeline panel) and it will load the footage in a Footage panel. Those buttons are there in the Footage panel ONLY.

And, as Dave and others have mentioned, this is the sort of task that is doable, but painful in After Effects, but is wonderful and easy in Premiere Pro. After Effects is NOT for video editing; Premiere Pro is for video editing.

Report · Jun 25, 2017

Thanks Rick , but I want to add something here and I am not trying to start a " war of words " etc , etc. But I find that some of the Lynda.com " After effects " courses are way to advanced for the beginner. I have already tried many of their courses but the instructors teach as though they are teaching to people who already know AE.

I am just a beginner !

Report · Jun 25, 2017

Lynda has some basic courses that will prepare you. The most important thing to do when looking for training is to make sure that your trainer has some experience. There's getting to be so much bad and even downright wrong advice given on how to manage a project in AE that it's scary. No matter how cool a tutorial looks, check the credentials and experience of the guy or girl that's giving you advice to make sure they know what they are talking about.

The biggest reason that there are so many videos out there with poor techniques and bad advice is that there are about a zillion ways to do just about everything in AE and only a few of them are efficient and effective and don't lead you down dead ends.

Report · Jun 26, 2017

Than you very much Rick .

Report · Jun 20, 2017

https://forums.adobe.com/people/Dave+LaRonde wrote:
No, because After Effects DOES NOT DO that kind of editing. You are using the wrong application. You need a video editing application, which After Effects IS NOT. You need to use Premiere Pro.
Frankly, I'm a little stunned that you couldn't spot the obvious user interface differences between After Effects and Premiere Pro.

In Chisnamic's defense, those buttons in that screenshot are in After Effects and you definitely can do that kind of editing in After Effects - it's just...painful to do it.

Report · Jun 20, 2017

Szalam wrote
n Chisnamic's defense, those buttons in that screenshot are in After Effects and you definitely can do that kind of editing in After Effects - it's just...painful to do it.

Yeah, I'll say it's painful!

In PP you set an in & out point in the source window. Then hit the comma (overwrite edit) or period (insert edit) keys and you're done.

That's why there are video editing applications.

Report · Jun 19, 2017

Just be aware that After Effects isn't something you can learn 'as you go' without a lot of time wasting and frustration. It works very differently to an NLE.

If you haven't done so already, I'd recommend you spend some time here:

Adobe After Effects Learn & Support

Report · Jun 20, 2017

Thanks guys for understanding what I am talking about , the majority is saying that this kind of editing cannot be done in AE but yet still , I just recently this instructional video :

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hHIA1qMg_Hs&t=1092s

At approx :18:00 mins into the video the instructor is doing the EXACT same thing that I was asking about and yet they are some who is saying that AE cannot do this kind of editing.

Report · Jun 20, 2017

Nobody said you can't do what that guy is doing, but doing it with multiple clips from the comp panel, not the footage panel is not possible. You can use the insert and overlay features, you can drag to the timeline, but editing does not work like it does in a NLE. If you go back to the footage panel and change the in or out point the clip will not shift in the comp. If you use the insert or overlay again you get another copy of the clip. AE is not a film editing app, that's all there is to it.

It's important to vet your trainers. As knowledgable as the guy doing the tutorial seems to appear, right after he adds the video he grabs a large JPEG and uses the Fit to composition command. This is a really notorious rookie mistake that will distort your JPEG images unless the frame aspect ratio is precisely the same as the frame aspect ratio of the composition panel. I can even see slight distortion in the tutorial with the first image and the second image the guy's face becomes seriously distorted. Squares become rectangles, circles become ovals and you wonder what went wrong. You should never Fit to comp, you should only use Fit horizontally or fit vertically and you should check to make sure that the X and Y scale values for any layer are exactly equal to avoid distortion.

I watched the entire tutorial and there were several other questionable workflow techniques used. AE is not simple, it's easy to foul everything up and end up with a video that won't compress properly or display properly or without distortion, and most importantly, it is extremely easy to waste a bunch of time doing things in AE, like editing, that are better suited to other apps. I get hired and get paid because I get things done on time and under budget 99.99999% of the time. Using the right tools for the job and using them correctly is the key to success in one of the toughest creative fields there ever was and it's just getting tougher to make a living. Ten or fifteen years ago anyone with the knowledge to get AE open and create a composite could demand a decent fee for their work. Now, even if you are very good at it it's really hard to get well compensated for your time. We're just trying to help you be more productive.

Report · Jun 21, 2017

Understood Sir , thank you very much for your time , explanation and response. , as I said when I asked the question I am very new to AE and have no clue how it works but with the assistance of everyone I hope to learn very soon.

Respectfully.

C_ Mac.D

Report · Mar 30, 2023

Tho it's too late for my reply but

Idk why are all making it so complicated...

Just those 2 buttons are used for be4 putting it in timeline ...as u click the any of those the new video will be on top of all....so simply just double click on the footage on the left up panel where all the imported files are there...then u can edit and in the end click on those 2 buttons that are now shown and then it will directly go to timeline...

So simply the buttons get appeared when u click twice on the footage(out of the project one...main file u imported)

Overwrite & Insert editing

1 Correct answer