FAQ: How do I move the Playhead frame by frame?

[Kevin-Monahan]

Edit tip: Moving the playhead frame by frameMoving the playhead frame by frame? Many people use the left and right arrow keys. That works but it's not good technique. Here's what the pros do:

Hold down K > tap L once, you move +1 frame. Hold K > Tap J, you move -1 frame.

Need to move 2 frames? Tap again! 

The advice is to keep JKL workflow centered around those keys—avoid moving the hand down to the arrow keys just to move a frame or two.

Hope this advice helps!

Recent tweet— Kevin Monahan (@kev_mon) May 22, 2020

[Kevin-Monahan]

Why keep your workflow centered around JKL? Well, it's better for your health for one.

Moving the playhead frame by frame by traveling to the Left and Right Arrow keys is a frequent repetetive task. Keeping your hand movements to a minimum prevents injury to your wrists, as well. More info on wrist injury related to poor ergonomic keyboard technique (RSI) here.

[Kevin-Monahan]

Why keep your workflow centered around JKL? It makes you a faster, more efficient, and, therefore, more professional editor.

What are the keys around the JKL keys? If you weren't already aware, Mark In, Mark Out are two biggies, just within reach. Insert and Overwrite are adjacent to JKL. Lift and Extract are just below JKL. I use Extract quite a lot.

What other keyboard shortcuts are centered around JKL? Have a look!

Tips:

• Learn to type by touch. It makes your movements more compact and you move your wrist less.
• You should commit as many keyboard shortcuts centered around JKL as possible to memory.
• JKL also comes into play for slow scrubbing and cuts down on using the arrow keys even more. It also frees you up from scrubbing with the playhead all the time. Quite honestly, in observing newer editors, they do not know the following tip, which I believe is crucial for finding cue points.
  • Press KL at the same time: to slow scrub forward
  • Press JK at the same time: to slow scrub in reverse

[Kevin-Monahan]

When do you use the Arrow Keys then? For me personally, not that frequently! Usually, only when I want to move in increments of multiple frames. You engage this with Shift + Left or Right Arrow Keys.

This can be set in Preferences > Playback. See the preference third down from the top: "Step forward/back many" preference. The default is 5, but you can change that.

Otherwise, I rarely touch the arrow keys. I am using the JKL keys for everything else related to moving the playhead with the keyboard. It's a more compact way of working.

[Kevin-Monahan]

One last note on frame by frame JKL technique.

I use all the combinations of the JKL shortcuts to my advantage, fluidly switching back and forth between playing at full speed forwards or in reverse. Engaging slow scrubbing in forward and reverse to, say, isolate a cue point. This allows you to "rock" over a cue point like you would in cueing up a vinyl record (ever try that?). Sometimes, I move frame by frame by using the tapping technique.

That said, my slow scrubbing technique is efficient enough that I can usually lift up on J or K while slow scrubbing to find the right frame. When you can get to this stage of JKL control, you've mastered it. Nice job, pro!