One of the new – and seemingly undocumented – features in Adobe Premiere Pro is a new keyboard shortcut: Revert Trim Session. Not only is this an unheralded new feature, it is also turned off by default.
Intrigued, I decided to figure out how it works. But… the bigger question is: Why? Here’s how.
FIRST, TURN IT ON
Open Premiere’s keyboard shortcuts panel (shortcut: Option + Cmd + K) and search for “revert” (top red arrow).
This displays “Revert Trim Session” in the lower panel.
Double-click the empty shortcut box (lower red arrow) and enter a keyboard shortcut that you want to use for this feature. Option+R is available, so I used that.
SECOND, TRIM SOMETHING
Either double-click an edit point or select the edit point and type Shift + T.
(image courtesy: Anne L. Gibson, Toucan Productions, Inc.)
This opens the Trim Window, with the Out on the left and the In on the right. This powerful feature makes trimming a lot easier because you can clearly see what you are doing as you adjust clips. (I especially like the timecode display.)
NOTE: Trims can be adjusted in a variety of ways in this window using the keyboard or mouse. This Help page from Adobe describes the Trim window in detail.
(image courtesy: Anne L. Gibson, Toucan Productions, Inc.)
I roll-trimmed this edit point so the actor’s hands are in a different position. Click anywhere in the Timeline to exit the Trim window.
THIRD, REVERT
Here’s where the shortcut comes in. Once you’ve completed a trim and realized that it was totally wrong, type Option + R. (That’s the shortcut we assigned earlier.)
This reverts the trimmed clips back to their original position.
BUT… WHY?
I’m not sure. You can achieve the same results using Undo/Redo, so I’m puzzled why Adobe added it. Even more that they made it a new feature in the February 2023 update.
This shortcut only works when you trim something using the Trim window. If you trim in the Timeline, it has no effect.
It works perfectly if you change your mind immediately after trimming something. But, if you do anything else after the trim, this shortcut no longer works.
It is a puzzlement. But, perhaps this feature can help you – which is why I’m writing about it. Let me know your thoughts in the comments.
2 Responses to New! Revert Trim Session in Premiere Pro
My only guess is that if you’re using the trim window to make multiple fine-tuned adjustments to an edit (nudge the edit one frame this way, two frames the other, one frame back the first way, so on and so forth) you can just trash everything and go back to your original state with one keyboard command instead of having to hit undo multiple times.
I don’t normally work in the trim window, so I’m not sure how close my assessment would be, but there’s obviously someone out there who thought this was a needed feature.
Lucas:
You make a good guess, but based on what I learned while writing this, the Undo command also resets all changes made since the Trim window was first opened.
Larry