I have FCPX 10.09 on my MBP and 10.1.1 on my new iMac. I've done something , hit the wrong key by accident perhaps, but when I try to trim a highlighted clip in the timeline via dragging on the yellow clip edge, I'm left with a blank space in the timeline.

FCPX is thus "thinking" that although I may wish to shorten a clip I do not wish to shorten the overall project duration.

How do I correct this? It has only happened recently, and on both machines. I want to get back to the days when a shortened timeline clip would simply shuffle into place alongside the adjacent one.


Ron

I believe you need to go back to "Select" by typing A. If you are in the position tool "P", you can shorten a clip and leave the blank/holder space.

Spot on John Chu!

When you're learning X, it's smart to consider the A (select) key to be kinda your "back to normal" key. Which is to say whenever you pick an alternate mode such as Position or Trim - you condition yourself to always return to the Select mode immediately when you finish the operation.

It means you'll always be where you expect, unless you go someplace different.

: )

Yes, once you know about it, that option is a feature, not an accident :-)