Adobe Premiere Pro CC Instructions

Three-Point Editing

The fast and precise way to insert clips into the Timeline is to use what is called Three-Point Editing. The method involves placing In-Point and Out-Point markers in the Timeline itself, and then a single In-Point on the clip is all you need. The clip gets inserted into the area of the Timeline that is isolated by the In- and Out-Points. 


Build Your Audio First!

The method works best if you start by building the audio of your story first. Many editors in the broadcast profession will do the following: they'll script their story, then they'll assemble the audio together, connecting sound bites with voice over narration and any natural sound, creating what amounts to a Radio Cut (audio version) of their story. Then they'll go back and, using Three-Point Editing, they'll fill in the gaps with their b-roll.


NOTE: Three-Point Editing doesn't work when you drag the clip into the Timeline. You have to use shortcut keys.

The illustration below shows a gap between clips that needs to be filled by another clip. Because the gap is of a certain length, rather than determine the exact amount of clip that is needed to fill the space, simply isolate the gap with In- and Out-Point markers. 

  • Use the Up and Down arrows on the keyboard to move the playhead to the beginning and end of the gap.
  • At the beginning of the gap, press I for In
  • At the end of the gap, press O for Out
You end up with something that looks like the illustration below where the In- and Out-Point markers appear in the scrubbing bar above the clips. 


  • Select the clip you want to insert into the gap and double-click it so it appears in the Source Monitor
  •  Mark the In-Point only. 
  • On the keyboard, press the Period button, which is the shortcut key for an Overwrite edit.  
You might get a message like this one:



The message points out that the length of the source clip is longer than the gap in the Timeline. That being the case, you have the option to ignore the Source Out Point, or choose from the other options as you see fit. By ignoring the Sequence Out Point, the clip will extend beyond the area that you defined in the Timeline, possibly overwriting other clips that are in the way. If you're trying to fill a specific gap that has a specific length, then choose Ignore Sequence Out Point.

Three-Point Editing will accelerate your workflow tremendously, helping you produce rough cut edits in no time. The technique is especially useful when editing news packages against deadline.