Some clips have to start on a precise beat: the first word of a sentence, a drum hit, the cut between two shots. This page starts in Precise mode, which re-encodes the section you choose so the MP4 begins and ends exactly on your marks, to a tenth of a second, at a high quality setting.
When to use this
Precise trimming matters for: social clips that must open on a hook, intro and outro edits for a channel, music-synced reels, cutting a quote that would otherwise start mid-word, and matching a clip's length to a slot such as a 15-second story.
Frequently Asked Questions
Why is Precise slower than Fast?
It decodes and re-encodes every frame of the clip so a new key frame sits exactly on your start. Fast only copies data, which is near-instant and plays from your start in standard players, but keeps a hidden lead-in back to the previous key frame that some editors show.
How exact is the cut?
You set times to a tenth of a second, and the clip starts on the first frame at or after that point. At 30 frames per second that is within a single frame.
Will a Precise trim look worse than the original?
Very slightly in theory, since it is a fresh encode, but at the high quality setting used the difference is not visible in normal viewing.
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