iMovie: How to trim a clip frame by frame on MacBook?

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Level 1

9 points

iMovie: How to trim a clip frame by frame on MacBook?

Imovie on Macbook. Latest OS, Macbook 2022. How to trim a clip - one frame at a time.

I am trying to extend a movie of a rotating globe (the planet), by copying the original 10" movie several times.

I am trying to make sure that, where one clip follows another, the join is perfect, so the rotation appears continuous. In other words, I end up with a planet rotating for two minutes or so, instead of one rotation of 10".

So - I need to cut the clips frame by frame, so that the end of the preceding is exactly the same as the start of the next.

But : how do you do this?

It is most commonly suggested online that I use OPT+[left arrow] or OPT+[right arrow] -- or OPT+drag -- on the edge of each clip. But all I get is an error beep.

Again, simply : how do I cut a single frame at the end of a clip in the timeline, please?

Thanks! Tim

Posted on Jan 14, 2026 10:48 AM

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Answer 1

Top-ranking reply

Ian R. Brown

Level 7

24,242 points

Jan 15, 2026 8:17 AM in response to TJNJenkins

With the clip in the timeline drag the slider control in the settings window (circled) all the way to the right. This will expand the timeline.

Place the cursor on the end of the clip and click the left arrow key once to move back one frame.

Finally grab the end of the clip and drag it to the point where the cursor is.

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Answer 2

TJNJenkins Author

Level 1

9 points

Jan 15, 2026 10:32 AM in response to Ian R. Brown

Thanks Ian. Altering the zoom on the clip is key. I thought it just makes the clip more (or less) easily visible, but it actually alters the resolution of the edit from seconds to fractions of a second. Thank you!

If you have the patients I seem to have a silly problem now. I'm unable to copy the original ten second clip another time (I will want to several times for long sequence) and place it under the right-most clip. Not on the first Timeline, not any other. If you have an idea what childish thing I'm doing, let me know. But thanks anyway.

(The Selected clip is the one I'm trying to alighn under the end of this sequence. Dragging it just flips it back to butt join the original clip on the first Timeline)...

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Answer 3

Jan 16, 2026 1:05 AM in response to TJNJenkins

Try this . . . select your clip in the timeline as it appears in your screenshot with the yellow line round it.

Press command - c to copy the clip.

Make sure the cursor is at the end of the clip (as in your screenshot) and press command - v

This will instantly put a copy next to the original clip.

Continue pressing command - v until you have all the copies you require.

EDIT: Auto-correct once again messed up in the first sentence!

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Answer 4

Jan 18, 2026 3:07 AM in response to TJNJenkins

I don't know how ambitious your plans are with regard to video editing . . . maybe iMovie can do everything you require?

If not, there are other more professional apps that can enable you to do more complex edits.

The two I use are Final Cut Pro and Da Vinci Resolve.

Both of them retail for almost £300 BUT Resolve has a free version which does pretty much everything anyone needs.

You can download it here. It asks for your name and address and email but you can put in fake ones if you have any concerns about privacy.

Download DaVinci Resolve

Final Cut Pro has a free 90 day trial. It doesn't ask for any info . . . you just click the download button!

At the end of the 90 days it simply stops working unless you buy it. However, every time it is updated you can download the new free trial for another 90 days so you never need to buy it! Of course there will be gaps when you are waiting for a new version to come out so you can be using it.

Final Cut Pro for Mac - Free Trial - Apple (UK)

Both apps have a steeper learning curve than iMovie (Resolve being the harder of the two but it also has more features).

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Answer 5

Jan 16, 2026 12:59 AM in response to Ian R. Brown

An alternative way is to hold down the Option key and drag the clip to the right whereupon it will create a new clip.

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Answer 6

TJNJenkins Author

Level 1

9 points

Jan 18, 2026 2:19 AM in response to Ian R. Brown

Splendid Ian - I'll give that a go, and let you know. Thanks for the help! Tim

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