# How to add, trim and export clips from your footage in Grain Add a clip from a suggested moment or with I and O, trim it in the clip editor, and export each clip as an MP4 with an SRT, leaving the original untouched. Canonical page: https://grain.photo/guides/add-trim-export-clips Last updated: 2026-11-10 In Grain Photo, a clip is a range you mark in a recording: choose **Add Clip** on a suggested moment, or press I and O and then choose **Add Clip**. Trim it with **Edit Clip**, then choose **Export Clips…** to write each clip as an MP4 with an SRT caption file, timed to the clip. The original recording is never changed. ::video moments | Moments beside the player: expand a suggested moment, play it from the line and choose Add Clip. ## A range, not a copy A clip is a range linked to the original recording: an in point, an out point and the words between them. Grain doesn't copy or render anything when you add one. Media is written only when you export. ::cards ### In Grain - A linked range of the original recording - No media copied, so clips cost no disk space - Trim or remove it without touching the recording ### After Export Clips… - An MP4 and an SRT for each clip - In a local folder you choose - The original recording untouched ::end So you can add clips freely, including second-best takes, from footage on any drive, and change your mind later. ## Where clips live: Moments Open a recording and **Moments** shows its transcript beside the player, in order. **All** shows the transcript and your clips together, so you see each clip in the context of what was said around it. **Clips** shows only the clips you've added from this recording. **Show All** opens the full reader. Previous and next step through every moment in the recording. ## Add a clip Grain suggests moments in a recording, and a search highlights the passages that match. Keep one of those, or mark your own range for a reaction, a cutaway or a passage with no dialogue. ::cards ### From a suggested moment - Click the moment to play it from the line - Choose **Add Clip** - The clip covers the moment's range; trim it afterwards for more or less ### With I and O - Play or scrub to where the clip should start, and press **I** - Move to where it should end, and press **O** - Choose **Add Clip** ::end You can scrub the timeline to look beyond a suggested passage before you mark it. ## Clips and transcription You don't have to wait for transcription to add clips. A clip added before Grain has transcribed that recording picks up its words when transcription finishes. Transcription is automatic, on your Mac. See [how automatic transcription works](/guides/automatic-transcription). If a word in a clip is misheard, double-click the moment's words to correct it. Search, captions and exports use your correction. ## Trim a clip Choose **Edit Clip**, or double-click the clip in **Moments**, to open the clip editor. Set the range either way: ::cards ### Drag the handles - Move the in and out by eye - The video follows, so you see the frame you're landing on ### Type In and Out - Enter exact timecodes - For an agent's selects or an editor's notes ::end Then choose **Update Clip** to apply the change, or **Cancel** to keep the clip as it was. > Tip: Leave a few frames of air at each end. It's easier to trim in the edit than to find more. ::video clip-editor | Mark a range with I and O, choose Add Clip, then drag the Out handle in the clip editor and choose Update Clip. ## Remove a clip Choose **Remove Clip**. The clip is removed, and the original recording and its transcript stay as they are. If you removed the wrong one, Undo restores the clip. ## Export clips Choose **Export Clips…** and pick a local folder. Grain writes a new folder named `Grain Clips---