Adjustment Clips and Non Destructive Editing - Step by Step Guide
What You Will Learn
Learning from online tutorials is great—but they often miss the skills that truly set professionals apart.
This article (and its accompanying video) is my attempt to bridge one of those gaps, - by focusing on one of the most overlooked yet essential editing techniques:
👉 Non destructive editing 👈
Non-destructive editing is all about working efficiently without locking yourself into choices you can’t undo. It saves time while keeping you creatively flexible.
It’s not something you can ✌️simply understand✌️—you have to practice it. That’s why it’s rarely covered in typical online tutorials.
What you’re going to learn:
In this guide, we’ll hit two birds with one stone:
- How professionals use adjustment clips.
- How to apply them in a non-destructive editing workflow
The video covers the core concepts, while this article walks you through a step-by-step challenge to help you practice and apply them.
What you’ll need:
- Magic Zoom (optional)
Plugin/Templates You’ll Need
Disclaimer: Some paid product links may be affiliate links at no extra cost to you. Buying through these links helps us keep writing articles like this.
For this tutorial, you don’t need to pay for Magic Animate—but if you value your time, it’s absolutely worth it!
Magic Animate (Free)
Optional - Magic Zoom (Paid)
Practice Project
Download the practice project here:
Tutorial Overview Video
First things first, I recommend watching this video in its entirety, then coming back to practice.
Practice Challenge 1
GOAL: Your objective is to create this shaky clip with a figure sliding in.
Challenge: Unlike beginner editors, use adjustment clips to keep the edit non-destructive.
- Opening open the timeline named V1_Practice
Add an adjustment clip to timeline
- Go to Effects tab → search Adjustment Clip
- Drag the Adjustment Clip on top of the two images on the timeline
Apply the camera shake to the adjustment clip
- Grab Camera Shake from:
- drag it onto the adjustment clip
Effects → Open FX
Quick tip: If you can’t drag the camera shake on the adjustment clip. You’re using the wrong one.
You should now have some “shaky footage”
Apply the camera zoom to the adjustment clip
- Grab Magic Zoom from the Effects tab and drag it onto the adjustment clip
- Adjust Zoom Amount/Zoom Scale to your liking
Animate the character individually
Because this animation should only apply to one clip, we should apply the effect to JUST the one clip and not the adjustment clip!