HELP to Stop Ripple Movement After Delete and....

[BrotherAJ]

Hi,
1) By default (or so it seems), when you delete a clip, any clips to the right of it, or later on the timeline automatically slide down to the left - HOW can you stop this?

2) If have 4 or 5 video tracks on my project, and I cut part of a clip on track #3, it seems clips on the other tracks (1, 2, 4 and 5) also get cut - HOW can you stop this?

Thanks
AJ

 

[DR]

I'm an absolute beginner, so I went to ChatGPT and asked your question. Maybe this will help?

How to Stop Clips From Sliding Left When You Delete (Ripple Delete Issue)​

When a clip gets deleted and everything to the right automatically slides left, that means Resolve is performing a Ripple Delete.

How to stop it:​

Tell them:

1. Use regular Delete — not Ripple Delete
On the keyboard:

• Backspace / Delete key = Ripple Delete (pulls the timeline left)
• Shift + Backspace = Regular Delete (leaves a gap)

On the Edit page toolbar:

• Right-click the clip → Delete Selected = regular delete
• Right-click → Ripple Delete = ripples the timeline

If they never want ripple delete:

There’s no global “disable ripple delete” switch in Resolve, but you can train yourself to always use:

Shift + Backspace
(or right-click → Delete Selected)

They’ll get a clean gap instead of a collapsing timeline.

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Why Cutting on Track 3 Also Cuts Tracks 1, 2, 4, 5​

This only happens when:

1. Tracks are Linked​

If they recorded with a camera that had multiple audio channels, Resolve may have linked clips.
Cutting any linked piece cuts all linked tracks.

Solution:
Right-click the clip → Unlink Clips

Then cuts on that track won’t affect the others.

---

2. Auto Track Selector Is Enabled (Blue Arrow)​

This one catches everyone.

Each track has a blue arrow icon on the left — the Auto Track Selector.
If it’s turned on for multiple tracks, then blade edits, deletes, and ripple operations can affect all selected tracks.

Solution:
Tell them:

Turn off Auto Track Selector for any track you don't want affected.
Click the little blue arrow next to the track name until it turns gray.

A good workflow:

• Leave Auto Track Selector ON only for the track you're editing.
• Turn the others OFF so they stay untouched.

---

3. They May Be Using a Razor Cut With Linked Selection On​

If the linked selection icon (chain link) at the top is active, Resolve treats linked clips as one unit.

They can toggle it here:

Top toolbar → Linked Selection

Turn it off if they want to slice only a single track.

---

Quick Summary You Can Post as a Reply​

Here’s a polished answer you can paste directly:

---

Answer: Stopping Ripple Delete + Preventing Multi-Track Cuts​

1. Clips sliding left when deleting
That’s Ripple Delete.

• Backspace/Delete = ripple delete (pulls everything left)
• Shift + Backspace = regular delete (leaves a gap)
  You can also right-click → Delete Selected to avoid rippling.

Resolve doesn’t have a global “disable ripple delete,” so the fix is to always use regular delete when you don’t want the timeline to collapse.

---

2. Cutting clips on Track 3 also cutting Tracks 1, 2, 4, 5
This normally happens for one of three reasons:

A. Auto Track Selector is ON for all tracks
Each track has a blue arrow. If the arrow is blue, that track participates in blade/cut/ripple operations.
Click the arrow to turn it gray on any track you don’t want affected.

B. Clips are Linked
Right-click → Unlink Clips to edit only one track.

C. Linked Selection is enabled
Toggle the chain-link icon at the top if you want independent track edits.

---

If they follow those three steps, they’ll be able to delete or cut on one track without shifting or slicing every other track.

 

[BrotherAJ]

@DR Thank you for your reply. For the first issue, the ripple delete - yes, I found a YT video explaining to use the backspace key, rather than the delete key.
For the 2nd issue; quite often have several DIFFERENT angles of video clips that I blend together. I will look for the Blue Arrow - as chatGPT suggested. Thank You