Getting information about a clip in the timeline, such as what drive it’s on, what its format is, or figuring out where quicktimes were imported from is a complicated process. This is the usual method:

1. Place the playhead over the clip in the timeline
2. Use Match Frame to load the clip in the source monitor
3. Try using Find Bin to locate the clip in the project
1. Oh wait, Avid says it can’t find the bin, so go to the bin with the sequence you’re working on
2. Go to the hamburger menu and select Set Bin Display
3. Enable Show Reference Clips
4. Try Finding Bin again
4. Play with the Headings in the bin, or use Clip Info to try to figure out what you want to know

Luckily, there’s an easier way to get clip information, although you would never ever discover it on your own. First, load the clip in the source window like you did before. Then, and I am totally serious, click and hold on the invisible space between the timeline of the source window and the video image itself, on the far left end of the window:

If you do it right, you’ll see an info box magically appear, with data about the clip’s format.

If the clip was an imported video file, it will even tell you where it was imported from originally!

This can be a lifesaver if there’s a clip on the timeline and noone can figure out where the original file is.

Update:
After a little clicking, it looks like you don’t have to be on the left side of the source window, you can click anywhere on that thin bar. And, if you click on the Record side, you’ll get some info about your sequence too.

Normally, when you move a clip using red-arrow segment mode, you lose any transitions that were on the edges of the clip:

If you want to keep those transitions, there is a way around this seeming “bug.” In Avid, empty space is actually a clip, called “Filler.” Since you didn’t highlight the empty space, Avid assumed you didn’t want to move it, so it had to get rid of the transition. If you put slices in the filler on either side of the clip, and use segment mode to bring those clips as well, you can maintain the transitions:

[caption id="attachment_274" align="alignnone" width="320" caption="The dissolves remain"][/caption]

It’s ugly, but it works.

Difficulty: Easy

Normally when you click and drag on the timeline in Avid, the playhead slides easily over everything. Sometimes, though, you’d like to be able to snap to an edit so you can insert something. Other times, you want to snap to the end of an edit.

Snapping to the head of an edit: While dragging, Hold Command (control on Windows).
Snapping to the tail of an edit: While dragging, Hold Command (ctrl) and Option (alt).

This also works in Segment and Insert mode too, so if you want a clip you’re dragging to snap to the tail of an edit instead of the head, hold Command and Option and it’ll do what you want.