How do I…?
Build a selection (work on videos together)
Focus and the batch selection are different. Focus is the one clip the Inspector is looking at. The batch selection is the group you build with checkmarks, and it stays put while you move through the list. Clicking a clip focuses it. It does not select it.
Select, then act
Select first when the next step is a rating, a tag, a rename, or a move that should hit several files and leave the rest alone. ⌘A is the fast path when the filtered view is already exactly the set.
- Click a clip once to focus it. That does not select it.
- ⌘-click a clip to add it to the selection or remove it. ⇧-click selects everything from the last click through this one. Press A to add or remove the focused clip.
- Press ⌘A to select every video in the current view. Filter or search first if “everything on screen” is larger than the job.
- With two or more clips selected, a pill reads “N videos selected.” The Inspector title bar turns orange and reads N Videos Selected. A rating or tag you set there, or on a selected card, is written onto every selected clip.
- Right-click any selected clip to act on the whole selection. Commands that can work on several videos, such as Move Files…, Add to Album, Export Metadata…, and Bulk Rename…, apply to every selected clip. Bulk Rename is the guide for that rename. Commands that only make sense for one video, such as Edit Title… and Rename File…, do not apply to the whole selection.
- Arrow keys move focus and leave the checkmarks where they are. That is how you walk the list and press A on the keepers.
- Click Clear on the orange bar, click the pill’s ✕, or press ⇧⌘A, when the job is done.
Checkmarks, the orange bar, and the light blue single-clip bar are on the Browse page. See Grid and List.