Apple Final Cut Express 4 - Manual (Page 419)

Chapter 28 Arranging Clips in the Timeline 419
VI
To delete a clip item and close the gap left behind:
1 Select the item or range of items you want to remove.
2 Do one of the following:
 Choose Sequence > Ripple Delete.
 Control-click the selected clip item or items, then choose Ripple Delete from the
shortcut menu.
 Press Shift-Delete.
 Press Shift-X to cut the material, if you want to paste it somewhere else.
Selected clip items
After the ripple delete, the
clip items are removed, with
no gap remaining.