changing clip speed moves other clips

[Shane Ross]

Shane’s Stock Rant #1 – People Complaining About How Speed Changes “Ripple” the Timeline:

You took a clip that you marked an IN point and OUT point and put it in the sequence. You told FCP that you want this clip to start HERE and end THERE. Then, while it is in the sequence, you said “now I want this clip to play back half as fast.” FCP still assumes that you want the same IN and OUT points…why should it think otherwise? You told it that you wanted those points, and now you want it to play back slower. Personally I would find it irresponsible if FCP adjusted the IN or OUT point of my clip.

Want it slow or fast motion? Press F to match back to the clip…it will appear in the Viewer with your IN and OUT points. Now, press APPLE-J to get access to the speed change window. Adjust the speed to what you want…then cut it back into your sequence. Nothing moves.

I think the way FCP does it is intuitive and the right way to do it. I would hate it if FCP changed my IN or OUT point on me….I told it what I wanted.

Shane

GETTING ORGANIZED WITH FINAL CUT PRO DVD…don’t miss it.
Read my blog, Little Frog in High Def

[Dennis Leppell]

A workaround on this is to set in and out points on your timeline, the set in and out points on your clip. drag clip to the canvas window and drop it on the ‘fit to fill’ option. FCP will stretch or squeeze the clip speed, and not affect the other clips on your timeline.

[Jon Smitherton]

…or you can copy it to the end of the timelime, apple J speed change, place on V2, copy to where it came from and trim….

[Arnie Schlissel]

Amen, Shane! I agree with you 100%.

Someone is paying me to make decisions on where the in and out points are, not programmers in Cupertino (who are probably all very nice people, and no doubt mean very well).

And it makes perfect sense to me that if I make something faster or slower, it’s supposed to get shorter or longer.

Arnie
Post production is not an afterthought!
https://www.arniepix.com/

[Jonathan Hudson]

Thanks for the rant. i didn’t know about the match frame option. that is an acceptable solution.

It just feels like a few too many steps. i think i should be able to select a clip in the timeline hit command+j and have a few more options thats all. the option to have it not move other clips and the option for it to not move the in/out points (like adding an effect). regardless of what i told fcp before, this is a non-linear editing tool, and my first instincts aren’t always perfect. its called the creative process.

thanks for your input.

[Arnie Schlissel]

[jonathan Hudson] “i think i should be able to select a clip in the timeline hit command+j and have a few more options thats all.”

That is, in effect, an extra step. I think I’ve heard that from some people here before, but most editors seem to want FCP to always behave the same way, be that my & Shane’s preference, or those very nice but tragically misguided people who would prefer otherwise.

[jonathan Hudson] “my first instincts aren’t always perfect. its called the creative process.”

Neither are mine. That’s why there are trimming tools! 😉

Arnie
Post production is not an afterthought!
https://www.arniepix.com/

[Baz Leffler]

Hey Jonathon – yes I agree it is one of the DUMBEST things I have seen in ANY app and I don’t care what the other guru’s say. I have been editing for over 30 years and as much as I hate Adobe Premiere at least it handles speed changes logically IMO. I really do dread having to do a speed change in FCP because of all the key strokes required and for the sake of an ‘option’ button it would be so much easier.

And for all you folk who are not familiar with the way Premiere do it (and Vegas, Edius, Avid and I think Media 100) is to MOVE the OUT POINT to the new length after speed changed IF there is room following it, OR alter the outpoint of the clip if there is another clip butted on the end of it. So for all you die hard “I chose the outpoint of my clip and no software engineer is going to change it” can just move the clip to a vacant track or a track where there is room for the speed change and then change away. THEN you can ripple your timeline accordingly.
My attitude is “I don’t want no software engineer to move ALL my timeline to satisfy one single clip speed change.
SO – maybe these software engineers can offer both to the user in a later version.

Baz

What would I do without the ‘UNDO’ button!!!!

[Jonathan Hudson]

thanks again for your input.

the way i look at this situation is like using the custom keyboard layout tool. That thing is awesome because it can accommodate any editors style, and i am constantly updating/refining which buttons i press for which functions. I love the fact that fcp has such an amazing tool, so it becomes frustrating when other parts of the program are much less customizable, we can argue all day about which way is faster or uses more steps, but the fact of the matter is that we want to do it our own ways, so i am hoping for a fcp that can allow for these kinds of preferences.

[Shane Ross]

[Baz Leffler] “And for all you folk who are not familiar with the way Premiere do it (and Vegas, Edius, Avid and I think Media 100) is to MOVE the OUT POINT to the new length after speed changed IF there is room following it, “

Doesn’t work like this on the AVID. Avid has you make the speed change BEFORE you drop it into the timeline. Always has as for as long as I can remember. So I have always gotten into the habit of making the changes before I add to the timeline.

I would not like the NLE to make assumptions for me. Assume that I want to move my outpoint. I don’t…I have a specific IN and OUT and I want to make sure it stays put. Adjusting it means I have to clean up the mess the NLE causes by doing that. I have to trim it to get it back to what I wanted. That is a LOT of wasted time.

But…to each his own. Premiere is a great application again…can always go back to that. Personally I like how FCP does this.

Shane

GETTING ORGANIZED WITH FINAL CUT PRO DVD…don’t miss it.
Read my blog, Little Frog in High Def

[Jon Smitherton]

hehe

Yes agree it is dumb, but hey I’d have to say the default capture scratch/media management that let those messy critters called producers, no matter how many times you tell them put capture scratch folders within capture scratch folders and on mac HD to boot, and then complain that they can’t find a file, because they dragged it from the desktop, of which someone has deleted. sheesh. Final Cut Server is on the way JUST for this.

Have big hopes for loader:
https://www.digital-heaven.co.uk/loader/
godsakes Apple BUY IT!

agree with you option idea. nice.

ooh, another way I’ve just tried is:
move clip to V2
lock all video and audio tracks: shift F5, shift F4
then unlock V2
apply speed change – making sure there are no other clips post that point on V2.

Jon