Could Adobe (or someone else) adopt magnetic timeline features in a tracked timeline?

[John Rofrano]

[Charlie Austin] “To me, the lack of tracks is hardly the most unique feature of the FCP X timeline/media representation.”

Agreed but it’s the one that people have the hardest time wrapping their head around. Same thing with node based editing. You have to be willing to change your mind-set and be open to new workflows in order to experience new benefits.

~jr

http://www.johnrofrano.com
http://www.vasst.com

[Simon Ubsdell]

[Dennis Radeke] “Sorry guys, we don’t (and I can’t) comment on what we are working on. Any inferences you might make are entirely your own.

Thanks,
Dennis – Suddenly corporate Adobe sounding guy! ;-)”

There you go! I’m pretty sure that’s Radeke-speak for “Watch this space, and prepare to have your mind blown”!

😉

Simon Ubsdell
tokyo-uk.com

[Charlie Austin]

[David Lawrence] “layering scenarios ala Fairlight. Lots of possibilities that improve on FCPX.
“

I wonder if Apple is giving any thought to possibilities that improve on FCP X… Nah, that would be silly right? 😉

————————————————————-

~ My FCPX Babbling blog ~
~”It is a poor craftsman who blames his tools.”~
~”The function you just attempted is not yet implemented”~

[Bill Davis]

[David Lawrence] “The features of the magnetic timeline that people like (object grouping, synced ripple, and collision avoidance) can absolutely be implemented in a tracked timeline. As Oliver points out, other NLEs have some forms of this already but none of them take the idea as far as FCPX so far. I think there’s opportunity for tremendous UI innovation in tracked timelines borrowing from the best features of all the NLEs. I can certainly think of a few! ;)”

And of course, the coolest thing is that this time – nobody will spend two years telling everyone who speaks up for magnetic editing that they’re idiots and don’t understand editing and that they should take their toy software that “forces you to work a stupid way you don’t want to – DAMMIT!!!!!!!!!

Won’t that be nice for the other NLEs who might adopt or adapt the concept?

(grin)

Know someone who teaches video editing in elementary school, high school or college? Tell them to check out http://www.StartEditingNow.com – video editing curriculum complete with licensed practice content.

[Bret Williams]

Not unless people make enough feature requests first. 🙂

[Bret Williams]

If I had to put my money somewhere it’d be betting on Adobe copying the rigging and publishing of Motion in AE. They need a reason to get people out of CS6 land. Most online templates for AE are CS4 or CS5 compatible.

[Andrew Kimery]

[John Rofrano] “What would a track based NLE do? It only has two tracks! Should it create a 3rd track automatically? How would you feed about new tracks suddenly popping up? Over time would you wind up with 10 tracks, 9 of which only have one clip on them?”

PPro and FCP Legend already add tracks automatically if need be (I’m not sure if Avid, Resolve or Lightworks do or not). If you select a clip (or group of clips) and move them vertically into a spot where there are no tracks then the NLE will automatically create new tracks for the clips to inhabit.

If someone prefers tracks I assume it’s because they like to use tracks as an organization tool so having ‘orphan’ clips hanging out willy-nilly on various tracks is a non-issue. Deleting unused tracks is a trivial task as well since there is typically a “delete empty tracks” option though one might choose to keep some empty tracks around since they will probably end up being created anyway.

[David Mathis]

I really love seeing how X has progressed over the years. Of course there is “It is still a toy” and “Not for professional use” mentality still going around. Go figure.

Getting used to the magnetic timeline is not a big chore as some might think. I mean, nothing like cleaning out a dirty commode or mucking a horse stall. Yuck!

I see great things down the road, just waiting for the next update. One that will hopefully bring back Bruce and brew a nice cup of java.

The magnetic timeline, it’s magnetic-o-matic!

[Timothy Auld]

Most NLE’s exist today are based on film workflows. When the memory of film workflows finally goes away then FCPX and others that will surely follow will rule the day. Organization is the key. That, and being able to easily provide deliverables, will rule the day and the future.

Tim

[Darren Roark]

I asked a couple people on the FCP X team at NAB last year if Apple patented the magnetic timeline, the answer was yes. If anyone wants to borrow ideas from it, they would have to be different enough.

https://alex4d.com/notes/item/apple-magnetic-timeline-fcpx-patent