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Dynamic Trimming in X
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[Herb Sevush] “My definition would be trimming, both rolling and ripple, within the context of viewing your material at playback speed. In order to accomplish this you have to see both your current source and the source you are cutting to (heads and tails) when making your live (dynamic) decisions and have to be able to implement your decision without looking away from the screen.”
I would also add that all these options should be possible using only the keyboard.
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David Lawrence
art~media~design~research
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[Scott Witthaus] “…or any key you like.”
Which would you suggest?
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[David Lawrence] “I would also add that all these options should be possible using only the keyboard.”
I think the keyboard is currently the best way to meet the requirement of never having to look away from the screen, but I could envision other ways as well – I wouldn’t want to limit it to keyboard actions just because that’s the best way at the moment.
Herb Sevush
Zebra Productions
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nothin’ attached to nothin’
“Deciding the spine is the process of editing” F. Bieberkopf -
[Herb Sevush] “”I would also add that all these options should be possible using only the keyboard.””
I know people that use just the keyboard are ‘more professional’ with probably many more hours under their belts than I (although I look back with some incredulity that my journey started 15 years ago but I’m not a day in day out editor I confess).
I’m pretty happy all day long with my left hand on the keyboard and my right hand on the mouse. Sure lots of you would probably beat me in an edit race but apart from that i’m not sure I see an advantage. Surely just a preference but that isn’t really what makes the process ‘dynamic’ is it?
Or is it?
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[James Ewart] “Surely just a preference but that isn’t really what makes the process ‘dynamic’ is it? Or is it?”
The reason for the keyboard isn’t speed, although it is faster, it’s that you can keep your attention on the screen as you edit. The key to dynamic trimming is to make your decisions while watching real time playback, and if you have to look down at the timeline while your selecting something with a mouse, then your attention isn’t on the screen. As long as all actions can be performed while your attention is on the screen it doesn’t really matter what devices you are using. Currently this has always been done with keyboard commands, but that’s not essential – watching the screen as you make your cuts is.
Herb Sevush
Zebra Productions
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nothin’ attached to nothin’
“Deciding the spine is the process of editing” F. Bieberkopf -
Before this gets out of hand.
FCPX does support dynamic keyboard trimming, without the precision editor.
If the clips are in the primary, you can select which sides (or both) you want to trim with nothing but the keyboard.
Hit play, start trimming, and the playhead will go back to the cut point and keep playing
If you need to see a few second before the cut, hit shift-/. The playhead will move to two seconds before the cut and play for 2 seconds after, this time (pre and post-roll) can be adjusted in the editing preference. IF you add loop playback to that (command-l), you literally have real time looping playback of your cut point.
No, you don’t have a 3 or 5 up with all of your options ahead or behind the cut, but you do see what is actually in the timeline, and you make real time adjustment with the keyboard, while watching in play back in real time. It doesn’t get much more dynamic, yes, there could be a few more windows and viewers.
If the clips are in a secondary, you have to select that cut point with a mouse, but once selected, you can use the keyboard.
The precision editor is more than just an extend edit, and the Ripple video doesn’t show this, but if you simply add the option key to the bracket keys, you trim the incoming clips in point.
This takes about 5 minutes to understand, but then again, you’d have to open FCPX, want to learn how this works, and mess around with it.
The precision editor, for me, does nothing but slow me down, as did the dynamic trimming in Legend. FCPX’s keyboard trimming, on the other hand, is much more fluid for me than what was in Legend.
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[Herb Sevush] “The reason for the keyboard isn’t speed, although it is faster, it’s that you can keep your attention on the screen as you edit. The key to dynamic trimming is to make your decisions while watching real time playback, and if you have to look down at the timeline while your selecting something with a mouse, then your attention isn’t on the screen. As long as all actions can be performed while your attention is on the screen it doesn’t really matter what devices you are using. Currently this has always been done with keyboard commands, but that’s not essential – watching the screen as you make your cuts is.”
I thought that was the whole point of the mouse. It’s as close as you can get to touch screen without touching the screen. You have to be looking the screen when using the mouse.
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[James Ewart] “I thought that was the whole point of the mouse. It’s as close as you can get to touch screen without touching the screen. You have to be looking the screen when using the mouse.”
The problem is you have to look at the software UI screen when using the mouse, not the actual content you’re editing.
[James Ewart] “‘Im pretty happy all day long with my left hand on the keyboard and my right hand on the mouse. Sure lots of you would probably beat me in an edit race but apart from that i’m not sure I see an advantage. Surely just a preference but that isn’t really what makes the process ‘dynamic’ is it”
This is my edit style probably 80-90% of the time as well. I switch to keyboard only when I need to precisely fine tune a cut by feel.
[Herb Sevush] “I think the keyboard is currently the best way to meet the requirement of never having to look away from the screen, but I could envision other ways as well “
Herb, I can’t think of anything more efficient then pressing a specific button. I suppose besides the keyboard, something like a dedicated control surface could provide the same tactile UI, but most of us just have keyboards. What else did you have in mind?
_______________________
David Lawrence
art~media~design~research
propaganda.com
publicmattersgroup.com
https://lnkd.in/Cfz92F
facebook.com/dlawrence
twitter.com/dhl
vimeo.com/dlawrence/albums -
[David Lawrence] “I suppose besides the keyboard, something like a dedicated control surface could provide the same tactile UI, but most of us just have keyboards. What else did you have in mind?”
Dedicated control surface, or even, if someone wanted to set it up, vocal commands. I realize these are far afield, but I wanted to keep the focus on function, not just current implementation. But yes, as far as I know, anyone who is serious about using dynamic trimming at this point in time is using keyboard commands. For me this whole subject is conceptual since I never use dynamic trimming, but at least I know what it is, and as pertains to the beginning of this whole thread, what it isn’t.
Herb Sevush
Zebra Productions
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nothin’ attached to nothin’
“Deciding the spine is the process of editing” F. Bieberkopf -
[Jeremy Garchow] “FCPX does support dynamic keyboard trimming, without the precision editor”
[Jeremy Garchow] “FCPX’s keyboard trimming, on the other hand, is much more fluid for me than what was in Legend.”Exactly. Maybe not Avid’s definition of Dynamic Trimming (is there a trademark on that?) but it is dynamic trimming. If you actually use or have used dynamic trimming (lower case on purpose) in X and other NLE’s you will see it’s dynamic. Maybe not Dynamic as Avid defines it, but certainly dynamic. It’s just a personal workflow preference.
Scott Witthaus
Senior Editor/Post Production Supervisor
1708 Inc./Editorial
Professor, VCU Brandcenter
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