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FCPX and dealing with “time” is driving me nuts!
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Having one place to show the current TC of a clip and timeline isn’t very practical. Especially not when FCPX seems to bug at time switching from event viewer to a project.
In a “classical” editing app you can easily have the sequence and source side-by-side showing exact frame matching as well as TC in, TC and TC on current frames. I guess this isn’t something that’s possible in FCPX?
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[Erik Lindahl] “Having one place to show the current TC of a clip and timeline isn’t very practical. Especially not when FCPX seems to bug at time switching from event viewer to a project.
In a “classical” editing app you can easily have the sequence and source side-by-side showing exact frame matching as well as TC in, TC and TC on current frames. I guess this isn’t something that’s possible in FCPX?”
You’ll get no argument from me on that. Add to it a lack of sync markers.
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Some plugins have a HUD. Red, for instance, has made their footage modifications for fcpx in a HUD. So even though it is limited, HUDs are somewhat possible in X.
I am 50/50 on HUDs. I think they are a design ‘copout’ at times, other times they could be examples of good design, and sometimes they are completely necessary to bring custom functionality and interfaces to a particular host. Floating windows aren’t my favorite.
For readouts and display items, yes, but for direct manipulation of more tangible modification parameters? I’m not so sure. A good example is Autodesk Smoke. It takes getting used to, but once you grasp it, the interface becomes to feel like a cockpit where switches are placed in a fixed position and muscle memory takes you through navigation.
A HUD with its floating position, does not offer this kind of feedback and muscle memory.
SpeedGrade, with it’s Widget tool, is another example of a great HUDless manipulation interface.
Jeremy
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[Erik Lindahl] ” I guess this isn’t something that’s possible in FCPX?”
Unfortunately, no, and it surely needed.
In the event browser, there’s an option called ‘skimmer info’ that displays TC.
Why this same skimmer info isn’t present in the timeline is beyond me.
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I’d say a HUD is a good compliment to a fixed tool / function but is, in general, a terrible way of gathering tools and read-outs as their primary place to be. This since they don’t have a fixed position on the screen and they by nature are an “overlay” on top of other tools or info.
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If we had that skimmer option in the timeline things would be better. Still a mess but much better.
At the moment the lack of a source-viewer with mini-timeline with proper TC-readouts is really a pain in certain projects.
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Having an on-screen HUD would be nice. Show details X and Y during playback, show details X, Y and Z when paused.
I understand Apples idea of going back to basics but it’s actually more confusing now than NOT having all the TC-info everywhere.
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