One Single Change

[Steve Connor]

We’ve covered the tracks thing before, multiple fixed primaries or secondaries would work and I can’t see how that would be difficult to achieve in light of the new angle editor.

I’m happy with trackless, but it does seem stupid not to have the option of fixed tracks

Steve Connor
“FCPX Agitator”
Adrenalin Television

[Lance Bachelder]

FCPX Magnetic thingy is a bit more powerful than Vegas version which like you say is a “ripple” mode. It can be easier to knock clips out of sync in Vegas but there are sync indicators – something lacking in FCPX. It’s so nice to just right-click to re-sync stuff. FCPX and Vegas both allow you to stack video and audio tracks over/under each other but Vegas has dedicated video and audio tracks which makes it easier when rippling. Don’t like that video and audio can live on same “track” in FCPX.

Lance Bachelder
Writer, Editor, Director
Irvine, California

[Bret Williams]

I agree. AND after I saw the sneek peek, that was my only conclusion then too. “Looks promising, as long as you can turn off that magnetic timeline.” I mean, a knowledgeable editor knows how to swap clips/sections and ripple in much the same way in FCP 7. And I think tracks is a no brainer.

[Andy Neil]

[Richard Herd] “An auto-gap function/key?

What do you mean?”

Well, I’ve thought specifically about this; here’s what I mean:

Suppose you have 3 clips in your primary storyline and 1 clip connected to the 2nd (middle clip).

In my ideal world, you could hold down say, the option key, and with the trim tool active, slip the 2nd clip’s IN/OUT point, but the connected clip above would remain in it’s temporal position in the timeline. Right now that connected clip is always attached to the specific frame you connected it on that primary clip. If you slip the primary clip, the connected clip slides to maintain that position relative to the clip.

But sometimes, you want clips to maintain position relative to the overall timeline. This is what I see as the primary reason why people want a “tracks” option in FCPX.

But my “Option” solution would work more than just slipping clips. Think of holding option down as putting a freeze on all clips in the timeline minus whatever you have selected.

In my example, I could have the selection tool active, select clip 2, hold down option and swap it’s position with clip 1. Now the connected clip would be attached to clip 1 instead of clip 2.

Andy

https://www.timesavertutorials.com

[Jim Glickert]

The magnetic timeline is the single biggest deal killer for me. (I don’t like the absence of a source viewer, but I could survive without it.) When editing, I often use my timeline something like a scratchpad, and tracks make that possible.

If Apple allowed the ability to turn the magnetic timeline “off”, I might consider coming back. However, after now having adopted Premiere Pro, I’m finding that I love its integration with After Effects. Going back would be tough, especially if Motion crashed as much as it did when I used FCP 7 simultaneously.

[Jeremy Garchow]

[Jim Giberti] “My single change:
One button – Magnetism Off/Track Grid On.”

[Jim Giberti] “The best creative environment will always offer more, not less, options.”

Thanks for the write up, Jim.

I’d like to offer my point of view, if I may. I think it is relevant to this thread.

I’m sure it won’t come as a shock at this point, but I’m not entirely sure if tracks are needed.

But you are right, options are needed, and I would like more of them, too.

I think the magnetic timeline, or just the FCPX editing system in general is not complete. It is young, it is not mature. The overall app speed of 10.0.3 has actually gone downhill for me. Processes are much more clunky and I get more beachballs (although, fewer actual crashes).

We need more options in Roles, we need more options in the timeline to leave things where they are (without necessarily implementing a “grid mode”). We need to be able to optionally edit multichannel audio without a compound clip dance, we need the option to be able to use the timeline index to manipulate a mass of sorted clips, we need an optional clip targeting system, we need optional timeline organization (if Roles are supposed to replace tracks, then let us drag a Role in the stacking order we want so the Role that we choose is always on top, for instance). We need options to be able to change the physical size of individual clips, we need the option to break clips apart, but not necessarily attach to the primary, rather to the parent video clip.

FCPX needs more power.

I feel like in this current state, the magnetic timeline, or the FCPX modus operandi/pair of dimes, isn’t fully functional and for that, it is limiting at certain required tasks. I think Apple needs to carry through with their plan. They need to really push this thing out of the nest and take a chance at flight. Give us back the timeline power. With that power, we will have options. I really appreciate the use of text data to control, sort, and manipulate timeline data. I think that this method can be a truly powerful (and dare I say, better) way to work, eventually. The problem is that the power isn’t there, therefore the options aren’t there. I think the easiest thing to want to do is fall back on a familiar pattern, and that would be tracks. We all know how they work and what needs to happen, but are they better? Right now they are in some cases, but does that mean they always will be?

I’m not sure that tracks are necessarily the answer. First of all, it would damn near impossible to simultaneously program the trackless timeline and a track based timeline, or at least I’m not sure if it would be worth the engineering effort. I would say they should pick one, and then make it the best it can be. I would really like to see a magnetic timeline that was fully functional, as it seems rather obvious to me that this method is incomplete, which doesn’t necessarily mean it’s illconceived.

Thanks for writing, Jim.

Jeremy

[Michael Garber]

Excellent post, Jim.

I’ve thought a lot about ol’ Magneticy (as I’ve started calling it) lately. The dividing point for me on all of this is that I am insanely fast at editing in FCP legacy. I didn’t need a new way to edit. But I got one, anyway, so I’m learning it as fast as I can while I’m simultaneously learning Avid and Premiere. (Man am I tired… seriously!)

That said, I had an interesting idea for ol’ Magneticy. I’ve emailed Apple and I’ve mentioned it a few other places. I doubt that we’ll get rid of the magnetic timeline in any soon-to-be releases. But here’s what I speculate might happen: role views. These would be ways to organize roles in virtual lanes.

So imagine a bucket for audio that contains all the VO. It would probably be kind of like angle lanes in the multicam viewer. Let’s say that you have some audio that doesn’t have the correct role on it. Once you drag it into the specified virtual lane, it would automatically get the designation. If you moved it to the music lane, it would change the role to music. Mind you, I see how this could be limiting, as well.

One of my main problems with ol’ Magneticy is that the timeline just looks infuriatingly cluttered. I can’t make immediate sense of what is where when a timeline is zoomed out all the way. Clips collapse so much that you can’t see names of clips or pictures. Secondary storylines make 2nd layer video clips uneven and confusing to look at. It’s really a mess.

One thing that I love to do (I guess for spite!) is to use 7 to X to bring over stuff I’ve edited just to see what it “should” look like in X. Inevitably, it looks totally confusing in the X timeline. I’ve sent Apple a comparison image of an X timeline and a 7 timeline to explain my frustration. This is not meant to sleight Philip Hodgetts. I think he is doing a great job with 7 to X.

In addition, the tracks get so thick that I’m always panning up and down to find something. I hate the clips’ rounded edges in the timeline. It feels like playing with duplo blocks. I guess I’m a Lego man at heart. If they can allow us to break off the windows, then I could have the inspector hover like a HUD in Motion. That would be very helpful.

So, to sum up, there needs to be some sort of role organization. I think we’ve started to see a germ of that in 10.0.3. And maybe, there will eventually be a way to turn off connected clips. Then maybe I’ll start to give ol’ Magneticy a chance on a job.

Michael Garber
5th Wall – a post production company

[Morten Schmidt]

what about the position tool? it seems to disable the magnet!



[Jim Giberti]

[Michael Garber] “If they can allow us to break off the windows, then I could have the inspector hover like a HUD in Motion.”

That’s a great idea, and they can keep the dedicated Inspector panel and just allow for a shortcut call up of a floating HUD a la Motion.

[Michael Garber]

it kind of does. but it doesn’t help when i’m slipping video on the primary storyline with a connected clip on top. that’s one of the things that drives me nuts about ol’ magneticy.

Michael Garber
5th Wall – a post production company