unlinking connected clips FCPX

[Oliver Peters]

You cannot delete a connection point. You have move it or allow other changes without it staying linked to that clip at that location (the tilde key). But all clips have to have a connecting point since there are no tracks.

– Oliver

Oliver Peters Post Production Services, LLC
Orlando, FL
http://www.oliverpeters.com

[Jeff Kirkland]

Any clip or secondary storyline not on the primary storyline has to be connected to a clip that is on the primary storyline. You can’t have unconnected clips – but you can move that connection by moving the playhead to the point you want the new connection then CMD-OPT clicking on the connected clip. If the connection is from a secondary storyline, you need to click on the storyline shelf (the grey bar at the top of that storyline).

You can also temporarily disable the connection by holding down the tilde (~) key. For example ~ DEL will delete a clip from the primary storyline without deleting the clips connected to it.

—-
Jeff Kirkland | Video Producer & Cinematographer
Hobart, Tasmania | Twitter: @jeffkirkland

[Noah Kadner]

Yup- FCPX is one ‘track’ to rule them all. Any clips outside of the primary storyline must connect to it, they cannot be left independent. (This pays great benefits once you master this concept).

Noah

FCPWORKS – FCPX Workflow
FCP Exchange – FCPX Workshops
XinTwo – FCPX Training

[Robert Withers]

Thanks for your thoughts, Noah. What are some of the “great benefits” of not being able to move clips around independently of the “primary storyline?”
I’ve heard that a workaround to the absence of tracks (way to cheat the system) is to create some kind of a dark or null clip as the primary storyline and link all other clips to that. Is that true?
Looking for a way out of the Adobe rental model . . .
Cheers,
Robert

Robert Withers

Independent/personal/avant-garde cinema, New York City

[Jeff Kirkland]

There’s nothing to stop you moving connected clips independently of the primary storyline, just as it’s possible to move clips on the primary storyline independently of the connected clips by holding down the tilde key.

Trying to emulate tracks in FCPX is a sure-fire road to frustration. It’s just not the way it works. It will slow you down and lead you to any number of awkward editing dead-ends. Many have tried but all have either moved on to another NLE wondering what’s so great about FCPX or have finally grasped the whole magnetic timeline concept and wonder how they could have edited in anything else.

Once you embrace the core concept – that every edit has a primary story, either video or audio, and that everything else is just A/V b-roll anchored to points along that storyline – then you will find it increasingly difficult to go back to the limitations of a track based NLE.

—-
Jeff Kirkland | Video Producer & Cinematographer
Hobart, Tasmania | Twitter: @jeffkirkland

[Oliver Peters]

Roger,

Don’t take offense, but it seems like some basic training would be in order. To start, check out the free Ripple Training tutorials. Beyond that check out Bill Davis’ XinTwo and the paid Ripple tutorials. There are plenty of others out there, too.

https://www.xintwo.com

https://www.rippletraining.com

– Oliver

Oliver Peters Post Production Services, LLC
Orlando, FL
http://www.oliverpeters.com

[Joe Heslin]

I was having the same problem.
Everything was just about right, but I needed to move a separate audio clip over just a hair.
Since in was connected, I couldn’t get it to move.

I found (quite by accident) that I could lift the clip above the storyline, and drop it. It would then drop back in where it was, but in the new position I had dropped it at.

I used the playhead for reference when dropping (repositioning the clip.

Hope this works for someone else.

[Mark Smith]

Lets say you have your audio, video clip connected at a point to the main story line and the clip connection point is somewhere amidships the audio or video clip, so not at either the start frame or end frame, but some place in the middle. If you need to adjust the position- timing of that clip in the time line by a little- fine tuning its postion, you can highlight the clip and drag it into the new position or if it just needs a tweak you can select the clip and use either the comma or period keys to shift right or left a frame at a time, or use the the shift modifier and comma, period to jump the clip 10 frames at a time. You can’t shift forward or back past the connection point. I find this method a quick way to make those fine adjustments.

[Joe Heslin]

Thanks Mark. Good to know.

I didn’t just make up what I wrote, it works.

[Mark Smith]

I understand that you din’t Make up your method and if that works for you then all the better. I tend to use the keyboard more so the .&, key method is the way I make small adjustments to clip position and just thought I would point that out.