[David Lawrence]

The magnetic timeline is the biggest UI FAIL I’ve ever encountered.

Want to try something fun? Drop a clip on the timeline. Use the Position tool to move it – let’s say 10 seconds on the timeline. Because maybe, just maybe, you want 10 seconds of black at the head of your show. Done that? Good. Now let’s say you want to put a 1-second fade-up from black at the head of your clip. Click on the head of the clip and type command-T on the keyboard. Watch what happens. Can anyone explain WTF the thinking is here? Totally wrong behavior. Total UI FAIL.

I swear, the more things I try FCPX the more it pisses me off.

[David Lawrence]

Wow, that video was brilliant. Sounds like someone’s getting a little hot under the collar.

[David Lawrence]

I haven’t tested this yet but a colleague tells me it’s even worse than that. He says that if you modify an asset – an animation or graphic, for example – the link breaks and there’s no way to re-link it. Even if it has the same file name and duration. He’s an animator and does this all the time. I do this constantly with graphics. Need to test but unbelievable if true!

[David Lawrence]

Spot on, Aindreas.

The magnetic timeline is a UI disaster and completely undermines the very foundation of the editing process. There’s a reason the timeline/track metaphor has been used for decades since the invention of NLE systems. It works because at a fundamental level, it really can’t get any simpler. Time is linear and fixed, media are objects that get placed in time to create linear experience. When we edit, we demand absolute control of every event on the timeline. Could it be improved? Of course. But don’t destroy the very heart of non-linear editing to add those improvements. Working with the magnetic timeline is like trying to build a house on a bed of quicksand instead of steel and concrete.