please help - massive problems and a deadline

ok so i finished an advert i was editing and the client wants sections moved around, problem is when i added transactions in the original edit, it bunched clips together in a black box, and its impossible to separate them unless i delete the transactions and move each clip separately which basically means ill need to re edit the whole thing, i have music on the magnetic time line so thats not the problem its is just connecting clips together and i can't separate them un less i rip the edit apart and loose all my work, i have added a screen shot, any help is welcome thanks

Please repost your screenshot. I cannot see it.

Don't panic! If I get you right you have all the clips you want to move around as connected clips, right?

Try this: select all the clips that you want to move around (use the lasso for this) and hit ALT-G --> this will turn all the selected clip into one 'compound clip' which you can then move around. A double click on the compound clip will open the compound clip itself in case you need to make adjustments. After doing so don't forget to click on the left facing arrow on the left top of your timeline to leave the compound clip and return to your project.

Hope this helps!

thanks, but my problem is, when i have added transitions it has made lots of groups of clips that all have black boxes connecting them, and i cant split the black boxes up without loosing all the transitions. when ever i add a transition it connects all the clips involved into one clip, i have tried that short cut and it doesn't work for what i want to do so say i need to move 1 section and parts of that section are connected to other sections i cant move it at all, unless i delete all the transitions and move the clips separate but thats a night mare, ill try post a screen shot, thanks for the help

Actually, the "black box" is called a secondary storyline.
It works just like the primary storyline, with the same "magnetic" properties. You should just drag your clips around within the storyline.

If this is not what you see or expect, then really the screenshot which you failed to post can help us help you...

Ah, my misunderstanding - I thought of the black boxes as transitions.

Compound-clipping works beyond storyline boundaries afaik, though.

A screenshot would be helpful, Alex. I know fcp.co is a bit tricky with that, keep on trying

This doesn't seem like that big of a challenge. It will require some work on your part. You will obviously need to delete the transitions that are connecting the sections you want to move. Select the section you want to move, but not by lassoing. You can click the first clip you want moved and then shift click the last in the sequence of clips. This will select everything in between including transitions. Right click anywhere in the group of selected clips and select "lift from story line." The clips in the secondary storyline (that you call a black box) will be replaced by a gap clip. The selected clips will be moved into another secondary storyline. You can grab it by the black border on top and move it where you like.

This is one of the reasons I stay away from transitions in spots unless they are integral to the overall presentation and not just "added in" to make things "more interesting". Not judging what the OP has done, just chiming in...

If the music is on the Primary Storyline and the Footage is running as connected clips then the solution is to group ALL the shots into a secondary story line. Then you'll be able to move them around and not have the Storylines moving around.

Select all the connected clips and select COMMAND G.

The other way would be to move the music track out of the Primary and move the clips into it.

Select the music and hit COMMAND OPTION DOWN ARROW.
Hit P on the Keyboard. Select all the clips and holding down the SHIFT key move them all into the Primary Storyline.

If you're not confident duplicate your project first before trying these solutions.

anickt wrote: This is one of the reasons I stay away from transitions in spots unless they are integral to the overall presentation and not just "added in" to make things "more interesting". Not judging what the OP has done, just chiming in...

Just so we're clear, there is no limitation to any kind of transitions or any kind of effects you want to add to any kind of project in FCPX. How exactly is cutting a spot any different from cutting anything else in regard to adding transitions? To actively limit your creative possibilities because of some odd technical deficiency is very odd to me. I agree, in general in the commercials I cut, everything is almost always a hard cut, but this is a creative decision and has nothing to do with the software.

Please post a screenshot as everyone says because it's still unclear to me exactly what the problem is as described.

That's why I said "...unless they are integral to the overall presentation and not just "added in" to make things "more interesting".

I guess I'm jaded after 30 some years but I'll take content over Kiki-wipes any day. LOL!

Ok reading more closely, it just seems that you're having trouble with moving clips around that are in a secondary storyline (which FCPX creates automatically if you join two clips with a transition).

- It's your choice to put music in the primary storyline, but you really should learn to put your music into a secondary storyline and attach it to a gap clip at the head. That way, you can "lock it down" to exactly 30 seconds, and it will never move. Then you'll be able use the primary properly, and it's easier to experiment with things once you pop clips in and out of the primary to move them around without disturbing other parts of your edit (cmd-opt-UP and cmd-opt-DOWN will move a clip up and down from the primary, as someone has noted).

- you can keep some "old versions" of a section of your edit attached in secondary storylines way down in the timeline, and simply move around clips or entire sections of edit as you please. I say keep these, because they will have your transitions in them. You can option-drag a transition to duplicate them any time, so they may serve as a kind of "favorites" for your transitions.

- when you're moving clips around in a secondary or primary, the transitions don't get deleted. They just pop into the next clip. So you're pretty much NOT getting rid of your transitions with their tweaked settings, they just apply between two different clips as you move clips around. This is actually a big advantage of the magnetism if you know what it's doing.

anickt wrote: That's why I said "...unless they are integral to the overall presentation and not just "added in" to make things "more interesting".

I guess I'm jaded after 30 some years but I'll take content over Kiki-wipes any day. LOL!

Yeah, didn't mean to sound snippy, but I'm in agreement with you. Just wanted to clarify that it's not inherently harder to do cause it's a spot.

I'm trying to add a screen shot but its not working

it worked

Select the shelves of the two connected storylines and press Cmd-G to combine them into a single storyline. Select the clips you want to move and move them to where they need to go.