Clip skimming using arrow keys, incorrect timecode.

I've just noticed this behavior:

If I use the mouse to clip skim between two clips I can see the source clip timecode change correctly (it jumps ahead from 36:00 to 37:00) in the timecode viewer.



If I use my left and right arrows to clip skim between two clips, the source clip timecode does not change correctly (it's as if the cut point between to two clips doesn't exist and it is reading the invisible tail of the first clip) in the timecode viewer.




Has anyone else experienced this?

First up, in the Timeline, you only see timeline TC, not source. Second, you're going further with the mouse than with arrows. Go the same distance, at the same SPEED, and you'll see you're doing a 24fps timeline, and after 17:00:36;24 it jumps to 17:00:37;00 because you hit frame 24, and it goes into the next second of TC. Make markers, move your mouse very slowly and watch. Then move with arrow keys between the same markers, you'll see both are the same.

But your GIFs are so fast, I can't tell for sure.

It's a feature... Using the arrow keys when clip skimming allows you to keep skimming the clip handles (like you can in the Precision editor) So, if you use the arrow keys you are effectively looking at the portion of the clip beyond the cut point (head or tail). When you use the mouse it keeps the clip skimmer "on the surface" so to speak. It's a pretty useful feature for me.

Hi Ben,

If I am using the clip skimmer the timecode readout switches to the clip timecode. I'm not reading the timeline timecode.

Also the timeline is 29.97.

Hi Plysat,

This seems counter intuitive to me and more like a bug. Why would I want to see the timecode of frames not existing in the timeline?

What you propose makes sense if I was skimming in the precision editor though.

I am trying to accurately see the timecode of the frames on both sides of the cut in this clip example by clip skimming.

You can see the timecode jump when I use the mouse, but not when I do it with the arrows.

bcassin,
I agree that this is a bug. The clip skimmer should work the same no matter how it is moved. Furthermore, with the current behavior, the timecode shown is not necessarily the timecode of a clip handle, as it behaves the same even if there is no handle at all. The timecode shown in that case may reference frames that do not exist, which is never helpful or correct. So yeah, a bug.

Report it to Apple.

It's actually very useful, as it lets you use an important precision editor function in secondary storylines. If you need to see individual clip TC, just use the mouse.

Ah, I see what you mean, plysat. I see how that could be useful.
Still, I'm not crazy about the implementation. To have the clip skimmer sometimes show the timeline and sometimes show clip handles, without any visual distinction, isn't great. Furthermore, being able to skim past the ends of the clip in this way seems wrong.

I reported it as a bug.

Doesn't make sense to me. Having to skim with the mouse is much less precise, too fluid for what I need, especially under broadcast deadlines.

Having said that, I do appreciate hearing your pov plysat.

bcassin wrote: I reported it as a bug.

Doesn't make sense to me. Having to skim with the mouse is much less precise, too fluid for what I need, especially under broadcast deadlines.

Having said that, I do appreciate hearing your pov plysat.

And I appreciate yours, but I'm telling ya, it's not a bug... I use it all the time, lets say I want to know what frames of the highlighted clip - where I've done J/L cuts - that I used. Without this feature there is no way for me to do that without matching back to it or some other annoying ancient method. You can still use the arrow keys to precisely skim to a cut point, just don't go beyond it...

This is definitely not a bug, It's an important feature that is extremely useful in certain circumstances.

Also, their is a visual distinction of what is being skimmed, whatever you see in the viewer window.

If you need to know the precise timecode of the ends of the clip you are skimming, simply press 'N' to enable snapping,
and then you will see the timecode of the first/last frame of whatever clip end you are skimming over.

Ok, last response.

I appreciate you guys making this bug work for you, but to me it's an oversight of a fcpx paradigm.

The time code window is context aware depending on how you skim, wether it's by mouse or arrows. Or wether it's by skimming the timeline or an individual clip. If the skimming indicator in all instances has the same expected behavior expect one. In this case with the arrows over an edit point. That's a bug.

Let's just wrap this up and just agree to disagree.

I agree this is quite useful to have, and I use it frequently. So, if this really would be a bug, I hope they will never fix it

- Ronny

ronny courtens wrote: I agree this is quite useful to have, and I use it frequently. So, if this really would be a bug, I hope they will never fix it

- Ronny

I have sent a feedback form requesting that they NOT change this.

If there was a visual indicator in the Dashboard to specify which TC you were seeing, that'd fix it.