You'll use the Source Viewer primarily for previewing clips when you're in the Timeline view. It's a very simple interface that contains a number of useful tricks including the trimming and insertion of media clips. Once you have assembled your edit and trimmed your clips, you will probably need to trim and insert new material such as images or other media clips. You do this via the Source Viewer, where you can preview a clip, trim it by adjusting mark-in and mark-out points, and insert it into the Timeline via drag and drop or by creating a three-point or four-point edit at the Timeline cursor position. To send a clip to the Source Viewer Do one of the following: - Double-click the media clip inside the Project Browser.
- Right-click the media clip and select Send to Source Viewer.
- Drag the clip from the Project Browser and drop it into the Source Viewer.
- Click the media clip selection menu and select one of the clips from there (Figure 6.45).
Figure 6.45. The media clip selection menu.
The Zoom tool Once you have a clip inside the Source Viewer, you can use the Zoom tool to adjust how big the Timeline indicators are. To use the Zoom tool - Place the mouse cursor over the Zoom tool so that it turns into a magnifying glass; then left-click and drag it to the left to show a higher degree of magnification or to the right to show a decreased level of magnification (Figure 6.46).
Figure 6.46. The Zoom tool in action.
Tip Scrubbing a Media Clip Scrubbing is a term used to describe the timeline cursor being moved manually through each frame rather than being played back. It's primarily used to find an exact position on the Timeline for either placing a special effect or inserting a new clip. Scrubbing can be performed using either the mouse or the keyboard, or more likely, a combination of both. You can scrub the Timeline using any of the following methods: - Hold down the left mouse button and move the mouse to the left or right. If your mouse is equipped with a wheel, you can also use this to step forward or backward one frame at a time.
- Press the left or right arrow to move the timeline cursor one frame at a time. Holding down the arrow key moves the clip forward or backward at speed.
- Use the J, K, and L keys to play the clip back at various speeds. K stops playback; L plays the clip forward a little faster each time it is pressed; and J plays the clip backward a little faster each time it is pressed.
When scrubbing the Timeline, you won't hear any sound. This is the default setting for Liquid Edition; it's set this way to enhance performance during scrubbing. For information on activating audio scrubbing and the restrictions that apply to this, see Chapter 7. |
Trimming a clip in the Source Viewer You can trim dynamically in the Timeline to adjust your clips the quick and dirty way. The more refined method is to use the Source Viewer to trim the clip. Once the clip is in the Source Viewer, your first job is to preview and look for anything that might need to be cut out from the start or the end. In fact, you might decide just to use a few seconds from the middle of the clip. You can do all of this by adding mark-in and mark-out points to the clip. To add a mark-in or mark-out point in the Source Viewer 1. | Once the clip is loaded into the Source Viewer, use the mouse or the arrow keys to look for the best place for your clip to start.
This is called scrubbing and is discussed earlier in this chapter.
| 2. | Once you have found the ideal place to start your clipthe mark-in pointpress the I key or click the Mark-In Point button .
A small Mark-In Point icon has now been added to the Timeline of the Clip Viewer (Figure 6.47).
Figure 6.47. A mark-in point added to the Source Viewer.
| 3. | To select a point where you would like your clip to finishthe mark-out pointscrub though the clip again until you find the optimal point; then press the O key or click the Mark-Out Point button .
A small Mark-Out Point icon has now been added to the Timeline of the Clip Viewer (Figure 6.48).
Figure 6.48. A mark-out point added to the Source Viewer.
| 4. | Use the Zoom tool to reduce the view if you can't see both the mark-in and the mark-out points on the Timeline display.
| 5. | Click the Play from Mark-In to Mark-Out button to play back the clip from the new points you have just defined.
| 6. | If the new mark-in and mark-out points don't suit your needs, you can set different points simply by moving the cursor to a new point and pressing the I or the O key again.
Remember: adding either a mark-in or mark-out point does not physically alter the original clip. It merely tells the program to ignore any material that falls outside these two areas. For a further explication of nonlinear editing, see Chapter 1.
| Tips - Pressing Home or End will take you to the first or last frame of your clip. However, if this is a Subclip, then pressing the Home or End key will take you to the clip-in or clip-out point of the clip.
- When the Source Viewer is selected, it is surrounded by a red border.
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