Adding Markers

Adding markers to a clip allows you to have visual clues as to when a specific event is going to occur. This is important because when a clip is added to the Timeline, only the start frame and end frame (the heads and tails) are displayed. The rest of the clip is one long piece of blue. The Film Strip mode found in Adobe Premiere is unfortunately not an option in Liquid Edition.

Tips

• Markers can be added to any media (audio, image, or video). Adding markers to the tempothe rhythm of a tuneis a good example of why markers are used. But you can also use them to mark key sections of a Sequence to which you want to attach buttons during DVD authoring. See Chapter 12 for more on this.

• Markers are also visible in all of the FX editors, including Timewarp.

To set a marker

1.

With a clip open in the Source Viewer, scrub through until you see a place where you want to add a marker.

2.

Hit the M key on the keyboard and a small gray triangle appears on the Source Viewer's Timeline. When the cursor is on this point, a triangle also appears in the top center of the Source Viewer (Figure 6.64). Figure 6.64. A marker added just as the car door was closing. In this example, a marker has been added to indicate when the car door is about to close. You could then use this marker later to add the sound effect of a door closing. Preparation like this can save you time when you're editing long, complex Timelines.

Tips

• Extra buttons, such as Go to Next Event and Open Marker list, need to be added to the toolbars (Timeline, Source, and Clip Viewers) in order to fully exploit the full functionality of Markers. See the "Tool Buttons That Should Be Added…" sidebar that appears in this chapter for details. Also, see Chapter 1 to learn how to add a button to an interface.

• Markers can be added using the Clip Viewer. They can also be added directly to the Timeline, which helps you mark out possible DVD chapter points.

To navigate the markers in a clip

Do one of the following:

• Use the Go to Next Event buttons.
  
  
• Use the Open Marker List button to open the makers list, and double-click the marker you want (Figure 6.65).
  
  

  Figure 6.65. Open Marker List button displaying all the Source Viewer markers.

  

  
  

Tip

• The Open Marker list does not appear on the toolbars by default. See Tip on previous page.

To rename a marker

Do one of the following:

• Double-click the marker and a small dialog box will open into which you can enter your text (Figure 6.66).
  
  

  Figure 6.66. Directly naming a marker.

  

  
  
• Click the Open Marker List button and then right-click and select Rename (Figure 6.67).
  
  

  Figure 6.67. Naming a marker via the Open Marker list.

  

  
  

To delete a marker

1.	Open the list of markers using the Open Marker List button.
2.	Highlight the marker(s) you want to delete.
3.	Right-click any of the highlighted markers and then select Clear Selected Markers or Clear All Markers (Figure 6.68). Figure 6.68. Deleting a marker via the Open Marker list.

To move a marker

• Hold down the Alt key and place the mouse cursor over the marker. The cursor turns into a crosshair pointer and you can drag this marker to its new position by holding down the left mouse button. This works only in the Master and the Source Window.