Linear to non-linear confusion...

Hi there gurus
I cut my teeth in the film and early linear worlds of editing and I still don't make many decisions without a storyboard, an EDL or a damn good reason. Therefore, I plan extensively before beginning the edit process and I usually don't add anything after the fact which would substantively change my timeline....however, in a current documentary I receved late clearance to use an interview with a historian of some note...
and, I have this thing pretty well buttoned up... I have a spot in which the 1:36;00 interview will work but I have a fear that placing this will jostle all of my tracks way out of wack...Is there a method to put this in and have ALL of the subsequent V's and A's move in sync down the timeline? Yes, I understand that the entire piece will be 1:36;00 longer but I have many hours in the music, title and b-roll tracks with transitions.
Any chance here? If so, what is the workflow?
Thanks



FE Meek

A basic splice will push all your tracks down the timeline. Is the interview cut in a separate sequence or does it appear as just a clip?

If a clip, then mark in and out in the viewer and hit F9 to splice it in the timeline. everything to the right of the place you are putting this will slide on down the line no matter how many tracks you have of video or audio.

If edited into a separate sequence from your master sequence, then simply drag that sequence from the browser into the timeline making sure that the drag and drop cursor arrow is pointed towards the right instead of pointing down. This is accomplished by ensuring that you don't drag your sequence below the line that runs horizontally through the top 1/3 of every track.

However, this is possibly one of the most basic functions of an NLE, so I wonder if I'm understanding you correctly. If not, please explain further and I'll try to help more.

Andy

Andy,
Thanks for the tips...and yes, I realize that this is NLE 101 but while I've finished many projects, some of enormous complexity, I always fear what seems obvious to those of you who are driven by others' whims, desires and inexplicable notions to make changes and additions quickly and accurately. I am not so driven and spend much time planning...as I had to do in the film and linear world.
I took a lengthy break from this and returned to a more powerful and, for me in some ways, enigmatic form of "formless" editing. In some moments I just cannot believe the strength and mobility of these systems.
Anyway, thanks again.



FE Meek

No prob. I just wanted to make sure I wasn't reading you wrong. I learned on linear deck to deck machines and Moviola flatbeds myself. I completely understand where you're coming from. Maybe it'd help to think of splicing in the context of film splicing. That is, after all in FCP, it's digital origin.

Andy

I'm an old timer too but after years of linear editing I also started on Avid in 1990.

Nothing wrong with being overly cautious. Duplicate your sequence and then do the edit. This way you have something to get back to easily if an "oops" (operator errors) happens.

Glad I don't have to deal with color framing! Don't even talk about banding and adjusting the heads on a Quad machine!



Craig Seeman
[thirdplanetvideo.com]

Maybe it's semantics, but you don't need to "duplicate" your sequence, just duplicate the project file. All the info about the sequence is there! Do the "test" insert onto the duplicated project for safety sake, first.

Here is another approach.

Start a new sequence. Use your current version as a source, mark in at the beginning, and out where the new interview goes. Splice that to the new sequence. Add your most recent clip. Then put the rest of your old sequence in.

It really doesn't matter how you approach this as long as you have duplicated your existing master sequence. No matter how bad you f up the dupe, the original is there to save you, and give you the confidence to make the changes.

-V