keyfrarming w generated media & text quest

fultro wrote on 3/31/2006, 7:25 AM
allright I admit I have seen some info here before but can't seem to find it now and I have to do a lot of keyframing using color gradient and text effects . I am finding it maddening that the TL does not lock up with the text or color gradient editors the way other effects do -- so does anyone have any suggestions for how to efficiently keyframe text and color gradient movements when you have to precisely place effects on the timeline ?

Many thanks - fultro

Comments

JackW wrote on 3/31/2006, 9:21 AM
I'm not sure what you're trying to accomplish, but won't the "Sync Cursor" button in the lower left corner of the FX window do this for you?

Jack
Grazie wrote on 3/31/2006, 9:35 AM
No, Jack, not in the menus we are speaking of. The FX windows yes, not in GenMeds and Text. Been asked for countless times . . but ,, there yah goes . .

Some chestnuts are older than others . .

Grazie
Grazie wrote on 3/31/2006, 9:37 AM


Here yah goes Jack . .this from 2004 . . it is much before this too:

http://www.sonymediasoftware.com/forums/ShowMessage.asp?ForumID=4&MessageID=271680
fultro wrote on 3/31/2006, 10:21 AM
Grazi Grazie

thanks for the reply - so I am assuming that I am not alone facing this issue and there is no workaround other than what I am doing now - which is cutting/pasting times from the time window ( lower right ) - from TL to Effects window
Grazie wrote on 3/31/2006, 11:28 AM
As they say in the States - I believe - "You got it Pal!" . . were it other. . . were it different . . . hey ho!
fultro wrote on 3/31/2006, 12:53 PM
allright - so here we have an otherwise sophisticated video editor that will do this very task in other effects windows but for some reason will not do it in these windows - even though the "Sync to TL" button is there in all its greyed out glory ????
I just have to wonder if there is not some major reason for this that perhaps I need to know about for editing purposes

otherwise I would say to Sony - you got this Pal ? or would that be Secam ?
jetdv wrote on 3/31/2006, 1:13 PM
Official Reason
Grazie wrote on 3/31/2006, 1:22 PM
Yeah, it WAS that early too - 2002! - g
fultro wrote on 3/31/2006, 2:12 PM
OFFICIAL REASON:
"Sync to timeline is grayed out for generated media because the media might be used in muliple events, which might use time stretching or velocity envelopes. It's not always a one-to-one mapping, so sync is always grayed out."

1) why doesn't this apply to other efffects

2) is whatever this is trying to describe so much worse than what i am dealing with now trying to do simple tasks with a text editor?

2) considering how useful it would be to have Sync to Cursor in those many occasions when the "official Reason" doesn't apply - I would hope for an option to toggle it - say in Prefs
GGman wrote on 3/31/2006, 2:53 PM
fultro,

Example- place a text event in a track above a video event. Make the text event the same length as the video event. You can change it later after you add the text keyframes. Double click the text event to make a loop region (which is the same as the video event below it). You now can use the Duration window display to find exact placement for keyframes in the text event. The Duration window is just above the Video Preview on the far right. There are Start, End and Length (Duration) display windows.

On the main timeline, drag the small yellow triangle handle at the top right of the loop selection to the left in time to where you want a keyframe to be added in the media generated timeline. Suppose it now shows 2:05 in Duration display. Open the Text Media window and drag it's timeline cursor to 2:05 which shows in a dispaly at the the lower right corner of that window. Press the + icon to add a keyframe and adjust it as needed.

You should get the idea by now. The events for both video and the text start at 0:00:00 and the durations are shown form the actual cursor positions in the main timeline and the text window timeline. You can drag the edges of the text event on the main timline when you are done to change its start and end times if needed. But you lose the original reference if you change the start time because they both won't start at 0:00:00 like when we started. The keyframes will remain where you wanted them if you don't reposition the text event. Too bad we can't have auto sync, but this works for precise manual positioning of keyframes in generated media events.

GG

Grazie wrote on 3/31/2006, 3:26 PM
Neat GG!

Another way, have the GenMed up at the start of the timeline. Copy and paste the T/L Cursor position from the T/L into the Cursor postion in the Text Genie. Hit enter and your MedGen Cursor will move to that position. Now add a K/F. Done!

Grazie
Grazie wrote on 3/31/2006, 3:42 PM
PLUS, now we have nested timelines I could have 20 odd veggies with 20 bits of GenMEds that I've worked on - all starting at ZERO and all I need to do is then place them within the "assembly" veg .. that would do it! If I didn't like the way things were panning out all I would do then would be to open THAT nested event "Edit Nested Veg" and bingo, time to re-edit SAVE > back to assmbly veg - DONE!

Thanks GG you got me thinking. Been playing with this today and using Markers and what not!

Grazie
GGman wrote on 3/31/2006, 3:55 PM
u r welcome :-)

GG
johnmeyer wrote on 3/31/2006, 5:02 PM
You may be able to do what you want via the Wax plugin.