Zooming & Scrolling keyboard shortcut issues with the timeline

Question

Zooming & Scrolling keyboard shortcut issues with the timeline

Two things bug me about FCP 6.0.5 timeline when I'm editing.

1. If I use the keyboard shortcut to zoom in on a clip, the timeline doesn't follow where the current time indicator is and instead just zooms in at some other location, which is a real pain.

2. Scrolling horizontally usinig the keyboard; I can't find a way to do this. Instead I have to use the mouse bringing it to near bottom of the screen which usually triggers the Apple OSX icon bar "thingy". So is there any way to use a keyboard shortcut or re-program the scrolly wheel to scroll horizontally insted of vertically in the timeline?

Thx

Kevin

Mac Pro, Mac OS X (10.5.6), 9GB RAM

Posted on Jan 13, 2009 8:06 AM

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Answer 1

Jan 13, 2009 8:44 AM in response to PersonalMovies

Timeline will zoom in (Command +) to playhead position unless you have a clip or edit point selected in the timeline. It will then zoom in to that point

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Answer 2

Jan 13, 2009 8:53 AM in response to Neil Sinclair

What I'm usually doing is parking the time marker somewhere near-by then usally selecting the editpoint betweeen two clips and wanting to zoom in on that and FCP is zooming in on the time marker and not where I have selected! Which is equally annyoing. So looks like I have to select the clip first, zooom in then slect the edit point between the clips. Be good if FCP would zoom in on where you are currently selected or give a keyboard shortcut for doing it.

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Answer 3

Jan 13, 2009 9:02 AM in response to PersonalMovies

Try using the Zoom tool instead. Select Z and click and drag around you area of interest in the timeline.
You might find this much quicker when 'homing in' on a particular part of the timeline.

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Answer 4

Jan 13, 2009 9:17 AM in response to Neil Sinclair

Yea I know I can use the zoom tool but I'm doing this all day long so I want fast access to zooming not having to keep switching tools.

Must confess nearly every other Video Editor programme I have used doesn't have this issue.

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Answer 5

Libor

Level 1

1 points

Jan 13, 2009 9:29 AM in response to PersonalMovies

I am scrollink - shift and scrolling wheel.
Cursor must be on timeline.

Libor

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Answer 6

Zebulun

Level 5

6,749 points

Jan 13, 2009 9:33 AM in response to PersonalMovies

Are you using FCP 6? If so, you should really look around the forum or do a search as this exact zooming topic just came up in the last day or two. Our Shane Ross explains, once again, how to do this. And read the Release Notes as there's a function within FCP that zooms how you want it to. You'll have to remap your keyboard shortcuts which ain't no big deal. http://www.apple.com/support/releasenotes/en/FinalCut_Pro_6.0rn/

If you're using FCP 5, you're outta luck.

Also, your os allows for your scrolling behavior, try pressing shift will using the scroll wheel.

Yeah, I'm a bit grumpy today, don't take it personally, I probably need a forum vacation......

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Answer 7

Jan 13, 2009 10:00 AM in response to Zebulun

I just remap the "G" and "H" keys to "zoom out" and "zoom in" respectively. A fast way to zoom in and out of my current playhead position.

Then use Shift-Z to fit the whole sequence onto the screen when I want an overview.

And, as someone already said, if you're using a standard scroll wheel press shift while scrolling and you'll go left and right on the timeline. Or get a mighty mouse which lets you scroll in four directions.

Finally when it comes to accidentally activating the dock at the bottom of the screen. Its a good idea to have your dock always visible when using FCP. That way, when you Ctrl-U to go to standard window layout, it will take the dock into account and it wont overlap. If it's hidden, FCP won't take it into account and you'll be constantly activating it when trying to use the tools at the bottom of the screen.

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Answer 8

Jan 13, 2009 10:55 AM in response to Travattack

Hey thanks everyone, that's all very helpful but I couldn't get the scrolly wheel on my mighty mouse to scroll the timeline horizontally while holding down SHIFT. Does this need to be set up somehow?

I did find the new Zoom functions in 6.02 and mapped them to some keyboard shortcuts. God they don't half hide this stuff away, so here is a copy from the 6.02 release notes for everyone else to use

New Playhead-Centered Zooming Commands in the Timeline
Final Cut Pro 6.0.2 includes three commands for playhead-centered zooming and navigation in the Timeline:

Zoom In on Playhead in Timeline: Keeps the Timeline playhead centered while zooming in (regardless of the selection in the Timeline).

Zoom Out on Playhead in Timeline: Keeps the Timeline playhead centered while zooming out (regardless of the selection in the Timeline).

Scroll to Playhead: Horizontally scrolls the Timeline so that the playhead is centered in the window.

These commands can be mapped to keyboard shortcuts using the Keyboard Layout window (choose Tools > Keyboard Layout > Customize).

Message was edited by: PersonalMovies

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Answer 9

Jan 13, 2009 11:16 AM in response to PersonalMovies

Scroll wheel on the mighty mouse should work without any settings adjustment. You just need to have the timeline window active.

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Answer 10

Jan 13, 2009 11:49 AM in response to J S Langham

Yes of course, it still only scrolls vertically!

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