Re: macbook air and fcpx- the new portable edit suite

[David Lawrence] "This sounds completely unusable to me."

Ok, maybe it was one step too far. Let's let time be a constant on the timeline and maybe the index can be sorted out of chronological order (to be able to select clips of all of the same parameter easily, for one example).

You don't see any use for a role based vertically sortable timeline? Meaning for any given primary storyline clips and everything connected to it, if you want your audio to always stack as dialogue, then effects, then music? I can think of some really practical reasons, especially when there's no tracks.

Also, if you sort layers vertically for organization that don't necessarily correspond to composite order, the clues are in the timeline. Compound clips, secondary storylines and primary storyline already have visual indicators of what they are. I would think anyone who understood FCPX could look at the timeline and get it.

[David Lawrence] "How would editors be able to share projects and have any idea what they're looking at?"

You could sort it back to "normal". It's a sort, non destructive.