Re: Todays FCP X announcement

[Craig Seeman] "Tracks have been used that way because there was no alternative. Now there is. It used to look like a spreadsheet with rows of clips. Now it looks like a database. "

It's about frame-of-reference. Tracks are the most natural and efficient way to represent multiple concurrent channels of media relative to absolute time. The database functionality doesn't help with this. Labels (roles) exist outside time and space -- they solve a different kind of problem.

There are many workflows and project types that demand multiple, parallel, media channels in absolute time -- multi-track audio recording or multi-channel video to name a couple.

I've said for while and I still believe that FCPX's single Primary Storyline is its biggest conceptual weakness. It's efficient for certain kinds of editing and will hopefully improve; but at its core, it's currently still an embellished single-track system. Sure, you can edit with it, but many editors like myself will find it limiting until it gets much more flexible.

Today's updates are great and I'm curious to see how the timeline evolves. Now if they ever give the ability to create multiple Primaries as needed, things could get really interesting...

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David Lawrence
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