Re: Editing scenario

Phillip Hodgetts is obviously a really smart guy. Definitely smarter than me when it comes to programming. I mean, he's the guy who figured out how to do the One Big Thing Apple said was impossible so he clearly knows his stuff.

But even though it's been a while, I used to program at a pretty deep level so I understand this stuff too. And frankly, his arguments sound like a load of BS to me.

[Phillip Hodgetts] "From the programming point of view you’d have to create a third category to go with “Favorite” and “Keyword Range” that would be “Persistent I/O” points. How do they relate to the other two? Are you prepared for a complete rebuild of the database structure to accommodate it?"

So what? Create another column in the database. Call it Foo. BFD. Seriously, if something this simple requires a complete restructure of the database, then the database design is seriously messed up. Any new feature impacts the database. This is trivial.

Want to talk about something deep? Let's discuss project bloat and compound clips. Still completely unchanged after almost a year. Why? This is the kind of database stuff I'd be really worried about.

[Phillip Hodgetts]"What happens when a Favorite and I/O range coincide (there’s an existing bug related to two keyword ranges covering exactly the same frames losing notes, for example)."

I described it here, but I'll write it again so people don't have to look:

It's not freaking rocket science!

[David Lawrence] "Just look at what happens to a range on the timeline when you click in the event browser. It remains but grays out. Just do the exact same thing for clips in the event browser. Gray out ranges for all clips except the one in focus. The clip in focus is the one that get edited into the timeline. Problem solved. You're welcome."

[Phillip Hodgetts] "...Does FCP X edit the keyword range to the Project, or the In/Out range? Or some intersection of the two? When does I/O take precedence over a Favorite or keyword range? It becomes an incredibly complex matrix of when one takes priority and in an app, from a company where the main focus is “simplify”, that would be anathema."

It edits the range that's currently in focus. Why is this so difficult to understand?

What happens if you select a favorite? OK, now drag the handles and change the start and end. OMG!!! What takes precedence now??? It's the Exact. Same. Thing.

[Phillip Hodgetts] "In my opinion it’s a throwback thought for people who haven’t yet made the mental transition to FCP X"

In my opinion, this attitude says more about why Hodgetts thinks it can't be done than anything else. But hey, what do I know?

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David Lawrence
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