Drag and Drop

The drag-n-drop interface is prevalent to the overall look and feel of Compose section. Working in connection with the 3 main interface components and contextual menus, drag-n-drop is applied for delivering a wide range of tasks of both timeline editing (TE) and scene composition (SC). So before we get into the detail of individual compose functions, it is appropriate to have a run-down of all drag-n-drop operations. Specifically, we use drag-n-drop method to perform the following tasks:

Drag-n-drop movie clip from asset bin to Preview window for previewing individual clip (TE).

Drag-n-drop movie clip from asset bin into timeline for timeline editing (TE).

Note 1: You can drag-n-drop a clip to ANY spot in the timeline by butting it to either end of filmstrip to cause the timeline to scroll to the desired direction. The scroll is unrestrictive so long as you don't release your mouse button, thus you can search for 'any' position in the timeline for the 'drop' of your clip.

Note 2: If there is a scene already in the frame you want to drop your clip to, the drop-in clip will replace the existing scene.

Drag-n-drop scene(s) within timeline space to arrange or reshuffle scene order (TE and SC).

Note 1: You can drag-n-drop a scene or a selection of scenes to ANY spot in the timeline by butting it to either end of filmstrip to cause the timeline to scroll to the desired direction. The scroll is unrestrictive so long as you don't release your mouse button, thus you can search for 'any' position in the timeline for your scene 'drop'.

Note 2: If there is a scene already in the frame you want to drop your scene to, the drop-in scene will replace the existing one. If the drop-in is a selection of multiple scenes, the number of existing scenes to be replaced will be equal to the drop-in selection starting from the dropped-in frame.

Drag-n-drop clip or scene from Preview window to timeline strip to add scene to a movie (TE).

Drag-n-drop scene from timeline strip to Preview window or to Compose window for scene previewing and/or scene composition (TE and SC).

Note: Please be aware of that in SC mode the new dropped-in scene will replace the current scene on stage. So if you want to preserve your current on-stage composition, make sure you record it first BEFORE you dragging in a new scene. Otherwise your current composition will be lost.

Drag the thumbwheel buttons left or right to scroll the Timeline in either direction (TE and SC).

Drag-n-drop composition objects from asset bin onto Compose stage for scene composition (SC).

Drag an on-stage object to adjust its screen position (SC).

Drag the size button of an object in and out to adjust its size (SC).

Drag the alpha slider of an object left or right to adjust its alpha state (SC).

Drag the in and out marks of an object to adjust its on-screen duration (SC).

Drag the frame slider along the frame track to navigate or preview a scene in real time (SC).