Timeline Strip

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General

The filmstrip like Timeline that you see across Compose, Play, Save, and Gallery sections is the central metaphor of Comixware. It links 4 functions (editing, viewing, archiving, and community) in one unified visual representation. That is: you edit your movie in the timeline (Compose section), you play your movie back form the timeline (Play section), you save a copy of your movie from (or retrieve it to) the timeline (Save section), and you also exchange works with other users using the same timeline (Gallery section). The timeline is both a containing medium and a delivery vehicle for all your assets and editorial creation.

Except a few minor variations, the general control and navigation of the timeline work identically in all 4 sections (Compose, Play, Save, and Gallery), so that user can move between, and interact with different functions and features effortlessly. Note that all Timeline Editing (TE) functions are available to all 4 sections at all time. That means without the need of switching back and forth, you can perform all TE tasks (drag-n-dropping, cutting, copying, pasting, inserting and removing scenes) right on the spot, from anywhere. Also note that the "state" of Timline stays constant throughout all 4 sections. The scene you double click in Play section is where you are landed on Compose stage (SC mode).

Since the metaphor and function of Timeline spread across Comixware, it's difficult to divide its features and controls into sectional descriptions. We shall cover the chunk of Timeline's 'editing' functions in the Compose chapter of this manual, and leave most of its 'playback' functions to be discussed in the Play chapter.

We shall start off with general topics such as Timeline informatics, navigation controls and scene selection first. Then we will continue into the main editing features of the Timeline: copy-n-paste and insert editing.