Fcp Clip Shuffling at DVinfo.net

Ralph Sturgess · January 24th, 2007, 05:39 AM

I want to shuffle some clips around. Is there a way to do this? I want to basically scramble the timeline so that the clips play randomly and out of order. Does anyone know of a feature or a trick to do this?

Shane Ross · January 24th, 2007, 09:40 AM

Nope....gotta do it manually.

One thing you can try is to create a bin, throw your clips into that bin. Assign numbers to the clips randomly IN FRONT of their name (001, 002...012...099, etc) and then highlight them all and drag them into the timeline, or into the canvas and selecting OVERWRITE.

Michael Pulcinella · January 24th, 2007, 09:51 AM

May I ask...WHY do you want to do this? What is the effect you are trying to achieve? I ask this not to question the sanity of what you are doing (ALL editors are by definition somewhat insane!), but in order to determine if there is some other way to get what you are looking for.

Ralph Sturgess · January 24th, 2007, 02:57 PM

I want the clips to move out of order/scramble so that it may inspire me to make different editing desicions I wouldn't normally think of. It's for a montage and there are four plus hours of clips. Can someone throw me a bone?!

Michael Pulcinella · January 24th, 2007, 03:52 PM

That's a legitimate reason for wanting to scramble the clips. Unfortunately, besides closing your eyes and "eenie-meenie-miney-moe"-ing it, I don't know of any automatic randomizing feature in Final Cut (which is what I use).

Michael Pulcinella · January 24th, 2007, 03:57 PM

That's a legitimate reason for wanting to scramble the clips. Unfortunately, besides closing your eyes and "eenie-meenie-miney-moe"-ing it, I don't know of any automatic randomizing feature in Final Cut (which is what I use).

Pete Schwab · January 24th, 2007, 03:59 PM

I would put all the clips in a new bin the browser, open that bin switch it to icon view instad of list view then randomly move the clips around the the bin. if they come out in a relatively descending order, you can select all drag them to the timeline then they will appear in the timeline in that relatively descending order. i'm not sure if that makes sense or even if it's what you were wanting to do - the idea is similar to using icon view to storyboard before refining the edit in the timeline. anyway - sounds like a fun idea. maybe someone should develop a third party plug-in for this...

January 24th, 2007, 05:39 AM	#1
Ralph Sturgess Regular Crew Join Date: May 2006 Location: Michigan Posts: 35	Fcp Clip Shuffling I want to shuffle some clips around. Is there a way to do this? I want to basically scramble the timeline so that the clips play randomly and out of order. Does anyone know of a feature or a trick to do this?

January 24th, 2007, 09:40 AM	#2
Shane Ross Major Player Join Date: Apr 2004 Location: Los Angeles, USA Posts: 539	Nope....gotta do it manually. One thing you can try is to create a bin, throw your clips into that bin. Assign numbers to the clips randomly IN FRONT of their name (001, 002...012...099, etc) and then highlight them all and drag them into the timeline, or into the canvas and selecting OVERWRITE.

January 24th, 2007, 09:51 AM	#3
Michael Pulcinella Major Player Join Date: Oct 2006 Location: Ridley Park, PA, USA Posts: 269	May I ask...WHY do you want to do this? What is the effect you are trying to achieve? I ask this not to question the sanity of what you are doing (ALL editors are by definition somewhat insane!), but in order to determine if there is some other way to get what you are looking for.

January 24th, 2007, 02:57 PM	#4
Ralph Sturgess Regular Crew Join Date: May 2006 Location: Michigan Posts: 35	I want the clips to move out of order/scramble so that it may inspire me to make different editing desicions I wouldn't normally think of. It's for a montage and there are four plus hours of clips. Can someone throw me a bone?!

January 24th, 2007, 03:52 PM	#5
Michael Pulcinella Major Player Join Date: Oct 2006 Location: Ridley Park, PA, USA Posts: 269	That's a legitimate reason for wanting to scramble the clips. Unfortunately, besides closing your eyes and "eenie-meenie-miney-moe"-ing it, I don't know of any automatic randomizing feature in Final Cut (which is what I use).

January 24th, 2007, 03:57 PM	#6
Michael Pulcinella Major Player Join Date: Oct 2006 Location: Ridley Park, PA, USA Posts: 269	That's a legitimate reason for wanting to scramble the clips. Unfortunately, besides closing your eyes and "eenie-meenie-miney-moe"-ing it, I don't know of any automatic randomizing feature in Final Cut (which is what I use).

January 24th, 2007, 03:59 PM	#7
Pete Schwab New Boot Join Date: Jan 2007 Location: Austin, TX Posts: 18	I would put all the clips in a new bin the browser, open that bin switch it to icon view instad of list view then randomly move the clips around the the bin. if they come out in a relatively descending order, you can select all drag them to the timeline then they will appear in the timeline in that relatively descending order. i'm not sure if that makes sense or even if it's what you were wanting to do - the idea is similar to using icon view to storyboard before refining the edit in the timeline. anyway - sounds like a fun idea. maybe someone should develop a third party plug-in for this...