where is my canvas window? at DVinfo.net

Gary Chavez · April 16th, 2003, 09:11 AM

i hate to be om here every day with such dumb questions but you guys are really helpful. todays problem: edited my finshed piece in timeline, used print to video to dub to beta. came in this morning and opened my project and only the viewer window and clips appear. no timeline. where is it?
thanks again.

Jeff Donald · April 16th, 2003, 11:08 AM

Hi Gary,

Open up FCP, go across the menu bar at the top>window>check mark next to what you want open, close FCP and it will be fine the next time you start up FCP.

Gary Chavez · April 16th, 2003, 12:01 PM

hey Jeff, thanks for the responce, except that canvas window not highlighted. cant check it.

Jeff Donald · April 16th, 2003, 12:23 PM

Open up the browser and double click on the sequence, Canvas should open. If not, do steps above.

Gary Chavez · April 16th, 2003, 12:28 PM

it works as you describe except for the specific project that i want to work on. does using Print to Video see that function as some kind of terminal use of the timeline and dump it or hide it somewhere?

Jeff Donald · April 16th, 2003, 12:47 PM

Print to video takes over the timeline and gives you a start/stop button. A pop window says something to the effect of start recording with your camera/VTR and press the start button. Sorry, I'm not at my editing computer and FCP isn't on my laptop.

Gary Chavez · April 16th, 2003, 12:58 PM

Jeff
thanks for trying, im just gonna re-edit my piece, clips are all still there. hey, im one of the "regular crew" now. maybe one soon i can contribute!

Duane Martin · April 18th, 2003, 12:37 PM

This is not an uncommon occurance, but can be quite startling when first experienced. By the symptoms described it would seem Gary did not have a sequence open in the FCP project he started in the morning.

Because the Canvas window shows you the frame where your playhead is in your timeline, if you do not have an open sequence, neither your Canvas or your timeline will appear (there is no frame to show, as there is no sequence in the timeline for the playhead to be parked over). Gary tells us that when he went to Window in the top menu, Canvas was greyed out. I am willing to bet he would have seen that Timeline was greyed out as well.

Give it a try. Open a project with sequences open in the timeline. Now right click (control click) on each sequence tab in the timeline and choose "Close Tab". Do this with all the sequence tabs, and when you close the last tab, your Canvas window and your Timeline window will disappear. Go to the Window menu and you will see that both the Canvas and Timeline options are grey. Now, in your browser, double click on a sequence and both the Timeline and Canvas windows will come back up again. If you go to Window in the menu bar, you will see that both of these are selectable again.

Further, simply close either of these windows without closing the open sequences. When you go back to the Window menu you will see the window you closed has no check mark beside it. Select it, and the window reappears. You will also note that each window has a quick key combination to open and close it. Each quick key can also be used to bring a window to the front for working in. If you are setting motion properties in the viewer and want to copy attributes from one clip to the other in the timeline, learning these quick keys can save a number of mouse moves. Of course, the "Q" key will also toggle you between the Viewer and Canvas, which can be a real time saver.

Sorry about the long explanation, but as a FCP trainer, it is simply habit to cover questions thoroughly.

Gary Chavez · April 18th, 2003, 03:13 PM

benn out shooting past 2 days, thanks much for the detailed reply. i will do as you suggest.

Ignacio Rodriguez · February 8th, 2004, 02:29 PM

Hi Gary... the same thing you discribe has just happened to me.... how did you fix it? I even tried reinstalling FCP and the timeline window is nowhere to be found :S

Jeff Donald · February 8th, 2004, 02:56 PM

Did you do as Duanne and I suggested? If you still can't find your canvas window, trash FCP preferences and restart. Re-installing doesn't always give you a new preferences file. Do a search and you'll find my instructions for deleting FCP preferences.

Ignacio Rodriguez · February 8th, 2004, 03:28 PM

I trashed two pref files and nothing changed. It is very strange...

Jeff Donald · February 8th, 2004, 04:51 PM

There are 3 preferences files that need to be deleted. Directions are here. Follow those directions and post back. If that doesn't work I'll need the information I asked in my prior post.

Ignacio Rodriguez · February 9th, 2004, 09:20 PM

Thank You Jeff... it worked. Love this place.

April 16th, 2003, 09:11 AM	#1
Gary Chavez Major Player Join Date: Mar 2003 Location: San Antonio Posts: 355	where is my canvas window? i hate to be om here every day with such dumb questions but you guys are really helpful. todays problem: edited my finshed piece in timeline, used print to video to dub to beta. came in this morning and opened my project and only the viewer window and clips appear. no timeline. where is it? thanks again.

April 16th, 2003, 11:08 AM	#2
Jeff Donald Warden Join Date: Mar 2002 Location: Clearwater, FL Posts: 8,287	Hi Gary, Open up FCP, go across the menu bar at the top>window>check mark next to what you want open, close FCP and it will be fine the next time you start up FCP. __________________ Jeff Donald Carpe Diem Search DVinfo.net for quick answers \| Where to Buy? From the best in the business: DVinfo.net sponsors

April 16th, 2003, 12:23 PM	#4
Jeff Donald Warden Join Date: Mar 2002 Location: Clearwater, FL Posts: 8,287	Open up the browser and double click on the sequence, Canvas should open. If not, do steps above. __________________ Jeff Donald Carpe Diem Search DVinfo.net for quick answers \| Where to Buy? From the best in the business: DVinfo.net sponsors

April 16th, 2003, 12:47 PM	#6
Jeff Donald Warden Join Date: Mar 2002 Location: Clearwater, FL Posts: 8,287	Print to video takes over the timeline and gives you a start/stop button. A pop window says something to the effect of start recording with your camera/VTR and press the start button. Sorry, I'm not at my editing computer and FCP isn't on my laptop. __________________ Jeff Donald Carpe Diem Search DVinfo.net for quick answers \| Where to Buy? From the best in the business: DVinfo.net sponsors

April 18th, 2003, 12:37 PM	#8
Duane Martin Regular Crew Join Date: Apr 2003 Location: Calgary, Alberta, Canada Posts: 41	Canvas window and timeline linked This is not an uncommon occurance, but can be quite startling when first experienced. By the symptoms described it would seem Gary did not have a sequence open in the FCP project he started in the morning. Because the Canvas window shows you the frame where your playhead is in your timeline, if you do not have an open sequence, neither your Canvas or your timeline will appear (there is no frame to show, as there is no sequence in the timeline for the playhead to be parked over). Gary tells us that when he went to Window in the top menu, Canvas was greyed out. I am willing to bet he would have seen that Timeline was greyed out as well. Give it a try. Open a project with sequences open in the timeline. Now right click (control click) on each sequence tab in the timeline and choose "Close Tab". Do this with all the sequence tabs, and when you close the last tab, your Canvas window and your Timeline window will disappear. Go to the Window menu and you will see that both the Canvas and Timeline options are grey. Now, in your browser, double click on a sequence and both the Timeline and Canvas windows will come back up again. If you go to Window in the menu bar, you will see that both of these are selectable again. Further, simply close either of these windows without closing the open sequences. When you go back to the Window menu you will see the window you closed has no check mark beside it. Select it, and the window reappears. You will also note that each window has a quick key combination to open and close it. Each quick key can also be used to bring a window to the front for working in. If you are setting motion properties in the viewer and want to copy attributes from one clip to the other in the timeline, learning these quick keys can save a number of mouse moves. Of course, the "Q" key will also toggle you between the Viewer and Canvas, which can be a real time saver. Sorry about the long explanation, but as a FCP trainer, it is simply habit to cover questions thoroughly. __________________ Duane E. Martin Earth to Sky Productions Apple Certified Trainer - FCP

April 16th, 2003, 12:01 PM	#3
Gary Chavez Major Player Join Date: Mar 2003 Location: San Antonio Posts: 355	hey Jeff, thanks for the responce, except that canvas window not highlighted. cant check it.

April 16th, 2003, 12:28 PM	#5
Gary Chavez Major Player Join Date: Mar 2003 Location: San Antonio Posts: 355	it works as you describe except for the specific project that i want to work on. does using Print to Video see that function as some kind of terminal use of the timeline and dump it or hide it somewhere?

April 16th, 2003, 12:58 PM	#7
Gary Chavez Major Player Join Date: Mar 2003 Location: San Antonio Posts: 355	Jeff thanks for trying, im just gonna re-edit my piece, clips are all still there. hey, im one of the "regular crew" now. maybe one soon i can contribute!

April 18th, 2003, 03:13 PM	#9
Gary Chavez Major Player Join Date: Mar 2003 Location: San Antonio Posts: 355	benn out shooting past 2 days, thanks much for the detailed reply. i will do as you suggest.

February 8th, 2004, 02:29 PM	#10
Ignacio Rodriguez Contributor Join Date: Sep 2003 Location: Santiago, Chile Posts: 932	Help! Hi Gary... the same thing you discribe has just happened to me.... how did you fix it? I even tried reinstalling FCP and the timeline window is nowhere to be found :S __________________ Ignacio Rodríguez in the third world. @micronauta on Twitter. Main hardware: brain, eyes, hands.

February 8th, 2004, 02:56 PM	#11
Jeff Donald Warden Join Date: Mar 2002 Location: Clearwater, FL Posts: 8,287	Did you do as Duanne and I suggested? If you still can't find your canvas window, trash FCP preferences and restart. Re-installing doesn't always give you a new preferences file. Do a search and you'll find my instructions for deleting FCP preferences. __________________ Jeff Donald Carpe Diem Search DVinfo.net for quick answers \| Where to Buy? From the best in the business: DVinfo.net sponsors

February 8th, 2004, 03:28 PM	#12
Ignacio Rodriguez Contributor Join Date: Sep 2003 Location: Santiago, Chile Posts: 932	I trashed two pref files and nothing changed. It is very strange... __________________ Ignacio Rodríguez in the third world. @micronauta on Twitter. Main hardware: brain, eyes, hands.

February 8th, 2004, 04:51 PM	#13
Jeff Donald Warden Join Date: Mar 2002 Location: Clearwater, FL Posts: 8,287	There are 3 preferences files that need to be deleted. Directions are here. Follow those directions and post back. If that doesn't work I'll need the information I asked in my prior post. __________________ Jeff Donald Carpe Diem Search DVinfo.net for quick answers \| Where to Buy? From the best in the business: DVinfo.net sponsors

February 9th, 2004, 09:20 PM	#14
Ignacio Rodriguez Contributor Join Date: Sep 2003 Location: Santiago, Chile Posts: 932	Thank You Jeff... it worked. Love this place. __________________ Ignacio Rodríguez in the third world. @micronauta on Twitter. Main hardware: brain, eyes, hands.