Advanced Editing Features

## 1. Advanced Project Actions

### Combining Sequences

It is possible to import full contents of another Sequence into Sequence currently being edited.

1. Select Sequence->Import Another Sequence into this Sequence...
2. Select Import action.

- Append Sequence adds imported Sequence at the end of current Sequence
- Insert Sequence at Playhead Position creates a cut at playhead position and inserts imported Sequences at that position

3. Select a Sequence to Import

- Note that you obviously need atleast two Sequences to exist to do any import actions.

4. Press Import button to execute import.

### Split part of Sequence to new Sequence

1. Select Sequence->Split to new Sequence at Playhead position
2. After confirmation dialog the a new Sequence with contents of source Sequence after playhead position will be created and made active.

### Importing Media from another Project

You can import Media Items from another Project.

1. Select Project->Import Media From Project...
2. Select a Project file from file system.
3. Media items that are not present in current Project will be opened in the current bin. Note that it takes a few seconds to load the project before new Media Items begin to appear.

## 2. Timeline Audio Syncing

You can make a clip to move to a position in timeline in which its audio is in sync with audio of another clip on timeline.

This enables you to do simplified version of multicam editing on the timeline.

1. Open context menu with Right Mouse on Clip you wish to sync with some other clip.
2. Select menu item Select Clip to Audio Sync With.... The cursor changes to a targeting cross.
3. Click on Clip you wish to audio sync with.
4. A dialog opens giving info on the sync action that is to be done to sync clips.
5. Press Do Audio Sync Move Edit button to do the syncing edit.
6. It is usually a good idea to mute one of the synched clips

Audio syncing looks for best mathematical match between two audio waveforms, so audio syncing non-matching audio will produce random results.

## 3. Slow / Fast Motion and Reverse Clips

In Flowblade motion effects are achieved by rendering slow / fast motion or reverse versions of video clips and placing those on the timeline.

### Creating Motion Clips

1. Right click on a Media File and select Render Slow / Fast Motion File from menu
2. Edit parameters for the new motion Clip
   - Set speed
   - Give name and location for motion Clip
   - Select rendering parameters for motion Clip. It is probably a good idea to use a lossless format here to avoid any generational quality losses.
   - Select render range, either:
   - Full Source Clip
   - From Source Clip Mark In to Mark Out
3. Click Render button to create a new motion Clip

### Creating Reverse Clips

1. Right click on a Media File and select Render Reverse Motion File from menu
2. Edit parameters for the new motion Clip
   - Set speed
   - Give name and location for reverse Clip
   - Select rendering parameters for reverse Clip. It is probably a good idea to use a lossless format here to avoid any generational quality losses.
   - Select render range, either:
   - Full Source Clip
   - From Source Clip Mark In to Mark Out
3. Click Render button to create a new reverse Clip

## 4. Clip Parenting

In Flowblade Movie Editor you can set a clip's positions to follow another clip's positions on request.

### Main points

- Sync relations are set up by selecting a Sync Parent Clip for a Sync Child Clip.
- Only clips on track V1 can be Sync Parent Clips. This is done to encourage edit style in which the main body of the Sequence is on track V1 and composites and audio split edits are done relative to the clip sequence on track V1.
- Sync feature helps preserve earlier work an multitrack composites and audio split edits when clips are no longer in correct positions relative to each other, because of edits elsewhere on the Sequence.
- Resyncs are only done on request to avoid jumping of clips on the timeline while editing. Explicit resyncs are also better from the point of view of avoiding side effects when doing edits.

### Setting Sync Parent

1. Click Right Mouse on clip and select Select Sync Parent Clip... on any clip NOT on track V1.
2. Cursor turns into a Target Cross. Click on clip on track V1 to select it as Sync Parent Clip.
3. Sync Relation is established between the two clips. Cursor turns back into a default pointer.
4. Sync State Stripe appears on the Sync Child Clip. Sync State Indicator Stripes on Clips:

- Green means that clip is in sync with parent.
- Red means that clip is NOT in sync with parent.
- Gray means that Sync Parent Clip is no longer on track V1.

### Resyncing Sync Child Clips

- Select Edit - >Resync Selected to resync from application menu selected Sync Child Clips.
- Click Right Mouse on Sync Child Clip and select Resync from popup menu to resync single clip.
- Press Resync Selected Bbtton to resync selected Sync Child Clips.

### Clearing Sync Parent Relations

- Click Right Mouse on Sync Child Clip and select Clear Sync Relation.

### Syncing Composited Clips

- If appropriate set all clips that are part of a multitrack composite synched to the same clip.

### Audio Split Syncing

- Click Right Mouse on clip in track V1 and select Split Audio Synched.
- Edit audio split using Two Roll Trim mode to maintain sync with parent clip.
- Resync Audio as needed.

## 5. Filter Masking

Filter masking allows for one or more filters to be applied only on some user defined part of image.

Filter masking menu launch button above 'Add Filter Mask' tootip, Mask - Begin and Mask - End filters defining which filters are masked, on the right image with masked Sepia filter.

1. Click Filter Mask Menu launch button and select if you wish to apply mask on one or all filters.
2. In submenu select between Alpha Shape and Luma Key masks.
3. Edit mask parameters in filter edit panel for Mask - Begin filter.
4. You can drag and drop filters in and out of the masked range of filter stack.

## 6. Jog / Shuttle Support

### Overview

Flowblade has a USB Human Input Device subsystem, which is capable of supporting selected USB jog/shuttle devices.

A jog/shuttle gives you an additional way to navigate through your timeline using a dedicated hardware control interface, in addition to the keyboard and mouse.

Turning the jog wheel moves the playback location forward and backward, one frame at a time.

Turning the shuttle left or right engages variable speed playback, in forward or reverse. The farther you turn the ring, the faster it goes.

Additionally, most jog/shuttle devices have keys which can be mapped to various actions within the program. Each supported device has default key mappings, which can also be customized.

### Supported Devices

Manufacturer Device Name | Flowblade Device Name | Config File
--- | --- | ---
Contour Design ShuttlePRO v2 | Contour Design ShuttlePRO v2 | contour_design_shuttlepro_v2.xml
Contour Design ShuttleXpress | Contour Design ShuttleXpress | contour_design_shuttlexpress.xml
Contour A/V Solutions SpaceShuttle | Contour Design ShuttleXpress | contour_design_shuttlexpress.xml

### Enabling Jog / Shuttle Support

Jog/shuttle support is not on by default in Flowblade, and must be enabled.

Additionally, Flowblade will not be able to access the USB device without a small amount of operating system configuration to grant permissions so that Flowblade is allowed to use the device.

#### Enable Device Permissions

For Flatpaks and correctly created distro packages the required file has been added as part of the package. If for some reason the application is not able to access the USB device, try adding the file manually.

In order for Flowblade to be able to read from the USB device, it is necessary to tell your operating system to grant permissions on the device to non-root users.

On Linux, this is done by adding a udev rules configuration file that instructs the udev subsystem to enable additional access to your device.

Become the root user, and create a new text file at `/etc/udev/rules.d/90-flowblade.rules` with the following contents:

# Grant unprivileged users access to USB HID jog/shuttle devices

# Contour Design ShuttleXpress, Contour A/V Solutions SpaceShuttle

ATTRS{idVendor}=="0b33", ATTRS{idProduct}=="0020", MODE="0666"

# Contour Design ShuttlePRO v2

ATTRS{idVendor}=="0b33", ATTRS{idProduct}=="0030", MODE="0666"

It may be necessary to reboot your computer after this step. This only needs to be done once. It is also possible to tell the udev subsystem to reload the config file instead of rebooting, but this is left as an exercise for the reader.

Don't forget to drop your root privileges after this step, before starting Flowblade! Do not run Flowblade as root!

#### Tell Flowblade to Use the Device

The next step is opening Flowblade, and enabling your device.

Go to the Edit menu, select Preferences, and then navigate over to the Jog/Shuttle tab.

Check the USB Jog/Shuttle Enabled checkbox.

In the Device pull down menu, select the device driver that you wish to use. The entries in this menu correspond to the Flowblade Device Name in the Supported Devices section above.

Press OK to close the Preferences window.

After this, it will be necessary to exit Flowblade and restart it.

At this point, the USB jog/shuttle configuration is part of your saved Flowblade preferences. You will now be able to use the program with or without the jog/shuttle, without any further configuration necessary.

Please note that Flowblade will only check for the presence of the USB device at startup, so make sure to have the device plugged in before you start Flowblade if you want to use it.

### Custom Key Mappings

Flowblade ships with XML config files that provide default key mappings between the keys on your USB jog/shuttle device, and various actions in Flowblade. It is possible to customize these mappings, by copying the appropriate file into the correct user preferences directory, and modifying the local copy.

The precise location of these config files can vary depending on how you have installed Flowblade. You want to find the `res/usbhid` directory under the Flowblade installation. From there, you will want to copy the config file for your particular USB jog/shuttle device to a location in your local user preferences directory.

For example, if you installed Flowblade on Ubuntu using the OS packaging system, and you have a Contour Design ShuttleXpress, then you would want to copy the `/usr/share/flowblade/Flowblade/res/usbhid/contour_design_shuttlexpress.xml` file into `.local/share/flowblade/user_usbhid/contour_design_shuttlexpress.xml` under your home directory.

Open up the new local copy of the file under your home directory in a text editor. You will see more information in the comments of the file about how the keys are laid out on your particular device. Under the _keymap_ section of the config file, you can edit the _code_ settings to point to different _target actions_ that Flowblade can perform, for each of the keys on the device.

Once your file is complete, save and close the file, and start Flowblade. Now your new custom key mappings will be in effect every time you run the program.

Take care not to introduce any XML errors into the file, or Flowblade will not be able to process it correctly.

See the next section for all of the target actions that can be mapped to the keys on your device.

#### Available Target Actions

Target Action | Description
--- | ---
3_point_overwrite | Three Point Overwrite
add_marker | Add Marker
append | Append
append_from_bin | Append Selected Media From Bin
clear_io_marks | Clear In/Out Marks
clear_mark_in | Clear Mark In
clear_mark_out | Clear Mark Out
cut | Cut Active Tracks
cut_all | Cut All Tracks
delete | Delete
display_clip_in_monitor | Display Clip In Monitor
display_sequence_in_monitor | Display Current Sequence In Monitor
enter_edit | Enter Editing Mode
faster | Faster
insert | Insert
lift | Lift
log_range | Log Range
mark_in | Mark In
mark_out | Mark Out
next_cut | Go To Next Cut
next_frame | Go To Next Frame
nudge_back | Nudge Move Selection Back 1 Frame
nudge_back_10 | Nudge Move Selection Back 10 Frames
nudge_forward | Nudge Move Selection Forward 1 Frame
nudge_forward_10 | Nudge Move Selection Forward 10 Frames
open_next | Open Next Media Item In Monitor
open_prev | Open Previous Media Item In Monitor
overwrite_range | Overwrite Range
play | Play
play_pause | Play / Pause
play_pause_loop_marks | Play / Pause Mark In to Mark Out Loop
prev_cut | Go To Previous Cut
prev_frame | Go To Previous Frame
resync | Resynchronization
select_next | Open Next Clip In Filter Editor
select_prev | Open Previous Clip In Filter Editor
sequence_split | Sequence Split
slower | Slower
stop | Stop
switch_monitor | Switch Monitor Display
to_end | Go To End
toggle_ripple | Toggle Ripple
to_mark_in | Go To Mark In
to_mark_out | Go To Mark Out
to_start | Go To Start
trim_end | Trim Clip End To Playhead
trim_start | Trim Clip Start To Playhead
zoom_in | Zoom In
zoom_out | Zoom Out