Graphics Reference
In-Depth Information
Figure 7.1
Cutaway shots connected to the Primary Storyline.
Secondary Storylines
As useful as Connected clips are, they do have their limitations when it comes to manipulating them further in
the Timeline, because the standard trimming tools can't be applied to them. This is fine if you have only separ-
ate Connected clips along the Timeline, but if there is a set of clips side by side, you'll probably want the ability
to trim the Connected clips as you would in the Primary Storyline. You can easily achieve this by selecting the
Connected clips and turning them into a Secondary Storyline.
To create a Secondary Storyline, select a group of Connected clips and choose Clip
⇒
Create Storyline or press
+G. This places the Connected clips inside a container, treating them as a single unit. Think of a Secondary
Storyline as a smaller version of the Primary Storyline that connects above or below the Primary Storyline with
a blue connection link, just like a Connected clip. You're now free to trim the clips inside using the Ripple,
Roll, Slip, and Slide tools (the Precision Editor is not available for Secondary Storylines) and manipulate them
in much the same way as in the Primary Storyline. Connected clips don't necessarily need to be next to each
other in order for them to be turned into a Secondary Storyline. Any spaces between Connected clips are auto-
matically generated into transparent gaps, which play back the clips that are directly beneath them.
Manipulating clips in a Secondary Storyline
You'll mainly want to use Secondary Storylines to group related Connected clips so that they can be treated as a
single unit. A typical use would be for a documentary that has a photographic montage, usually with the Ken
Burns effect, that plays together with voiceover narration. The stills would be prepared inside a Secondary St-
oryline, allowing you to trim the individual photographs or apply effects and then move the complete montage
along the Timeline until you find its optimal placement. Another common use would be to group two adjoining
audio clips inside a Secondary Storyline so that a transition, such as a cross-dissolve, can be applied between
them.
Individual clips inside a Secondary Storyline are selected by clicking on them with the cursor and can be rear-
ranged by moving them around just as in the Primary Storyline (see Figure 7.2). A clip can be removed by drag-
ging it out from within the storyline or by selecting the clip and pressing Delete. The remaining clips shift in-
side the Secondary Storyline to close the gap left by the deleted clip, and the duration of the storyline is adjusted
to reflect the change. Pressing Shift+Delete replaces the clip with a gap, maintains the positions of the remain-
ing clips in the storyline, and keeps the duration intact.
