This post is the second in a series of articles about some of the smaller features and changes in version 3.0 of Media Composer and Symphony.
Here's a fairly common scenario.
You are well into the edit and need to shorten clip B/2X in the above sequence. Unfortunately, the duration of the scene is already locked. What are your options? Well, you could use a dual roller trim at the edit point between B/2-X and B/1-A, but that would change the head frame edit on B/1-A, which is undesirable. Alternatively you could slide B/1-A, but that would change the head frame edit on BA/3-X, which is also undesirable.
Since neither single trim approach really works for you, you'll likely do an A-side trim on the tail of B/2-X, write the number of frames trimmed on a piece of paper, then find the tail of another shot in the scene that you could extend. It works, but hopefully you won't get distracted by a panicked producer while you're searching for that other clip.
In Media Composer version 3.0 we've provided a new trimming technique that not only solves this problem, but many other similar problems. Indeed, I may never do another slide trim again. You can now select two A-sides (tails) or two B-sides (heads) anywhere in the timeline and perform an asynchronous trim on those two edits!
In this scenario I'll select the tail of B/2-X and BA/3-X, as seen in the timeline below:
Note the trim rollers. To make the above selection I lassoed the edit between B/2-X and B/1-A, switched to an A-side trim, Shift+clicked on the other two rollers. Once selected you can use any trim technique you desire (drag, J-K-L, on-the-fly, etc). After trimming the tail of B/2-X, the timeline looks like the following:
Notice that the position of shot B/1-B (and everything afterward) has not changed. You made your adjustment in one interactive trim without changing the duration of the scene.
Give it a try when you get version 3.0. I think you'll like it!
-greg