Clip details panel
Use the clip details panel to view and edit all the properties of a selected clip. This window also shows the thumbnails and media for a clip and is the main way of logging clips. It is also used for sequence editing. (In older versions of CatDV the functionality of the details panel was provided by the clip details dialog. This is still available for compatibility, though in most cases the new clip details panel has greatly improved functionality.)
You can show or hide the clip details panel at the top of the main window by toggling the clip details toolbar button.
Viewing media
There are three tabs that show all the media representations available for a clip: thumbnail images, the original movie, or a low-resolution preview movie.
- Under the Thumbnails tab you can select a different poster for the clip from among the available thumbnails or delete unwanted thumbnails.
- Under the Movie tab you can play the media for the movie (if it's available online), mark In and Out points (or jump to previously set In and Out points), and create a new poster thumbnail from the current frame.
- The timecode of the current frame is shown in red. The duration of the clip or selection is also shown (in blue) if there's enough room. Click on the timecode field to jump to a particular timecode value.
- The Preview tab is similar to the Movie tab but plays the preview movie rather than original media.
- If the clip represents an audio clip or still image the name of the tab changes accordingly.
- If the movie or preview tab has keyboard focus the tab label is shown with a darker background and you can use the keyboard to control movie playback, mark in and out points, and more. Click on the tab label (or in the player window) to give it focus.
Viewing and editing clip details
The Summary, Log Notes and Technical tabs display the various properties of the clip selected in the main window.
- Some fields may be read-only while others can be edited by clicking on them.
- If the value of the field is too big to fit comfortably on the display try double clicking on the field label to display the value in a separate window.
- Select multiple clips and edit a value to apply the change to many clips at a time. (Another way of doing this is with the Bulk Edit command.)
- In the Professional Edition you can customise the layout of the details panel.
- The Other tab provides an alphabetical listing of all available clip properties.
Logging menu
Use commands in the Logging menu to navigate within the clip details window, move to other clips, and perform logging.
- Move up or down through the list of clips in the main window with a keyboard shortcut.
- After marking In and Out points create a New Subclip from the selection.
- Split the current clip in two at the current play head position with Split Clip.
- Review the transition between the previous clip and this one (ie. play the last few seconds of one and the first few seconds of this clip). This allows you to check whether they should be two separate clips or one.
- If you want to combine them into one you can merge this clip into the previous one.
- Use Toggle Subclip Limits to expand a subclip so you can view the entire source media file. The old subclip limits are stored as a selection in In2/Out2, so you turn the clip back to a subclip again.
Timecode event markers
In the Professional Edition you can create markers to flag particular events of interest within a clip without having to create subclips for each event.
- Use the 'flag' button (under the Movie or Preview tab) to create an event marker for the current timecode value. (You can also use the 'm' keyboard shortcut if the player has keyboard focus.)
- The Event Markers table (under the Summary tab) lists all the markers for the clip. Click on one of the markers to jump to that point in the movie.
- When you save a catalog, event markers are stored as text (the timecode value plus a description) within the clip Notes field.
- You can import and export event markers from QuickTime movie chapter markers and Final Cut Pro projects (via FCP XML).
- You can convert to and fro between subclips and event markers using the Logging > Convert To Subclips or Edit > Merge commands.