What Mode are You in, and How it Can Effect Your Mood!

What Mode Are You In?

If you are more of a visual learner, you might prefer to watch our video tutorial on Modes. Watch Video

Many new editors complain that Edius just does not seem to work the same on their computer as it seems to in the tutorials. Often, when we track this down we find out that it is a result of being in a different mode then I was when I recorded the tutorial.

Like most NLE software, Edius has background settings that can have a major impact on how clips respond when you interact with them on the timeline. But just to stir things up a bit, Edius has assigned keyboard shortcuts to some of these background settings and new users can accidentally hit one of these keys and without realizing it, toggle a background setting and suddenly the timeline responds totally differently then what you would expect!

Getting into the wrong mode, can very quickly get you into the wrong mood!

Insert/Overwrite Mode

Perhaps the one that causes the most confusion is the "insert/overwrite" mode. When you are in "insert mode" and you drag a new clip down to the timeline, Edius will place the new clip on the track and push any clip(s) to the right of insert point and move them down the time line. If you place your new clip in the middle of an existing clip, Edius will break the existing clip in two, and push part of it down the timeline.

If you are in the "overwrite mode", the new clip that you place will overwrite whatever is on the track for the duration of the new clip. This is a big difference in the way the timeline responds when using the "drag and drop" style of editing. The tricky part is, that you can toggle back and forth between these two settings by inadvertently hitting your "Insert" key. If you think about it, this is very similar to what happens in most word processing programs, but unless you know that it can also happen in Edius, it could leave you pulling out your hair, in the middle of a late night editing session, under the pressure of a morning deadline!

To prevent this type of frustration from happening to you, you can go into the keyboard shortcut customization tool and shut this off. Go to Settings/Application Settings/Customize/Keyboard Shortcuts. Sort on "Operation", and look for "Toggle insert/overwrite". Shut the shortcut off, by giving it "no assignment".

While you are at it, you should also do the same with the operation, "Set Ripple Mode" If you are unsure how to do this, check out the tutorial on "How to Customize Your Keyboard shortcuts"

For those times when you want to work in an insert or ripple mode, you can always toggle these on and off, using the icons located in the timeline icon menu strip.

If your icon looks like this image below, you are in the insert mode, and just as the icon suggests, if you place your new clip in the middle of an existing clip on the timeline, Edius will break it in two and push part of it down the timeline. Very nasty stuff!

If your icon looks like this image below, you are in the "Overwrite" mode and all is right with the world!

Sync Mode

The other big background setting that can cause problems and confusion is the "sync mode". The "sync mode" simply tells Edius that the changes that you make to one track will effect all of the tracks on your timeline. If, for example your "sync mode" is on, and your insert mode was on, and you placed a new clip on your timeline, not only would the clips in your track of placement be pushed down the timeline, but also ALL of the clips in ALL of your other other tracks will get pushed down the timeline as well. Only tracks that you have put a lock on will remain un- effected. Having the Sync mode turned on can also produce unexpected results to clips that you have on other tracks, when doing simple operations such as a trim.

A check mark beside the setting in the drop-down "mode" menu means that "Sync Mode" is on. No check mark means that it is off.

Toggle it on and off by clicking on the menu option.

The other place that you can set this on or off is in the little down arrow beside the "Insert/Overwrite" icon on the timeline icon strip.

You may also want to check your keyboard short-cut settings to make sure that "Sync mode" has "no assignment." Sort on Operation and look for "Sync Mode".

Ripple Mode

One other "problem mode" is the "Ripple Mode" This also has a keyboard shortcut that you may want to disable to make sure that you don't slip into it by accident, in one of those "all-nighters". The Ripple Mode also can be turned on and off from the "Mode Menu" as well as the timeline icon strip.

When the orange line crosses the icon, it means that the ripple mode is off. When the orange strike is not visible it means that the ripple mode is on .

When you have the "ripple mode" on, there is a trim mode that you can get into that will effect the rest of the clips that you may have already placed further down on the timeline. Have the "ripple mode and the sync mode" turned on and you can "wreck havoc" on your timeline by doing something as simple as a trim!

So, you may be asking, if these ripple, sync and insert modes cause so much damage, why are they even in the program?

Well, there are times when these tools are exactly what we need to accomplish a task. There will be times, especially near the end of a project, where you will want to insert a new clip in the middle of the project. You find one more interview statement that really helps make the case and you need to insert that right in the middle of your project. If you turn on the insert, ripple and sync modes, they will work in conjunction to insert that new interview on to your interview video track, and at the same time, push all of the video and audio, on all other tracks down the time line the appropriate length to accommodate the new piece of video.

Keep yourself in a happy mood, by understanding modes!