Show the clips below the original imported video as a hierarchical tree (or indent them)

[raindropsfromsky]

Describe the new feature: Suppose we have created clips out of an imported video. The Project files pane mixes up the imported files and locally created clips.

Instead, show the locally created clips right under the original source video, so they appear as a group.

Also, show the relationship between the original video and the local clips. (Either show a tree that shows all clips as subnodes of the main video node; OR display the local clips with an indent.)

[Colorjet3]

Hello @raindropsfromsky. This one I am not sure about and will need to think a bit more.

Scenario 1

Currently, when you import files into openshot they are sorted by Name by default.

When you use the "Split Clip" feature and do not provide a "Name of clip:" it creates the new file using the same name of the original file. So say you do this 3 times so now you have 4 file names exactly the same (one the original, and 3 more being split). Now, the good thing about this is that they are sorted by name so they are already grouped. I don't know how it is able to maintain the sorting, becuase if click on the "Name" column it changes the sorting properly (ascending / descending).

So, when they are sorted in Ascending order the first one is always the original and the others the "split clip" parts. If you right click on one of the "Split Clip" files and select "File Properties" | "Frame Settings" | you will note the "Start Frame:" and "End Frames:" values you selected during the "Split Clip" process.

This is kind of like the enhancement request regarding the ability to drag the audio or video only but requiring the "Project Files" window to get more complex.

Scenario 2

Now, if you perform the "Split Clip" again, but this time give it a name. Do this 4 times and create the following names: 1, 1, 2, 3 (yes, use the #1 twice). So, since file names of 1, 1, 2 & 3 do not match the original file name, they will be sorted in accordance to their new name and thus not be grouped with the original file that they were split from.

Note: Sure you can come up with your own naming conventions as well to keep them somewhat organized.

Misc: There are other things that I started thinking about Scenario 1 & 2 combined. What happens if I delete the original/source file that was imported. I tried it, and what is cool is that nothing broke. I am able to still work with the Split Clip files. If you right click on any one of the split files and select File Properties, you can see the "File Path:" pointing to the source file.

But, because in Scenario 1 the custom name was left blank, the clips were named what the source file name was so we can tell the orginal file name. In Scenario 2 we named them 1, 1, 2, & 3. So with scenario 2 we can not tell, overtime, what the source file was unless we go into "File Properties" and check the "File Path:".

I am going to stop here because this can get ugly quickly. It's like we need to get in front of a white board and draw things out to come up with a good solution and not a half-baked one.

With all this jibberish I am going to leave you with a hint:

1. Note the "Tags" colum next to the Name column.
2. Double click in that cell (the intersection of the file name row and the Tag column.
3. You will be able to type a tag or multiple tags.
4. What you can do is type the name of the source file in all the tags for the source file and the split clips.
5. Now click on the Tags column label to sort them Ascending / Descending.

Thoughts?

[raindropsfromsky]

Wow! Interesting analysis!

I tried such scenarios with kdenlive, and here is the result:

Firstly, notice how neatly the tree shows all main clips and their subclips!

1. The app does not allow us to name the sub-clip, and names them automatically as zone1, zone2, etc. These names are not derived from the position of the subclips in the main clip. We can click on the node, and press F2 to edit the name.
2. Against each sub-clip, the time-stamps of the "in" and "out" points of the main clip are shown.
3. Below each thumbnail of each sub-clip, the timeline of the main clip is shown. A bright green line shows the sub-clip's position in the main clip. (It provides visualization of the "in" and "out" points in the main clip)
4. If you click on the thumbnail of any sub-clip, the clip monitor panel loads the main clip (not the subclip). It shows the "in" and "out" points for the subclip in this timeline. (In other words, the subclip is still linked with the main clip.)

This design is error-proof: Even if the user enters duplicate names for the sub-clips, it does not matter. The in+out time-stamps and timeline embedded in the thumbnail prevent any confusion.

This is a pretty good design to emulate!