Hatched timeline - how to fix?

[Davidk]

One of my students using X9 has a project with a number of captured video clips, text etc, and the clips are all in overlay tracks for re-sizing purposes. The main timeline is empty, showing as cross-hatched, and when a clip is inserted in it, shows as both hatched and 'greyed'.

I've seen this effect before, don't know the cause or how to fix. In my projects, normally I just started again in a new project. But the student is new to VS and unwilling to re-do the work at this stage, so an understanding of what caused that hatched look in the main timeline, and how to fix (remove) it would be appreciated. Can anyone help with that?

[tletter]

The main timeline is empty, showing as cross-hatched, and when a clip is inserted in it, shows as both hatched and 'greyed'.

I don't see this behaviour (see attachment). Perhaps you can attach a screenshot showing the issue.

[Ken Berry]

You have to left click on that circular icon that looks like an old film reel to the immediate left of the timeline. See my red arrow in the attached screen grab.

[Davidk]

Hi Ken,

Thanks for that. I've passed it on, and will post the result when I know it.

David

[BJC]

The film reel icon is the Disable/Enable button, works on all video tracks.

Your student must have accidentally clicked on it.

Don't need a screenshot it is a standard function in Videostudio

[Ken Berry]

Don't need a screenshot it is a standard function in Videostudio

Perhaps... but that is only the case if you know it is a standard function, and understand what the icon is and does...

[Davidk]

I've seen that reel icon beside the tracks forever - but never knew what it did. There's no description of it (the reel icon) in the user guides, even as far back as X5, for which I still have the printed book that came with the package. So a "known" (I suggest known only by those who have had cause to use it and pass the word along) standard function or not, there's no documented indication to a user about what it is or does, and I trolled thru several version guides looking for it. If however one hovers the mouse over it, it does flag disable/enable, and there is a discussion in the latest user pdf about enabling or disabling tracks, in the context of seeing what might be causing an issue by doing that, track by track. But even there, no indication of how that is done however.

One lives and learns . . .

[Ken Veal]

That is all very interesting.I am wondering in what circumstances you would need to use those icons

[plasmavideo]

Ken, I can give you a practical example of a use for the track enable/disable icons.

I just finished doing several TV commercials for a local fund raising walk for a non-profit group who needed a version of the spots with rotating sponsor logos for the paid "commercial" versions in use on one station, and another without the sponsor rotation to run as "PSAs" on several other stations. Very easy to produce the projects with all of the sponsor logos on one overlay track, and all other overlays on separate tracks. When doing the render for the PSA versions, I simply disabled that one track before the final render, and that sponsors overlay did not appear on the output.

Tom

[Ken Veal]

Thanks for that Tom, one day I will get the hang of V.s