2017

■ Access the Modular Keyer, where you can key out green screen footage.
TIP While Action can perform simple operations, such as picture-in-picture, there are other Timeline FX tools that
you can use that may be more lightweight, such as 2D Transform or Flip.
Using Action on the timeline offers you a way to create complex compositions as an alternative to working
in ConnectFX flow-graph representations. But this workflow allows you to start compositing on the timeline
with Action, then promote and explode your comp in ConnectFX to continue working.
Action is also available as a timeline transition, and has all the same options available as Action Timeline
FX in the quick menu. In addition, you can access specific transition settings by choosing Transition from
the Action Quick Menu selector. When you enter the full Action menu after applying an Action timeline
transition, notice that the outgoing clip is listed in the Media list as the back media, while the incoming
clip is listed as the front/matte media.
NOTE If you access Action as a Timeline FX or transition, you are limited to one front/matte media. Therefore,
some Media menu settings and nodes are not available. For example, if you need to work with stereo clips, you
should access Action from ConnectFX.
Using the Action Quick Menu
As with other Timeline FX, you can use the quick menu to apply settings without having to enter the full
editor. Since Action is comprised of many nodes, each with their own menu settings, there are additional
quick menu controls to switch between settings for nodes, while allowing you to still view parent/child
relationships.
When applying an Action Timeline FX, a default composition is created with an axis, surface, shadow, light,
and camera (you can delete any of these objects, except for the default camera). This allows you to start
working directly from the quick menu (use the Action Menu Selection box to switch between Action menus).
To access the full Action menu, click the Enter Editor button. Once you have added and connected more
nodes to your Action scene, you can return to the timeline and still access settings for most nodes from the
quick menu, if desired.
Use the three navigation boxes to select the settings that you want to see:
Menu Selection box Select which quick menu to display.
Object Selection box Select which object's menu to display. Objects appear in this list if there are more
than one of the type selected in the Menu Selection box.
Parent or Child Selection box Select a parent or child menu to display. Objects appear in this list if there
are any parents or children in the scene of the object selected in the Object Selection box.
For some menus, such as Lights, there is another sub menu box to further refine which settings are displayed
in the quick menu.
NOTE When selecting multiple clips with Action Timeline FX applied, you can use the quick menu to apply settings
to all the selected clips (except for camera settings).
Compositing Examples
Depending on the effect you are trying to achieve, you can decide how your Action Timeline FX is composited
(either by the Comp node, or by Action itself). The following two general examples show how you can comp
your effect in different ways.
386 | Chapter 12 Timeline FX and Transitions