User Guide

Add Media
Now that you’ve acquired content (or just want
to use NewTek’s sample clips), from the
SpeedEDIT menu, you can launch the Add
Media window, which allows a constant location
to locate your assets. The Ctrl-I shortcut also
opens this window. This is similar to the Filebin,
but with several key benefits:
• You can click on one clip or ctrl-click a group of clips and press the Add button at the
Bottom of the Add Media Window to insert those assets in your project at the position of
the Edit Line. Like the Filebin, this also adds media in the order it was selected .
• You can open as many Add Media windows as you like!
• You now can devote your two main tabbed views to any combination of Storyboard
and/or Timeline, without having to use one view for Filebin.
Holding the cursor over a clip you lets you enjoy clip playback right in the thumbnail.
While it plays, hold the Shift key to play at 10x speed, or hold the Alt key to play it in reverse.
Concepts: Timeline vs. Storyboard
Traditional timeline editors continue to improve, but the timeline paradigm and the storyboard are
fundamentally different for a very important singular reason: one is Literal, the other is
Conceptual. Everyone can work, think, and convey faster when we only have to deal with
concepts rather than literal details. Here's what I'm talking about.
The time-line is far too literal for something claiming to be non-linear, and this is its biggest
weakness (and its fatal flaw). Every clip has a space in time, taking up space in the time-line
proportional to its length, and requires manual placement and manipulation within and
surrounded by other clips that may also require additional tweaking to make up for changes.
Storyboard, on the other hand, is conceptual and fully non-linear, which is its biggest strength.
Changing one edit point means changing one edit point, with no need to worry about neighboring
clips, or destination in / out points. As an editor, all you typically want is for one clip to play, and
then the next, and then the one after that; usually it doesn't matter when it happens, it just needs
to happen in sequence. With Storyboards, a shot doesn’t have to take up an amount of screen
real estate proportional to its run time.
Storyboard can reach limitations or be difficult to use with complex situations that call for A/B
edits, split audio, or compositing. And under these circumstances, SpeedEDIT’s traditional time-
line interface helps you quickly progress. For much of what is typically edited, Storyboard is far
faster.