Extra Sequencer Actions

A collection of extra operators to manipulate Sequence Editor strips.
The script is composed of several operators placed in different locations.

Location: Timeline > Frame
- Trim to Timeline Content
Automatically set start and end frames of current scene according to
the content of the Sequence Editor.
- Trim to Selection
Set start and end frames of current scene to match selected strips
in the Sequence Editor.

Location: Video Sequence Editor > Select
- Select All by Type
Select all the strips of the specified type in the Sequence Editor.
- Current-Frame-Aware Select
Select strips on all channels according to current frame. Available
modes are:
Before (select all strips before current frame),
After (select all strips after current frame),
On (select all strips underneath playhead).
- Inverse
Inverse the selection of strips.

Location: Video Sequence Editor > Strip
- Ripple Delete
Delete the active strip and shift back all other strips the number of
frames between the beginning of deleted strip and the next edit in the
sequence.
- Ripple Cut
Same as above, but copying active strip to memory buffer before
deleting it. Copied strip can be pasted in place as usual, for example
using the keystroke combination ctrl-V.
- Insert
Shift forward all strips after current frame and insert active strip.

  • Insert (Single Channel)
    Same as above, but shifting occurs only on the same channel as active
    strip.
    - Slide
    Alter in and out points of a strip but not its duration. Only available
    when a the type of active strip is Movie, Scene or Meta.
    Click ‘Input…’ to choose the amount of sliding desired. The start and
    end frame of active strip will be moved, but its length and position
    will remain unchanged. This action is also known as slipping.
    Click ‘Current Frame to Start’ or ‘Current Frame to End’ to perform the
    slide according to current frame.
    - Slide Grab
    Same as above, interactive mode. Move mouse cursor along X axis to jog.
    To exit, click left or right mouse button or hit ESC.
    - Copy Properties
    Copy properties of active strip to selected strips. Start selecting
    multiple strips, then make active the strip whose properties need to be
    copied to the selected strips. Click the desired operator to perform
    the action. Some operators affect single properties, while some others
    affect a group of properties.
    - Fade
    Fade opacity of active strip, or its volume if its type is Sound,
    creating keyframes for the corresponding property.
    Possible fade directions are In, Out, In and Out.
    Duration defines the number of frames between the start and the end
    of the fade.
    Amount defines the maximum value that the fade will set. For opacity
    fades, the maximum value is 1.0.
    The minimum value reached by the fade is always 0.
    Keyframes created with this operator can be manipulated through the
    F-Curve Editor.
    - Distribute
    Evenly distribute selected strips along the timeline according to a
    specified offset. This operator is useful to reassign strip length to
    every element of an image sequence.
    The operator also allows to reverse the order of the distributed strips.
    To perform a simple reversion of an image sequence, first separate its
    images and select them, then run Distribute with Offset set to 1 and
    Reverse Order enabled.

Location: Video Sequence Editor > Input

  • Open with Editor
    Open active strip with Movie Clip Editor or Image Editor, according to
    strip type. If a clip is already loaded, existing data is used.
  • Open with External Editor
    Open active image strip with the default external image editor. To use
    this operator a valid path to the external editor must be specified in
    User Preferences > File.
  • File Name to Strip Name
    Set strip name to input file name. This operator is useful after
    separating images of a sequence.Location: Video Sequence Editor
  • File Place
    Place active file from File Browser to Sequencer Editor on current
    frame.
  • File Insert
    Same as above, but also shift forward forward all strips after current
    frame.
  • Navigate Up
    Move current view to parent timeline. Only enabled when current view is
    relative to a Meta strip. This operator does not perform any
    modification to timeline elements.
    Location: Movie Clip Editor
  • Open from File Browser
    Load a Movie or Image Sequence from File Browser to Movie Clip Editor.
    If a clip is already loaded, existing data is used.
  • Open Active Strip
    Load a Movie or Image Sequence from Sequence Editor to Movie Clip
    Editor. If a clip is already loaded, existing data is used.Location: Movie Clip Editor, Video Sequence Editor (with preview), Timeline
  • Jog/Shuttle
    Jog through current sequence, looping between start and end frames.
    This action is known as jogging, shuttling or scrubbing.
    Click the operator to enter interactive mode. Move mouse cursor along X
    axis to jog. To exit, click left or right mouse button or hit ESC.

Location: Timeline, Video Sequence Editor
- Skip One Second
Skip through the Timeline by one-second increments. The number of frames to skip is based on render settings for current scene. The script enables two new key bindings:
ctrl + shift + left arrow to skip back one second,
ctrl + shift + right arrow to skip forward one second.

Download and instructions: http://wiki.blender.org/index.php/Extensions:2.6/Py/Scripts/Sequencer/Extra_Sequencer_Actions

This would have made my blog post a lot easier the other day! Pretty cool that they are bundeled together. Are all the features grouped as one UI panel, or are they still distributed around the various windows?

Will really make it easier to install. Thanks Turi.

Oooh, I just noticed Fade and Distribute. Great work!. I really wish I had distribute for animating story boards.

Yes, and a bundle is also easier for me to maintain.
The script now has its own wiki page:
http://wiki.blender.org/index.php/Extensions:2.6/Py/Scripts/Sequencer/Extra_Sequencer_Actions

Thank you for your hard work on this wonderful addon, Turi. Ripple delete and slip edits alone are worth the price of admission! :slight_smile:

- Navigate Up
Move current view to parent timeline. Only enabled when current view is
relative to a Meta strip. This operator does not perform any
modification to timeline elements.

Turi, what do you mean by parent timeline?

Just tested all the others, it is a GREAT script Turi!

I did like the old tick box approach for adding copy values of strips. The new way is good though too. Could you have an extra menu item that when selected would pop up a tick box flaoting window (like the fade effect does)?

Thankyou again Turi, I am amazed at how much you have achieved. I wonder if the Mango team will put it to use?

Dude, this is freaking awesome. Thankyou!

Ripple and slide are likely going to give me back years of my life. :cool:

I just update the script with a new operator “Skip One Second”, binded to ctrl + shift + left and right arrows.
I have a couple more ideas to extend the collection, but let me know if there’s anything in particular that you consider useful.
@3PointEdit: by parent timeline I mean the one containing a meta strip’s timeline. Each meta strip has it own timeline.

By skip one second do mean jump forward/back along the timeline? I thought that you could already do that as a blender function, maybe it is a group of frames…

Just a thought about ripple delete, is there any way to spread a gap? That is to define a frame value (duration) then select all to the right and change their start frames by that amount. It could be used with Jump to Cut, if Carlos has exposed the value of his in to out points, then you could achieve an insert edit.

Awesome stuff! :
Thanx Turi!

@3PointEdit: The builtin function moves the playhead 10 frames, while this one is contextual to a scene’s fps rate.
You just gave me the idea for a new operator, something to select strips on all channels before or after playhead.
I’ll include it soon in the bundle.

OK, now we have current-frame-aware selection. So to extend a gap, just move the playhead on the gap, use this new operator to select all strips on all channels and move them as usual.
Oh, I also added ‘Ripple Cut’.

I cannot express how happy that last addition makes me Turi. Thankyou so much. I feel like I am running out of birthday presents.

I finally learned black magic.
We now have two really nice toys:
Jog/Shuttle, interactive scrubbing that loops between start and end frames, and
Slide Grab, the slide edit made interactive.

That sounds exciting Turi. I thought you couldn’t read mouse?

Oooooh, that soooo good! Grab slide is sweet!
thank you, thank you,thank you,thank you,thank you,thank you.

Hurray! Thank you :slight_smile: With distribute, can I select a bunch of images or vid clips and have them automaticly spaced sequentially in the timeline?

Epic! Thanks a lot. I’m a little overwhelmed now, but after just two minutes of playing around with it, I can see that the “Skip One Frame” and “Ripple Delete” are already part of my arsenal. Thanks!

Thank you thank you thank you!