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PAV technologies University projects
Timeline Extended Project User Requirements
This document provides an introduction to PAV Technologies eQuinoX project and describes the
project requirements and basic design specifications for the Ben-Gurion University 4th year
computer science project. The project forms a component of work on PAV Technologies eQuinoX
project.
Introduction
eQuinox - is a visual work environment that fully integrates Sound, Video and 3D animation in a single user
friendly platform. Target users include cinema, gaming and video directors and post-production specialists
that need to integrate 3D animation objects and sequences into their Video shots as part of their production.
Integrated Media Types
eQuinoX HolaDeck
Today’s Technological Restrictions and Limitations
Manipulating and integrating 3D animation into video shots currently requires the use of several independent
software applications, where each application treats a different media type. Importing and rendering these
media types imposes a significant work redundancy on the entire process that results in extended production
cycles, requires massive resources and the result of which is unpredictable.
The eQuinoX Production Solution
eQuinoX tackles these issues by providing a single unified work environment that allows the post production
specialist to simultaneously view and manipulate all media content in an integrated media stage, called the
HolaDeck. Once satisfied with the positioning of all 3D animated elements with respect to each other and the
2D video content the sequences can then be rendered, producing predictable and reliable video output using
a fraction of the manpower and resources that are currently required in the industry.
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Project Title
Timeline extended functionality project
Timeline Extended Project Objectives
Extend the multi-channel timeline to support the following functions:
Transport Controls - Provide the functional controls for the buttons
Timeline Markers Pane - Build a Marker Pane containing a dynamic editable list
control for creating, altering and deleting markers within the timeline.
Jogger Wheel Controls - Enable the wheel, trap increment and Position locator
keyboard controls.
Video Channel Opacity Control - Provide the ability to change the opacity of an
individual clip as a percentage in an individual channel in the timeline via a popup
control.
o
Video Transitions
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Video Effects
Set In and Out Points for a Clip (Creating Clip Handles) - provide the ability to
set the in and out points of a clip.
Video Transitions - Provide the ability to select a transition from the Effects Tab
and drag and drop the effect on to a video track in the Timeline. By double clicking
an effect or transition on the Timeline you open the Dynamics Video Tools window.
The timeline enables the user to independently manipulate any of the timeline channels and the objects
within them while maintaining the interrelationship between channels.
GUI Elements
In order to extend the functionality of the timeline a basic timeline has been created and placed in a “Visual
Studio” project. The timeline structure is predefined and appears in the following graphic representation as
it appears in the visual studio project provided.
The “Timeline Window” screen shot shows the timeline project requirements, as they should appear in the
fully functional timeline window.
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Transport Controls
The Transport Controls provide a set of tools or functions that allow operators to move throughout the
timeline clip objects. The transport controls, as illustrated in the following screen capture, provide a set of
buttons that allow operators to move the timeline Play-head to specific points in the timeline; either in the
project that is represented in the timeline, or within the confines of an individual clip within the project.
Each control enables a different function similar to that of all players (generic controls). The functions include
the following:
Go to In Point - sends the cursor to the "In Point" marker.
Rewind - scrolls the video content backwards while displaying the motion in the
"Preview Monitor".
Fast Forward - scrolls the video content forwards while displaying the motion in the
"Preview Monitor".
Go to Out Point - sends the cursor to the "Out Point" marker
Mark - opens the "Timeline Markers" panel.
o
Opens an extendable list pane that contains an editable list of points on the
timeline that the user can edit to add or remove points to and from the timeline.
The list contains a set of columns and appears as follows:
In and Out Points
In addition to being able to move throughout the timeline, in and out points must be created along the
timeline itself so that the user has the ability to set a series of markers along the time line represented in a
list menu pane accessed by pressing the "Mark" button in the transport controls.
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Markers
The "In" and "Out" controls appear on the timeline and can be dragged to a certain position on the timeline.
These new positions must be updated automatically in the Mark list, as well as listing the position of any new
markers that are added to the timeline.
Jogger Wheel Control
The Jogger Wheel control is used to manually navigate the timeline by either typing or punching in a set of
timeline co-ordinates using time code to a specific point in the timeline, or by jogging to a certain point in
the timeline by using the wheel control.
An additional method for navigating throughout the timeline content is by moving to points set manually by
the user throughout the timeline, from marker to marker, using the "Tap Buttons" located on the sides of
the Jogger Wheel. This is especially useful when navigating in a long or intricate timeline that contains a
large amount of content or heavily edited clip content.
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Video Channel Opacity Control
Opacity control refers to the ability to alter the opacity of an individual channel containing a video clip. By
right clicking in the middle of a video clip an extendable menu control opens displaying a list of variable
options such as opacity, time stretch, video effects and dynamics. By selecting the opacity item, the user is
able to alter the opacity of the selected video clip by sliding a control or by entering a percentage in order to
affect the opacity of the clip.
The following illustration shows the timeline clip content detailing the right click menu list items and the
opacity controls.
Explanation
The illustration shows a video clip detailing the right click region and the respective right click menu. The
ends of the clip show the "Clip Handles" which represent the in and out points of the clip (visible content of
the clip). These sections are the spare clip content used for creating, setting and altering video transitions.
In and Out Points of a Clip (Creating Clip Handles)
The choice of transition alignment and duration are limited by each clip's handles--the number of available
frames beyond the edit points (in and out points of a clip).
For example, if the first clip has no handle frames, then the only available alignment option will be "end at
cut" Similarly, insufficient handles can limit a transition's duration, causing it to be shorter than the default.
Provide the ability to set the in and out points of a clip and save it in the video folder
in the projects tab in the eQuinoX project.
Video Transitions
By default, placing two clips next to each other in the Timeline results in a cut, a point at which the last
frame of one clip is followed by the first frame of the next. When the user wants to emphasize or add a
special effect to a scene change, a variety of transitions such as wipes, zooms, and dissolves can be added.
In most cases, you don't want transitions to occur during the essential action in a scene. For this reason,
transitions work best with handles, or extra frames, beyond the In and Out points set for the clip.
Provide the ability to:
Apply transitions to the timeline using the Effects window, and edit them using the
Timeline and the Effect Controls window.
Drag a transition to the edit point between two clips on the same track. As you drag
a transition to an edit point, you can control the transition alignment interactively.
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Timeline Project Assumptions
The constructed timeline must support and adhere to required file format parameters and settings for a
video file that contains; a stereo sound track, a 3D animated scene (containing dynamic characteristics) and
a Dynamic gridded table GUI path that represents the current position on any given point on the timeline.
The timeline must provide the user with the ability to follow and track progress through the timeline during
playback, and support mouse click functionality to identify and display the timeline object properties at any
time position on the GUI timeline itself.
PAV Provided Resources
PAV Technologies will supply the following resources to assist in development of the Timeline application:
A visual studio application containing the Timeline GUI and libraries for playback of
the video and 3D objects.
Icons to represent the timeline objects
Objects of the types to be used in the project, including video clips, 3D objects and
3D animations.
Links to relevant back ground information.
Timeline Functionality
For the purposes of design and understanding the timeline, functionality is compartmentalized into:
Channel functionality
Object functionality
Global functionality
Timeline Channel Clip Functionality
The user must be able to create additional channels by simply dragging the “GUI file representation graphic”
above or below the already existing video, sound or 3D animation file in the timeline window.
The following timeline clip methods must be implemented:
Activate the Transport Controls
Create the Timeline Marker panel
Activate the Jogger Wheel controls
Change the opacity of an individual clip
Set in and out points of an individual clip and save the in and out information with
the clip to the video folder in the equinox project bin.
Provide the ability to add a transition to the end of a clip and or between two clips
on the same track.
The methods should be able to be called via menus which will popup when the user right clicks on a channel.
The menus will contain only those methods which are appropriate to the state of the channel and type of the
objects which the channel may contain. In additional, these methods should be callable via specific hot keys
when timeline channels are selected.
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Timeline Object Functionality
The timeline must support the ability to import and insert objects registered in the eqx project into a
timeline channel as well as the ability to remove objects from the timeline channel. These objects will be
represented by icons that graphically display the active time span of the object.
The following timeline object methods must be implemented:
Insert objects into a timeline channel
Remove objects from their timeline channel
Stretch objects within their timeline channel
Condense objects within their timeline channel
Slide objects within their timeline channel
Move objects within their timeline channel
The methods should be able to be called via menus which will popup when the user right clicks on a channel.
The menus will contain only those methods which are appropriate to the state of the channel and type of the
objects which the channel may contain. In additional, these methods should be callable via specific hot keys
when a timeline channel(s) is (are) selected.
Timeline Global Functionality
Timeline channels must be synchronized, so that they will play in a consistent, predictable fashion. This
correspondence must be maintained both during editing, playback and through multiple sessions via saving
and restoring.
The timeline must support the following methods and functionality:
Set start and end markers
Set In and Out points
When playing, a moving cursor should track the corresponding position on the
timeline
Expand and contract the timeline resolution (Magnify)
Save timeline
Restore timeline
Merge timeline
Note: Refer to the “Direct X” SDK for additional functionality requirements.
Direct X is an open source Microsoft project that provides an extensive range of effect and
function scripts ideal for the development of audio visual software and can be used as a point
of reference and for research.
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.eqx Timeline File Format
The user must be able to load objects and save objects to and from the timeline as an eQuinoX project file
using the .eqx file format.
For information regarding the saving of resources in the timeline as an .eqx project file refer to
eQuinoX File Format Specification document.
Important Note
All project content must be updated via the PAV Project SVN, by the use of a user name and password
that will be provided to the project contributors. A specific project file will be created for each individual
project. Every update must include a detailed description of the changes and or alterations made to the
project.
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