How to scroll timeline left/right --- keys, mouse wheel, anything!!

Nick111

Newbie Joined: Jan 26, 2014 10:04 Messages: 4 Offline

Solved by

Jul 27, 2016 16:45

The zooming of the timeline is confusing -- I always loose my bearings b/c of poor visual feedback about time scale. Also, I haven't found a keyboard shortcut to reset the timeline to fit.

To avoid zooming, I'd really like to use the mouse wheel to just manipulate the buttom horizontal slider. to go forward or backward in time!!!

Or keys or anything, except for mousing to the far-away slider itself. Bizarrely, the mouse wheel is bound so as to scroll the track lists vertically --- a function I've never needed. Shift-mouse wheel doesn't work. I must be overlooking something really simple?

Also, I can't figure out how to easily move the time marker by frame, second, minute according to keyboard shortcuts. There's a mechanism called "seek by" to change the meaning of "," and "." keys. That introduces a hidden mode (the little decoration of the seek symbols is not helpful). This violates a key tenet of UI design, but worse, I don't like it at all!!

Why can't I use various modifier combinations of the arrow keys to seek? Strangely, it appears the arrow keys are not bound to anything at all.

Thanks for tips or help!

Dafydd B

Senior Contributor Joined: Aug 26, 2006 08:20 Messages: 11973 Offline

Jul 28, 2016 04:30

Open PDR14,
Place KiteSurfing.wmv into Track 1
Select Modify
Pip Designer UI
Select Arrow Keys - direction movement. See the video position move.

Repeat action with Title Designer - create a Title.
use directional Arrow Keys to align.

There are limitations to what can and cant be changed. Adapt to what's available and see if going to
"Edit/Keyboard Hotkeys/Customize" helps.

Dafydd

Nick111

Newbie Joined: Jan 26, 2014 10:04 Messages: 4 Offline

Jul 28, 2016 12:10

Thanks, I think I see your point, seems like a legacy burden too me. Anyways, as a mininum suggestion: SHFT-scrollwheel should be bound to horizontal scrolling--- this is an expected and standard key binding. I've been trying to adapt over a couple of paid versions of the program. I'm still not there

Cheers

Dafydd B

Senior Contributor Joined: Aug 26, 2006 08:20 Messages: 11973 Offline

Jul 28, 2016 12:41

Perhaps you could adapt a workaround first provided for PowerDirector 9 users by Peter Ozpeter called PDSpeed.
Thread: http://forum.cyberlink.com/forum/posts/list/14452.page
DL = http://forum.cyberlink.com/forum/posts/downloadAttach/3082.page

Dafydd

Carl312

Senior Contributor Location: Texas, USA Joined: Mar 16, 2010 20:11 Messages: 9090 Offline

Jul 28, 2016 14:59

The easy way to fit the entire movie in the time is Right click on the time marks above the tracks > View Entire Movie.

No matter how much you are zoomed in, that will fit the whole movie in the Timeline.

If you know a time in the movie, you can type that time in the time display in the preview, Press Enter. PD will jump to that time.

In Clip Mode You can select a clip, that will place you at the start of that clip. Home key takes you to the beginning of the clip, End Key to the end of the selected clip.

Movie mode, Stop goes to the beginning of the Movie (00;00;00;00), End goes to the very end of the movie.

Pause (Space Bar or Toggle Play button) stays where you are. Toggle means Pause, Play, Pause, Play and so on.

Those are the ones I think of now. Carl312: Windows 10 64-bit 8 GB RAM,AMD Phenom II X4 965 3.4 GHz,ATI Radeon HD 5770 1GB,240GB SSD,two 1TB HDs.

Nick111

Newbie Joined: Jan 26, 2014 10:04 Messages: 4 Offline

Jul 28, 2016 16:51

Thanks, Dafydd & Carl, this rhymes more or less with what I knew -- may be helpful to other users as well. I know the issue has been discussed several times. The autokey solution has been downloaded > 1000 times. That should be a hint to Cyberlink that these usability issues should have been addressed long time ago (six years!!). Wow.