Fusion's Timeline Tab is Painful to edit

Hi guys,

I've been trying to move some merges here and there in the timeline and man this is really so painful edit, comparing it to after effect it was so much easier but it just really is a downer to me, something sk simple as a muzzle flash is hard enough to cut when in AE you could use shortcuts

Maybe im wrong, maybe i still don't know how to use fusion efficiently and i find it sk difficult to get around it

Please is anyone knows a video that can help me understand the timeline better that should be great cuz i see many tutorials just not talking about the timeline or even using it

Im pretty sure that if not maby ppl talk about it, i believe that it is just a pain in the butt

Once again correct me if im wrong, i just want to educate myself qith the software

And many many thanks to all

I'm sorry but I can't figure out what is your problem with the timeline?

Hi Edwin.

By your description and you AE background, it seems that you are having difficulties with certain timeline operations, like:

- trimming and repositioning elements over time
- duplicating / copying and pasting operators and keyframes
- viewing / selecting just the keyframes you want

Although Fusion timeline has simlilarities with AE timeline, it has some important differences:

- the timeline pile order means nothing. You can rearrange and filter elements with no impact on your composition
- copy and paste works a little different in Fusion. It's not uncommon that you hit ctrl-C ctrl-V and nothing happens
- Fusion can display timeline items hierarchically, i.e. it can sort the lines based on the connection between them

I do not have a formed opinion if Fusion timeline is better or worse than AE timeline, but I have the impression that it is underestimated and underused by most people.

This is due to the fact that, as AE is layer-based, most of the work is actually done in the timeline itself. In Fusion, on the contrary, the flow area is where you spend most of your time, and you use the timeline just when you need it. For me it is not uncommon that I build an entire composition from the ground up and never touch the timeline at all.

I do not know any specific tutorial on timeline use, bit there are several of them that make intense use of it, like:

If someone knows more information on this matter it would be welcome. I think that is an overlooked topic.

I think the problem stems from the thought that the "timeline" is like a traditional editing timeline.
Although you can do some trimming etc in it, it is not what many of us thought of as a traditional timeline when we first moved to Fusion.

If you want to cut a merge on or off, or move it around, I would suggest adding keyframes inside the merge, then moving those around. (moving keyframes around in the timeline is fairly straight forward).

Thanks for the support guys

I believe that my issue is that i find the timeline uncommon for me since it works very different than AE

Maybe with the tutorials above i can have at least a clear understanding of it's full potential (also tips and tricks) because we all need it