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Interest points

An interest point marks a frame worth keeping. Interest points exist because a reel often cannot afford a shot's full length, and the first few seconds are rarely the part you wanted to show.

Press P to add one at the playhead.

How it works

Every interest point belongs to the video, not to a shot. P adds a point at the playhead, whether or not a shot is selected, and pauses playback. Pressing it again on the same frame does nothing.

A shot's points are whichever of the video's points fall inside its in and out points, worked out live. Nothing is copied: drag a shot's edge out and it takes in the next point, drag it back and it lets that point go. Two overlapping shots both have the points in the overlap, and splitting a shot needs no bookkeeping.

On the source timeline:

  • A point inside a shot draws as a white diamond.
  • A point inside no shot draws as a blue diamond, waiting for a shot to reach it.

So you can watch a film straight through, pressing P at every moment worth keeping, and mark the shots afterward.

A shot with no points is not missing anything. It counts as interesting from start to finish.

Three points dropped and one slid along, then a shot created over two of them, extended to take the third, and pulled back to release it

Edit points

On the source timeline:

Do this To
Drag a diamond sideways Move it to another frame. It can pass other points and leave the shot, and the playhead follows so you see the frame.
Click a diamond Jump to it and select it.
Double-click a diamond, or right-click it and choose Remove Point Remove it.

A diamond under the pointer wins over the band and markers beneath it. The selected point turns amber, and a point under the pointer shows a halo.

In the detail panel, Interest points lists the selected shot's points by Frame:

  • Change a frame in the table. It stays inside the shot, and a point moved onto another point's frame merges into it.
  • The remove button on a row removes that point.

The label beside the list says what it is showing: "No shot selected.", "Select a single shot to edit its points.", "No marked range -- the whole shot is interesting.", or how many points the shot has.

Every change to points is one undo step.

What this means when you…

  • …mark a shot over points you already added: it has them right away.
  • …drag a shot's edge outward: points that come into range join it, turning white as you drag. Drag back and they turn blue again.
  • …move a shot's edge inward: a point left outside stays where it is and leaves the shot.
  • …split a shot: each half has the points on its side.
  • …shorten a clip on a reel: the points do not steer it; When shortening does. See Holds and shortening.
  • …replace a clip on a reel: with Start replacements at the marked interesting point on, a longer shot starts at its first point. See Where interest points come in.
  • …build a draft reel with Trim to interest range: each shot plays from its first point to its last, or from its only point to its end. See Start a reel.
  • …arrange a reel: points show on clips as amber diamonds, and edges snap to them. See Snapping.
  • …export shots: each clip's metadata file carries its points, and importing the clip back puts them in place. See Export shots.
Containment, not references

A point belongs to whatever range contains it, evaluated live. Shots do not hold references to points, and points do not know which shots contain them. That is why there is no shared state to get out of sync, and why the answer to "which points does this shot have" is always "the ones inside it". Two points never share a frame: P refuses an occupied frame, and a point moved onto another merges into it.