Can someone check something for me? It's an odd behavior I never notice before. If you have the Viewer set to a small size or are zoomed in on it, while you're skimming an effect in the Effects Browser, the Viewer always jumps to display zoomed to fit. Is that right? New? Just my system? Which could well be the case.

Thanks.

Hi Tom,

I can confirm this.

If you have the Viewer set to a small size or are zoomed in on it, while you're skimming an effect in the Effects Browser, the Viewer always jumps to display 100%.

Same thing happens with skimming through a clip: when you skim through the timeline the Viewer displays the video the way it is set in the Viewer Zoom level. But when you skim through a specific clip in that timeline the Viewer jumps to display the video at 100%. Regardless of how the zoom level of the Viewer is set.

Well, this doesn't work that way for me. I just tried everything you both tested and my viewer always follows exactly what my zoom level is set for. I tried at 50%, 75%, 100% and 200% and it remains that way when skimming browser event clips, media browser effects, transitions, main storyline and individual clips in the timeline.

I also tried it with using my second monitor for events, second monitor for viewer and single monitor for viewer and events. Am I misunderstanding something?

I only see it when previewing effects in the Effects Browser.

Correction:

I have tried this on a test machine that runs multiple OSes and FCPX versions for troubleshooting purposes. When I first did the test the machine was running 10.0.4 on Snow Leopard, and clip skimming was enabled. As I said these were the results:

When the Viewer is set to any zoom level, previewing an effect or skimming over a clip (if clip skimming is enabled) makes the zoom level temporarily jump to 100%. That is not a correct behavior, and here is a little video showing this issue:

files.me.com/ronnycourtens/u6wftl.mov


I have switched the test machine to run 10.0.4 on Lion (7.3) for a new test and these are the results:

When the Viewer is set to any zoom level, previewing an effect or skimming over a clip (if clip skimming is enabled) makes the zoom level temporarily jump to Fit. That's the behavior we are used to see and which I like.

This also explains why if the Viewer zoom level is already set to Fit and you preview an effect (or you skim a clip with clip skimming enabled) you won't notice any difference.

Here is a screencast of my situation where it seems to always work according to the zoom level set. Using OS Lion 10.7.4 (new update a couple days ago) and FCPX 10.0.4 on MacPro 12 core.

vimeo.com/42037986

Interesting. What computer is this? Wonder if it makes a difference if the browser is on the same screen. Maybe the size of the monitor is a factor.

And here's what ronny and I see:

vimeo.com/42039616

2008 MacPro, Radeon HD 4870, 30" Cinema Display, skimming in the Timeline shows up as Fit To Window regardless of what the Viewer is set to.

You mean clip skimming as opposed to timeline skimming, right Ben?

Tom Wolsky wrote:
Tom, this is tested on a MacPro 12 core mid 2010 model OSX Lion 10.7.4. 48GB ram, SSD drives and two 27 inch LED apple displays. It works the same for me whether I choose FCPX to run on one display, or whether I put the viewer on a second display or the events on a second display. By default I use both monitors with events on the second display, but I tested the viewer zoom in every possible configuration and it always works per my screencast.

Are you using the new 10.7.4 OSX Lion? I noticed Ronny was testing with Snow Leopard and then with Lion 10.7.3.

I am updating to 10.7.4 at this moment. Will post back as soon as I have tested again.

Yes, "Clip Skimming".

Just updated to 10.7.4. Tested again on the same machine (FCPX 10.0.4 on 12 core MPro with 30" Apple Display) using different internal boot drives to switch OS and got the same results:

Snow Leopard
No matter how the Viewer is set, clip skimming and effect previews switch Viewer setting to 100%

Lion 10.7.3
No matter how the Viewer is set, clip skimming and effect previews switch Viewer setting to Fit. Exactly as in the video Tom has posted and what Ben sees.

Lion 10.7.4
Same result as 10.7.3

Interesting that it's different in SL. I guess that's what prompted the change. 100%, while a good idea, can look weird when you only see part of the image.

Exactly. That's why I prefer the way it works in Lion.

So what have we learned here? I am inclined to believe that my system is working the way Apple intended the app to work....the viewer stays how you set it regardless of what you are previewing. Maybe the application behavior is different based on the GPU one has. Any thoughts as to which way is correct?

One question: when the Viewer is set to an odd amount and you use the clip skimmer what happens in the viewer?

I have two GPUs on this test machine, an ATI Radeon 2600 GT and a Cuda enabled Nvidia 8800 GT. Both show the same behavior. I also get the same results when using different monitors and dual monitors. Although I really don't mind the way it's working now I agree this is probably not the way Apple intended the app to work. Srange that three of us see exactly the same behavior and you see it differently. At the company I have a couple of bays with the same ATI card as yours. Monday I will do another check on one of these machines.

I just tested again with different odd sizes such as 81%, 78% and 63% and no change for me. It still previews exactly the way my viewer is set. I played around with various settings in the view menu and can't ever seem to get this to work differently.

And it does this with the clip viewer active? Skimming a clip like this:

www.fcpxbook.com/005.png


Apparently if I add an image to the forum the message is blank.