931476 - support for EDL

Status: RESOLVED WONTFIX

(Webmaker Graveyard :: Popcorn Maker, defect)

Description

[Pomax]

based on talks with Joerg Pfeiffer, it might be interesting to add in EDL support, to import clip sequencing information on top of one or more video sources imported from the web

We can then also add some UI that offers a selector for multiple possible playback sequences (dropdown, button, flip switch, whatever)

Comment 1

[Matthew Schranz [:mjschranz]]

What is EDL and can you explain further?

Comment 2

[Pomax]

Yup: an EDL (edit decision list) is a bit like a substitle file, but then for video cuts, breaking down a final cut as a sequence of clips with timestamps on when they kick in and what part of the clip gets played (basically clip+timeline information similar to what popcorn does).

Maybe Joerg can supply an example EDL file, showing the structure (it's plain text, but there's no official spec; most EDL exports conform to roughly the same rules though).

Comment 3

[Brett Gaylor [:brett]]

We actually did this in the early days of Popcorn Maker (Butter at this time).  We used this to import sequences from Final Cut Pro.

However, we discovered that supporting these professional formats was more resource intensive than we originally thought, and out of scope with the goals of - ie, teaching web literacy.

So this is an effort that was actually explored in 2012 and the team decided was likely not going to benefit our intended audience.

Comment 4

[Joerg Pfeiffer]

The background of my proposal to import an edl is different: It's not about being able to import the complex structure of a movie, it's about letting the audience influence the length of a video by zooming into the content with a slider.

Sounds a bit abstract, so I just made an example and wrote down my idea on my site:
http://joergpfeiffer.de/zooming-video-content

What do you think?