Sequences

Several timelines in one project - a 16:9 and a 9:16 cut, cut-downs, alternatives - sharing its media and compositions, each with its own canvas, mix and delivery settings.

A project can hold several sequences: timelines of their own that share the project's media, folders, collections and compositions. Typical uses: a 16:9 cut and a 9:16 cut of the same edit, a 30 s and a 15 s version, a client cut beside an alternative, or a stringout of selects next to the edit. A project with one sequence (every project, until you add one) is exactly the document described above.

The open sequence is the document's top level. clips, tracks, markers, inPoint / outPoint, the canvas (width, height, fps, background, exportFrame), the mix (master, buses), the track switches and the delivery settings (delivery, outputs, encodeProfile) are the open sequence's. Every tool, op, export and the compact view work on them, as always. The others wait in sequences, each with its own copy of those keys:

"sequence": "main",                          // the open one
"sequences": [
  { "id": "main", "name": "Main" },          // the open one: its timeline is the top level
  { "id": "seq_v9", "name": "Reel 9:16", "width": 1080, "height": 1920, "fps": 30,
    "clips": [ /* … */ ], "tracks": [ /* … */ ], "markers": [ /* … */ ], "delivery": { "preset": "instagram-reels" } }
]

Opening another sequence parks the top-level keys in the open one's entry and brings the other's up, with a new revision - like any edit. A clip in a sequence that isn't open still counts: its media shows "used" in the bin, can't be removed while it is there (removeMedia and Remove from project refuse and name the sequence), and Replace file… trims it too; a comp it places can't be removed either. A project with one sequence named Main has neither key.

In the editor: the sequence menu at the left of the timeline toolbar (it shows the open sequence's name, and how many there are) lists them - click one to open it - and has New sequence… (a name, a canvas - the same as the open one, or 16:9, 9:16, 4:5, 1:1 - and, optionally, a copy of the open sequence's timeline to start from), Duplicate, Rename… and Delete… (click twice; the project is first kept as a version, so a deleted sequence can be restored from Projects → Versions). For the session each sequence keeps its own undo history, playhead and selection. The Export dialog, the Mixer, IN / OUT and the canvas settings all belong to the open sequence. Find timeline instances lists placements in other sequences too; clicking one opens its sequence.

Agents (fablecut_patch_project):

• {op:"addSequence", name?, id?, from?, width?, height?, fps?, open?:true} - from:"empty" (default; the open sequence's canvas and frame rate, no clips), "open" (a copy of the open sequence's timeline) or a sequence id (a copy of that one). width / height / fps change the copy's canvas: the clips keep their positions relative to the centre, and an exportFrame is dropped.
• {op:"inSequence", sequence, ops:[…]} runs ops on a sequence without opening it: clip and timeline ops, setProject (its canvas, markers, IN / OUT, delivery), setTrack, setBus, setFx on its tracks, and updateSequence (name, index) - not addSequence, openSequence, removeSequence or another inSequence. The user's editor stays where it is.
• {op:"openSequence", id} changes what the user's editor shows, and what fablecut_export, fablecut_frame {time} and fablecut_scopes render: do it when the user asked, or to export that sequence.
• {op:"updateSequence", id, set:{name?, index?}} renames or reorders one; {op:"removeSequence", id} deletes one (only when asked; the last one stays, deleting the open one opens its neighbour, and one holding locked clips or tracks needs force:true).
• The compact view and fablecut_status list every sequence (id, name, canvas, clips, length, which is open). A version's Compare reports each sequence's changes on its own, sequences added and removed, and which one was open.

Recipes: vertical cut of a finished edit - addSequence {name:"Reel 9:16", from:"open", width:1080, height:1920}, then inSequence ops to re-position or re-scale the shots and setProject {delivery:"instagram-reels"} in it; cut-downs - duplicate the edit as "30 s" and "15 s" and tighten each with the trim ops inside inSequence; selects reel - an empty sequence the user drops favourite takes on, cut into the edit from the Source monitor.