The PluralEyes Menus
This page discusses many of the important menu items in PluralEyes.
- File menu
- Edit menu
- View menu
- Window menu
- The Sync menu is discussed on this page.
- Help menu
- Audio Timeline menu
- Clip Timeline menu
File menu
This menu has fast options for importing and exporting in PluralEyes.
File> New Project
This command creates a new, empty PluralEyes project.
File> New Project from...
This command imports a project file from an editing application, and converts it into a PluralEyes project. For example, New Project from Premiere Pro opens a Premiere Pro project in the PluralEyes timeline.
This feature works a bit differently for each NLE.
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For FCP 7, it will detect that the application is open, and ask you which project and sequence you'd like to open. You also have the option of browsing to an XML file exported from FCP.
- For FCP X, Media Composer and Premiere Pro, a window will open to browse to the FCP XML, XML or AAF file that you exported from the NLE.
NOTE: This command opens an exported file, not a project file. For instance, it doesn’t open a .prproj from Premiere. Instead, it opens an XML file that was exported from Premiere.
- Vegas Pro is a supported NLE, but its workflow is different, so there is no New Project From command. Go here for the full import/export workflow.
Edit> Add Media Files...
This command imports media files into the bin that you selected. You select a Camera Bin or Audio Bin, choose Add Media Files, and any file you select will be added to that bin. Learn more in Importing Media Files.
Edit> Add Media Files for Takes...
This command adds media files as “takes”. You can alternately drag-and-drop files onto the Add Takes button.
Takes essentially function the same way as bins. The big difference is that you can consolidate takes (see below), but you can't consolidate bins.
When you add a take, the clip goes into its own bin and its own timeline track. This gives PluralEyes more flexibility to figure out how they all relate to each other. Even if you have a bin selected, this command will create a "Take" for each media file you import and will not place those files inside a bin.
Learn more in "Do It For Me" Workflow.
File> Delete Temporary Files
After exporting the Timeline for a project, use this option to safely delete the temporary files that it generates. Temporary files consist of audio content that has been extracted from video files. Read more in Temporary Files.
File> Export
If you want to change options before exporting, use the File> Export... command. This opens the Export Timeline window.
File> Quick Export
After you have set up export options once, use the File> Quick Export command to export with the most recently used settings. This bypasses the Export Timeline window.
Edit menu
This menu has controls for adding video and audio to your PluralEyes project.
Edit> Add Media Bin for...
A bin is a container for your clips. There are three kinds of media bins in PluralEyes: Camera, Audio Recorder and Pre-Recorded Music.
These three commands let you add each kind of bin. You must use a separate bin for each camera (“Camera 1”) and each audio recorder (Audio Recorder 1”). If you are syncing event footage with pre-recorded music, add a separate bin (“Pre-Recorded Music”) for those clips.
Learn more in Working with Bins.
View menu
This menu has commands for navigating the video and audio clips in the Timeline. There also viewing options for the Timeline.
View> Play/Pause
Plays through the clips in the Timeline. Shortcut: Spacebar.
View> Next/Previous Frame
Moves the playhead one frame forward or one frame back in the Timeline.
View> Next/Previous Second
Moves the playhead one second forward or one second back in the Timeline. The jump is measured from where your playhead is; it doesn't go to the next whole second. Shortcut: Shift + Right/Left Arrow.
View> Next/Previous Clip Edge
Moves the playhead forward or backward until it reaches a clip start or clip end. This make it easier to navigate quickly through each of the clips in a project. Shortcut: Up/Down Arrow.
View> Next/Previous Unsynced Clip Edge
Moves the playhead forward or backward until it reaches a clip start or clip end that has not been synced yet. This makes it easy to navigate to clips that did not sync, and then decide if there is a problem that you want to fix . These commands are especially handy when you have a large project with small clips that are hard to see in the Timeline unless you know where to zoom in. Shortcut: Shift + Up/Down Arrow.
View> First/Last Frame
Moves the playhead to the beginning or the end of the Timeline. Shortcut: Home and End keys.
View> Timeline Fit, Zoom In/Out
These menu items control the size of the Timeline by showing the entire Timeline, zooming in or zooming out. Their behavior matches the Zoom slider in the Timeline.
View> Refresh Timeline
Updates the layout of your clips to their default positions in the Timeline. This command can be applied before or after a sync.
The default position is where a clip is positioned in the Timeline before or after a sync. If you manually dragged clips or clip groups to other positions, creating gaps, then Refresh Timeline will restore their default position and remove unnecessary gaps.
PluralEyes tries to keep all the clips as far left as possible so there are no unnecessary gaps in the Timeline. If a clip is part of a clip group (and therefore synced to one or more other clips), the clip group is moved as far left as possible. It's kind of like that falling blocks game Tetris, but sideways.
Window menu
Window> Next/Previous Project
PluralEyes can have multiple projects open, and each project is represented by a tab in the interface. This command lets you move quickly between the projects.
Window> Exports
This command opens the Exports window, which shows a list of your recent exports.
Help menu
Help> Report a Problem
PluralEyes has a Help command that generates a problem report, so we can help you better. To create a report:
- Go to the menu item Help> Report a Problem.
- PluralEyes will open the Problem Reporting dialog, where you will have an opportunity to describe your problem.
- Press the Save button when you are ready to save the report.
- A ZIP file is automatically created and saved on your desktop. It includes your project file and .pep files.
- Attach the ZIP file to your message to us.
Audio Timeline menu
You access the options for audio clips from the Timeline menu.
Mix Audio Automatically
Choose this option if you want to hear only the tracks that are visible in the Viewer. When this option is selected, PluralEyes automatically mutes and unmutes tracks whenever you choose to view a different track, so only the tracks you can see in the Viewer are audible.
Mix Audio Manually
Choose this option if you want to view tracks without them automatically becoming unmuted.
Reset Volume Level for All Tracks
Select this option to hear the original volume levels of all tracks.
Show Frame Number
If checked, then the display of the playhead location will be shown in frames instead of as timecode (hours-minutes-seconds-frames).
Clip Timeline menu
You access the options for clips by Control-clicking/Mac [Right-clicking/Win] a clip in the Timeline. These options are also in the Sync menu, and are fully explained here.
