Watchout 6.3.1 Bug Copying Tweens

[matkeane]

In Watchmaker version 6.3.1, I'm no longer able to copy/paste certain Tween FX between cues. After applying Hue & Saturation to one cue, and selecting the Tween track in the timeline sidebar, the 'copy' option is greyed out in the menu and the keyboard shortcut no longer works. I just opened the same project in 6.2.2 and 6.3.1 and I can copy/paste tween tracks as expected in 6.2.2. I haven't tried all the available tween effects, but Contrast & Brightness suffers from the same bug, while Opacity tweens copy OK. I didn't notice anything in the release notes about changes and, suffice to say that, on a project where the client wants colour correction applied to multiple cues, this regression is a real pain.

[TimB]

I just tried it out and had no problems with copy/paste. Did not try all of the tweens but Hue & Saturation and Contrast & Brightness worked fine for me.
Are you still experiencing this issue?

[wiesemann]

Could it be that this is actually on of those Windows 10 bugs? Had copy/paste/move issues -it suddenly stopped working) for some months in Exlorer, only restarting the Explorer process(es) would help. I even made a shortcut (.bat) for it on the desktop.

Since about two weeks or so this seems to be gone. After some win-updates.

[matkeane]

I think I have narrowed this down... I first encountered it during a show just before Christmas, using Win7 Pro producer machines, and was able to reproduce it at home (also on Win7 Pro production) in both the show file and a new test file.

I've just started a new test project and I can happily copy-paste opacity and scale tweens but not hue-and-saturation (copy option is greyed out in the menu)... that is, until I add a keyframe. Once there is a keyframe (for any of the hue/saturation/gain values), the 'copy' option is available in the menu. Same applies for other tweens.

Why do I want to copy a tween with no values set? Because I'm using it with a formula linked to a generic input, so that I can control the hue/saturation of several clips at the same time.

It looks like adding an initial keyframe with a default value allows me to set up a formula and then paste it to another clip, but it seems like copy-pasting of tweens is not always consistent though - opacity, scale and z-rotation tweens can be copied without keyframes, but not other tween effects. Scale and z-rotation I can almost understand, as they can be set in the UI without actually adding a keyframe, but I can copy an empty (no keyframes or formula) opacity tween track... Perhaps only tween tracks with a single property value can be copied without keyframes?

So I guess it's not a bug, just user error (would be nice if copy-paste behaviour were consistent though).

[jfk]

On 1/3/2019 at 7:24 AM, matkeane said:

...  It looks like adding an initial keyframe with a default value allows me to set up a formula and then paste it to another clip, but it seems like copy-pasting of tweens is not always consistent though - opacity, scale and z-rotation tweens can be copied without keyframes, but not other tween effects ...

Some tweens are always available with a formula, some tweens are only available with a formula if the media item is set to "More Effects and Capabilities"

Could this be a situation where the source media object is set to "More Effects and Capabilities" and the target media object is set to "Better Performance"?

[matkeane]

Hi jfk,

The source and target cues were identical (except stage coordinates). It was somewhat related to the other thread about large resolution video playback... 

Long story short - I hit the HAP import limit at 8000px on the production machine I was using, so split content into 4 UHD slices. Each video clip was made up of 4 separate cues on the timeline but, of course, that then meant that any colour correction had to be applied identically to 4 clips, which is why I was trying to copy-paste hue tweens with a shared generic input.

I set up (and tested) the tween and formula on the first video cue, and tried to paste it to the 3 other slices, but no joy. It was about 3am at this point, so I didn't really have the energy to go through all the options methodically to work out why it wasn't working but, as I mentioned earlier in this thread, once I had time to calmly reproduce the problem at the office (with the same media and also some small test images), adding a single keyframe (even if it's ignored by the tween formula) is enough to enable copy-pasting.