Add option to horizontally centre the timeline

[latenitefilms]

You can kinda do this with the official scrolling timeline by hitting spacebar quickly twice, however, some Avid editors would like to have an action for just horizontally centring the playhead without changing the playhead position.

You can use this as a workaround in the meantime:

local fcp = require("cp.apple.finalcutpro")
local viewer = fcp.viewer
local contents = fcp.timeline.contents
local playhead = fcp.timeline.playhead
local viewFrame = contents:viewFrame()
local offset = math.floor(viewFrame.w/2)
local contentFrame = contents:viewFrame()
local playheadPosition = playhead:position()
local timelineFrame = contents:timelineFrame()
local scrollWidth = timelineFrame.w - contentFrame.w
local scrollPoint = timelineFrame.x*-1 + playheadPosition - offset
local scrollTarget = scrollPoint/scrollWidth
contents:shiftHorizontalTo(scrollTarget)

Michael Yanovich writes:

OK, helping an Avid colleague work his way through FCP intros. Everyone, meet Peregrine Beckman.

He has two questions for me that I was not able to answer. So I'm asking you guys.

1 -- imagine a timeline where you are working on a clip near the right side of the timeline. The playhead is parked over there too. He wants to scroll the timeline so that is in the center of the screen. In Avid, that's a keypress. For me, I use two fingers on my trackpad and scroll the timeline.
Is there a way in FCP to shift that section to the center using a keystroke? I've never even thought about that.
2 -- when using ctrl-P to do manual timecode entry... on Avid, on a clip with multiple timecodes (like a multicam with synched audio) -- you can choose WHICH of those timecodes you want the entry to refer to. Is THAT doable on FCP?
3 -- trimming... say you're on the A side of a trim, and you want to extend it. On Avid, you can press play and it'll play, and wherever you stop the playback, that clip has been trimmed to that new length. Is there an FCP equivalent?
I work in a different way than he does, so these are all things I have no answers to.