Timeline view design document (c) 2005 Edward Hervey

* How is the timeline handled in Pitivi ?

  The timeline follows the "View - Model - Data" design.
   _ Data is the gnonlin timeline (GnlTimeline)
   _ Model is the part which will be saved by pitivi
   _ View is the UI

  This design allows pitivi to have different 'views':
   _ The 'Simple' View : à la iMovie
   _ The 'Full' View : Allows every possible composition


* Simple View

  This view displays everything on one line. It is aimed to be very simple to
  use.

 * Display

   * Timeline
     _ The timeline contains one line, which acts as a summary of the underlying
     timeline.

   * Sources
     _ All have the same width (which doesn't mean it's fixed)
     _ Display a thumbnail of the source if it's video
     _ In normal situations, the sources follow each others without any gaps.
     _ Special Cases:
       * Gap between two sources :
	 => Black source (which can be removed)
       * Source A overlaps part of Source B:
	 => Display normally
       * Source A is over and "inside" Source B
	 (A.start > B.start, A.stop < B.stop):
	 => Display A inside B , but it cannot be moved in the simple View

   * Effects
     _ Effects applied on one source entirely have their icons displayed in the
       corner of the source

   * Transitions
     _ Show like a source (maybe half-width)
     _ Represent somewhat differently

 * Actions

   The simple view allows only SOME actions amongst all those available through
   the model:

   * Add a Source
     _ Sources are added before or after a source.
     _ Sources CANNOT be added next to a transition.
     _ Sources CAN be added next to an effect.
     _ Once the source is added, move the following sources later in time.
     _ If the source has audio, add the audio source.

   * Move a Source
     _ follows the same rules as 'Add a Source'
     _ If the source has audio, move the audio source too.

   * Remove a Source
     _ "Collapse" the following sources
     _ If the source has audio, remove the audio source too.

   * Add an effect
     _ An effect can only be added to one source
     _ There can only be at most one effect on each source

   * Remove an effect

   * Add a transition
     _ Can ONLY go between two sources
     _ If the adjacent sources have audio, apply an audio transition to the
     audio sources.
     _ Has a given duration on each source
     _ Overlaps the two sources
     _ move the following sources back in time

   * Remove a transition
     _ if there's an audio transition, remove it too
     _ Move the following sources back into place (just after the first source)


* Complex View

  * This is a representation of the actual model

********************************************************************************

* Model

  The model must:
  _ Have objects that offer a simpler interface to gnonlin.
  _ Allow the views to do all the actions they wish to do.


* Object Hierarchy

  Object
   |
   +---- Source
   |	   |
   |	   +---- FileSource
   |	   |
   |	   +---- LiveSource
   |	   |
   |	   +---- Composition
   |		   |
   |		   +---- Group
   |
   +---- Effect
	   |
	   +---- Simple Effect (1->1)
	   |
	   +---- Transition
	   |
	   +---- Complex Effect (N->1)

  * Object
    Base class for all timeline objects

    * Properties
      _ Start/Stop Time
      _ Media Type (None, Audio, Video)
      _ Gnonlin Object
      _ Linked Object
	_ Can be None
	_ Must have same duration
      _ Brother Object
	_ This is the same object but with the other media_type
      _ Factory containing more info on the object

    * Signals
      start-stop-changed : uint64 start, uint64 stop
      linked-changed : linked_object

    * Methods
      link_object(object)
      unlink_object(object)
      relink_brother(object)
      get_brother(object)
      set_start_stop_time(start, stop)

    * Virtual methods
      _make_gnl_object()
      _make_brother()

  * Source
    Base class for all sources (0 input, 1 output)

    * Implemented Methods
      _make_gnl_object()

  * FileSource
    Seekable sources (mostly files)

    * Properties
      _ Media Start/Stop Time

    * Methods
      set_media_start_stop_time(mediastart, mediastop)

    * Implemented methods
      _make_brother()

  * LiveSource
    Non-seekable sources (like cameras)

  * Composition
    Combines Source(s) and Effect(s)
    _ Sets the priority of the GnlObject(s) contained within
    _ Effects have always got priorities higher than the sources
    _ Can contain global effects that have the highest priority
      _ Those global effect spread the whole duration of the composition
    _ Simple effects can overlap each other
    _ Complex Effect(s) have a lower priority than Simple Effect(s)
      _ For sanity reasons, Complex Effect(s) can't overlap each other
    _ Transitions have the lowest effect priority
    _ Source(s) contained in it follow each other if possible
    _ Source can overlap each other
      _ Knows the "visibility" of the sources contained within

    * Sandwich view example (top: high priority):
	     [ Global Simple Effect(s) (RGB, YUV, Speed,...)	]
	     [ Simple Effect(s), can be several layers		]
	     [ Complex Effect(s), non-overlapping		]
	     [ Transition(s), non-overlapping			]
	     [ Layers of sources				]

    * Properties:
      _ Global Simple Effect(s) (Optional)
      _ Simple Effect(s)
      _ Complex Effect(s)
      _ Transition(s)

    * Methods:
      add_global_effect(effect, order)
      remove_global_effect(effect)
      add_simple_effect(effect, order)
      remove_simple_effect(effect)
      add_transition(transition)
      remove_transition(transition)
      add_source(source, position)
      remove_source(source)

    * Implemented Methods:
      _make_gnl_object()

  * Group
    Top-level composition

  * Effect
    Base class for effects
    Belongs to a Composition

  * Simple Effect
    Only has 1 input

  * Transition
    Has 2 inputs, considered as begin and end sources

  * Complex Effect
    Has n inputs
