Suppose that you have a hierarchical set of Sequencer sequences set up like this:
Master Sequence
Shot 1
Camera Cuts track
Camera translation track
Shot 2
Camera Cuts track
Camera translation track
Shot 3
Camera Cuts track
Camera translation track
Then suppose that there is some continuing action taking place through all three shots.
Where should this action be defined?
At first, one might think that adding it as a Subscene into the Master Sequence would be ideal:
Master Sequence
Shot 1
Camera Cuts track
Camera translation track
Shot 2
Camera Cuts track
Camera translation track
Shot 3
Camera Cuts track
Camera translation track
Subscene A (define the actual action during all three shots)
However, Subscene A does not play when scrubbing inside any of the Shots, even if opening the Shot via the Master Sequence so that the top-right corner of Sequencer shows the text “Master Sequence > Shot N”. As a result, one cannot see the action while trying to frame the shot.
It seems that to have the action show up while framing a Shot, then each Shot needs to duplicate whatever happens in Subscene A. This is indeed what some of the tutorials do.
The problem however is that it becomes impractical to edit Subscene A once it has been duplicated all over the place. One way to sidestep this seems to do this:
Master Sequence
Shot 1 (defines some Camera Cuts & camera movement)
Camera Cuts track
Camera translation track
Subscene A (the action)
Shot 2 (defines some Camera Cuts & camera movement)
Camera Cuts track
Camera translation track
Subscene A (the action)
Shot 3 (defines some Camera Cuts & camera movement)
Camera Cuts track
Camera translation track
Subscene A (the action)
Here, all “Subscene A” entries inside the Shots refer to one single Sequence asset, which is then simply positioned differently inside each Shot. This works, but involves unnecessary positioning (and re-positioning whenever changing the duration of any of the Shots). So, it does not feel ideal.
Am I missing something obvious or am I trying to mis-use the Sequencer editor here?
If not, then would it make sense to add an option to have all parent sequences play, too, whenever scrubbing a subsequence? This would permit the workflow suggested in the second listing.