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# Focus Clip and Focus Area

When a clip is selected, it is said to be the focus clip. Keyboard commands such as editing operations are applied to the focus clip. The focus clip is also the clip that appears in the Player and the timeline.

Focus also applies to the Record and Source Areas, as both the Record Area and the Source Area can have a focus clip. The area that has focus dictates whether it is a Source Area or Record Area clip that is the current focus clip.

The Focus box in the EditDesk menu indicates which area currently has the focus.

(a) Focus box

To work with a clip on the EditDesk, it must be the focus clip, and the area in which it is located must have the focus. The Record Area focus clip is represented in the Source Area by a clip proxy with a red border around it. The Source Area focus clip has a green border.

To make a Source Area clip the focus clip:

1. Click the clip in the Source Area.

   The clip border changes to green, indicating that it is the Source Area focus clip. Also, the Focus box changes to Source Focus indicating that the Source Area currently has the focus.

To make a Record Area clip the focus clip:

1. Do one of the following:
   - In a reel view, scroll to the clip using the scroll buttons.
   - Drag the clip you to focus over the scroll buttons in the reel view.

   The Record Area clip in the Source Area displays the currently focused clip. Also, the Focus box changes to Record Focus indicating that the Record Area currently has the focus.

To switch the focus between the Source and Record Area:

1. Do one of the following:
   - Click the Focus box to toggle between Record Focus and Source Focus.
   - Press F7 to change to Record Focus; press F8 to change to Source Focus.
   NoteTo switch focus, there must be a focus clip in the area that you want to have focus. The focus clip is the one that was previously selected in that area.

You can lock the Record Area or Source Area focus so that it does not change when you select clips in either area. This can be useful when editing clips. For example, if you are editing source clips to the record timeline (such as an overwrite edit), you may not want the area focus to change each time you perform an edit.

To lock the Record or Source Area focus:

1. If needed, click the Focus box to select the area on you want to lock the focus.
2. Click the LED light on the Focus box to enable it.

   The light turns blue indicating it is enabled. Once locked, the focus will remain fixed on the selected area regardless of which clip is selected.