Nested Sequences (Compound Clips)

As your edits grow more complex, you may end up with dozens of tracks stacked with graphics, sound effects, adjustment layers, and video clips. Managing this complexity is essential.

Oraphim solves this by allowing you to nest a timeline inside of another timeline. This is referred to as a Nested Sequence or Compound Clip.

Why Use Nested Sequences?

1. Organization: Collapse a complex 15-track title animation sequence into a single clean clip on your main timeline.
2. Global Effects: If you want to apply a single color grade or a transform effect (like zooming in) to a collage of 10 different clips simultaneously, you can nest them and apply the effect to the master nest.
3. Reusability: If you create a customized intro sequence in its own timeline, you can drag that timeline into the Media Pool and reuse it across multiple different projects or episodes.

How to Create a Nested Sequence

1. On your active timeline, select the clips you want to group together. You can drag a marquee over them or Ctrl/Cmd click multiple clips across different tracks.
2. Right-click the selected group and choose New Compound Clip...
3. Give the nest a descriptive name (e.g., "Intro_Animation_Nest").
4. Click Create.

The multiple clips will instantly collapse into a single clip on your timeline. The resulting Compound Clip acts exactly like a normal video clip—you can cut it, trim it, and apply effects to it.

Editing the Contents of a Nest

A Compound Clip is not permanently rendered; it remains fully editable.

1. Right-click the Compound Clip on your timeline.
2. Select Open in Timeline.
3. Oraphim will open a new timeline tab containing the original, un-nested clips.
4. You can make any changes here (move a title, trim a clip, change an audio level).
5. When you are done, look at the bottom left of the timeline panel and double-click the "breadcrumb" trail to return to your main timeline. The changes you made inside the nest will instantly reflect in the master timeline.

Flattening a Nest

If you decide you no longer want the clips nested and want to return them to their original multi-track state on your main timeline:

1. Right-click the Compound Clip.
2. Select Decompose in Place. The nest will dissolve, depositing the individual clips back onto the tracks exactly as they were before.

Use Nested Sequences in a production project

1. Open Edit workspace and select the intended clip, edit point, track, or timeline range.
2. Establish the correct input state first—timing, media link, layer/node enable state, project settings, or source selection as relevant.
3. Apply or adjust Nested Sequences with one clear goal. Change the smallest set of controls needed to reach that goal so the result remains understandable and reversible.
4. Review the complete affected range in context. Scrub difficult frames and also play at normal speed when motion or audio is involved.
5. Save a named milestone before moving into another major operation, especially after graph changes, tracking, AI processing, relinking, simulation, or delivery setup.

Practical guidance

Nested sequences let one edit behave as a clip inside another. Use them to organize sections or versions, and verify that changes inside the nested sequence propagate as expected.

A useful test is a short 5–10 second section containing both an easy case and a difficult case for this feature. Tune against the difficult moment without breaking the easy one. If two approaches are plausible, duplicate/version the project state and compare them rather than stacking both together blindly.

Verify the result

• Play through the edit at normal speed and check upstream/downstream timing.
• Toggle/bypass the operation where possible and make sure the change you intended is actually responsible for the result.
• Check selection, visibility/mute/solo state, node connections, track locks, range, and source identity when the result appears missing.
• Save and reopen before treating a complex setup as reusable.
• If this feature changes final pixels or audio, render a short review and inspect the file outside Oraphim.

Related guides

• Clips
• Editing Overview
• Markers
• Multicam