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Hierarchical editing

MMRecode treats the composition as a recursive media graph. The project is the root media timeline, and every media definition may own an ordered local timeline of child placements.

Media and placements are different​

A media definition has stable identity and contains the reusable content. A placement link puts that media into a parent timeline and carries instance-specific information:

  • source in and out points;
  • parent-local timeline range;
  • human-readable alias;
  • scale or presentation behavior; and
  • eventually transforms, opacity, masks, and typed parameter overrides.

One media definition can appear in several places. Cycles are rejected, but reuse is valid.

Paths identify context​

A path such as /Clip0/LowerThird follows placement links. Entering a path changes the authoring context and the local time shown by the timeline:

Film > ls
Clip0      |──────── video ────────|
Music      |~~~~~~~~ audio ~~~~~~~~~~~~~|

Film > cd Clip0
Film > Clip0 > ls
LowerThird |       [fx]       |
Grade      |==================|

At the project root, the timeline shows direct root placements. Inside Clip0, it shows Clip0’s children in clip-local time. Parent siblings do not remain permanently expanded.

The monitor does not follow cd implicitly. monitor project is the default and keeps a separate root-timeline playhead, so editing LowerThird previews it over the underlying project frame. monitor local explicitly isolates the selected object and its descendants; monitor toggle switches between the scopes. The local timeline playhead maps through the selected placement to the project playhead, so switching views does not jump in time or modify the project.

One command model​

Terminal input is parsed into typed, versionable editor commands. Scripts, future graphical tools, and natural-language frontends can produce the same operations:

terminal command ─┐
script            ├─→ typed commands → media graph → render intent
future GUI        ┘

This makes sessions replayable and testable without making shell strings the internal editor API.

Exact time​

Authoritative media time is rational, never floating-point seconds. Editor timecode is compact and frame-oriented:

  • 1:15 — one second and fifteen frames;
  • 2:01:15 — two minutes, one second, and fifteen frames;
  • out -0:10 — move the out-point ten frames earlier.

The active media context supplies the exact frame rate. Project, placement, and source time domains remain distinct.

Persistence​

Projects are readable, versioned .mmrecode JSON documents. They retain resolved authoring settings, stable identifiers, the recursive graph, placement ranges, managed relative media paths, and explicit external links.

Media fingerprints, relinking, portable collection, recursive generated-content compilation, and full audio editing remain future slices.