The Magnetic Timeline is a quantum leap in video interface design. The power behind this methodology is evident. You now have the ability to grab and move clips in and out of the timeline such that moving one part of your timeline will not bump, nudge, overwrite, or completely mess up some other part of your project. This is a huge accomplishment.

Moreover, the need to maintain an elemental level of connection is vital. Apple does that in FCP X with the Clip Connections feature. It's more than just a simple visual indicator of what parts your project media is linked to while on the timeline. Clip Connections offers a powerful yet simple, easy way to maintain the linking of video, audio, sound, effects, and even graphics and music, allowing all media to be treated as a single contiguous element.

Clip Connections maintains content sync using just metadata, and it does so transparently. This is not how grouping or linking works in other software; here your content is bonded to the other elements, connecting invisibly without key commands or secret tricks.

As an editor, it's difficult to accept an NLE handling tasks without me directing the action. While not everything is handled perfectly, in my testing, the App was prone to error only when syncing surround-sound projects. In fairness, the error rate was not higher than if I handled the same files manually.

To get an idea of how to work with FCP X, start a new project from scratch. If nothing else, go out and shoot something specific for your first FCP X project, using the most modern tapeless camera you can.