Segmentation of Timeline
========================

.A junction between the models
The term ``Segmentation of the Timeline'' describes both a data structure and a step in the
build process, which translates the structures of the *high-level-Model* into a corresponding
graph of Render Nodes. The latter is also known as the *low-level-Model* and can be seen
as a set of preconfigured render pipelines. When such a pipeline is ``pulled''. the render
computations are invoked. The _access points_ to all these pipelines are hooked into a
_backbone_ data structure, designated as the *Fixture* -- which breaks down each top-level
Timeline into a sequence of temporal segments: what differentiates these segments is the
topology of the Render Nodes in the pipeline; whenever a change in this topology is
necessary, a new segment is started. Such a change might e.g. be caused by a transition
between two clips, which has to cover a range of some frames.

As of 2025, this part of the model is only roughly drafted, mostly using placeholder code
to achieve some level of functional integration.

Detailed design planning and explanations can be found in the
link:/x/fwd/DevWiki.Segmentation.html[DevWiki: Segmentation].