Bob and EricG... This is exactly what I was looking for... Thanks a ton...

As Eric said, you can pull the fader arm & press insert, but the fader arm isn't really doing anything - it's the flip-flopping of the buses that is telling the system to do a transition. So if you think about it, starting with Source holds (which tells the system to ignore the chosen sources) and then later switching those sources (which are being ignored from the start) doesn't tell the system what you really want to do; I'm going to assume that you're keying the Fast Forward on a keyer & want to undercut from the current on-air source to either a fixed source (like an M/E) or to a user-selected random source (like a choice of replay machines). For either method, start with source holds OFF on the A & B buses. Turn the keyer off (to protect you from getting a recueing FF on-air). Set up the DDR in point (either machine control, or P-Bus). If you're going to a fixed source, select it on the B bus - if not, the source doesn't matter. This is Keyframe 1. The next keyframe starts the Fast Forward (a keyframe duration of "..1" = 1 field long). The next keyframe turns on the keyer (a keyframe duration of maybe 1-2 frames could work, depending on your cue point). Insert another keyframe to account for the hold time necessary for your graphic to go full screen (the point at which you'll undercut). For the next keyframe, just select a different source on the A & B busses & press Insert After. A keyframe duration of "..1" will cause a cut, any other time causes a transition (depending on what you've selected as your transition type) Then insert another keyframe to turn off the keyer, then maybe one more to recue the Fast Forward. Now, do one of 2 things, depending on whether you want to always go to a fixed source or to a user-selected source: If the go-to source is fixed, turn on source holds for ONLY the A bus & press MOD, MOD. If the go-to source is random, turn on source holds on BOTH the A & B buses. If you ever have to make any changes, remember to turn off the holds & MOD, MOD before you start modifying sources...then turn on the hold(s) & MOD, MOD when you're done. Another way would be to just build a macro that (1) plays the Fast Forward; (2) turns on the keyer; (3) waits "X" amount of time; (4) selects the BKGD button on the M/E Transition panel; (5) presses either the cut or AUTO TRANS button (if doing auto trans, you may want to insert a step 4A where you change the transition time); (6) turns off the keyer. Now, your E-MEM only needs the 1st keyframe to call up the correct Fast Forward clip & have source holds on both the A & B buses (for random changes) or just the A bus (for a fixed source - KF 1 can have that fixed source on the B bus). Keyframe 2 can just send the trigger to fire off the macro or you can fire the macro manually. An advantage of this method is that if your transitions are all of the same duration, you only need to build the macro once & it will work with all the transitions - you use the E-MEMs just to cue up the Fast Forward (I guess that you could use macros to do that, too), so the impact of source holds is minimal.

I've always just pulled the fader bar and then hit "insert after" when I wanted to insert a transition on a timeline, whether it's source-held or not. i guess i do it that way just out of habit - that was the way I learned it and i've done it that way ever since. not sure if hitting the "auto-trans" and then hitting "insert after" would work as well, but I imagine it would, i've just never tried it. anyone?

Bob... Thanks so much for addressing at my problem for me. The first time I tried building a timeline with source holds already "ON", I wasn't able to get the switcher to cut at all. I would insert a dummy frame (after the frame with the trigger to run the Fast Forward), then punch both A and B busses and insert the next key frame on the time line where the cut was to occur. Should I have used the cut button instead? If you have time, would you mind taking through your set-up of a time line like the one I'm describing here? Thanks...

It sounds like you're "kind of" getting what you want when you build your timelines with Source Holds. The one thing to remember on Kalypso is that if Source Hold is ON on any particular keyframe, and you change ANY sources (especially background sources), followed by a MOD MOD - the switcher will behave in unexpected ways. Changing sources & Moding causes the switcher to attempt to execute a transition...that's just how the software was designed. So if you're doing cuts & you make changes to the B bus along your timeline, you're going to get an unexpected transition at the point where you did the change. This may also be why doing the Get/Put between registers may cause the issues tat you're talking about - especially if you make changes after the Get/Put. While it's clunky, the best way to avoid unexpected results is to always turn source holds OFF before making any crosspoint changes on the timeline, then do your MODs, then turn source holds back on, then re-MOD.