Table of Contents

The Timeline

Gareth Casey Updated by Gareth Casey

The bottom of the Project Editor is occupied by the Timeline.

Each time some media is added to your project, an object will be added to the Timeline to indicate when it will be displayed in the project. The duration that something is displayed for can be adjusted by extending and shortening the item on the Timeline.

The Timeline also controls how objects get layered on top of each other. For example, an object in the top track will appear in front of an object that is in a lower track.

Adding Media

Media, such as videos, images, etc, can be added by simply dragging them from the Media Panel and dropping then on to the Timeline. A timeline object will then be created for the media with the object beginning at the point on the timeline where the media was dropped.

If there are objects already on the Timeline, you can make the new object appear on top of the existing object by dropping it into a track above the existing object or behind it by dropping into a track below it. If tracks don't already exist above or below the existing object, a new track indicator will appear to tell you that a new track will be added to hold the new object.

Moving Objects

If you need to change when a media object appears in your project, you can simply click and drag the timeline object forwards or backwards along the Timeline when it starts and finishes without changing its duration.

Zooming and moving along Timeline

To help you manage all of the different objects on the Timeline, you can use the Timeline zoom slider to zoom in and out. If you need to focus very closely on a short section of the Timeline you can zoom in or, if you want to see a large section of your project, you can zoom out.

if you want to see the whole duration of your project, clicking the Fit button will automatically set a zoom level that achieves that.

You can also adjust the zoom level using your mouse by holding the Ctrl key and moving the scroll wheel. Or you can scroll backwards and forwards along the Timeline by holding the Shift key and moving the scroll wheel.

Setting Object Duration

The length of an object on the Timeline indicates it's duration. When a video, GIF or audio is added, the object will be sized to exactly match the duration of the media. For any other type of media, the object will just be set to the default duration of 10 seconds.

The duration of an object can then be adjusted by hovering the mouse cursor over either end of the timeline object and clicking and dragging to extend of shorten it.

Alternatively, the Split option can be used to split a single object into 2 smaller ones. The split will be made at the current frame.

Setting Object Order

If you have multiple objects displayed at the same time, you may find that they are displayed on top of each other in the wrong order. The order is determined by which Timeline track they appear in. Moving an object to a higher track will move it forwards and moving it to a lower track will move it backwards.

Alternatively, you can right click on an object on the Timeline and select from 'Bring forward', 'Bring to front', 'Send Backwards' and 'Send to back'. Doing this will also automatically change which track the object appears in on the Timeline.

Using Effects

Effects are applied by dragging the choosen Effect object onto the Timeline object that it needs to be applied to. In the Case of Transitions, it will be to a specific point at either end of the Timeline object but, for other Effects, it will be anywhere on the object.

When certain Effects are applied to a Timeline object, such as Transitions and Smart Zooms, icons will be added to the Timeline object to indicate that an Effect has been applied. Clicking on the marker will display the Effect's style properties in the Style panel so that you have customize them.

How did we do?

Working with Media

The Video Canvas

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