Table of Contents

The Video Canvas

Gareth Casey Updated by Gareth Casey

The Video Canvas occupies the center of the Project Editor and shows you the image of the project that you are working on.

Naming the Project

The name of a project will displayed with the thumbnail on the Hub and will be used as the default filename when exporting your project when you have finished editing it.

Each new project will be given a default name of 'Untitled Project' followed by the date and time that it was created. This name is displayed above the video preview.

You can edit the name by clicking the button that appears above the video preview and changing it the default name to your new name.

Setting the Project Ratio

Depending on what you intend to use your video for, you may need to select a specific aspect ratio for the project. For example, if you want to upload to certain social media platforms, they may require a square aspect ratio instead of a rectangle aspect ration. Or they might require a portrait aspect ratio instead of landscape.

The current ratio that is being used is displayed below the bottom left corner of the Canvas. Clicking on will allow you to choose from a number of preset ratios or create your own custom ratio.

Note - This just sets the ratio, not the resolution. The resolution will be selected when exporting.

Setting the Project Background

By default, the Video Canvas will simply be black and you can then add whatever you want on top of it. However, you can changethe background to a different color or even an image.

Click Background below the bottom left corner of the Canvas to change the background.

You can then change colour by choosing from a number of preset colors on the Background panel that appears or create your own custom color by clicking More... at the bottom of the Background panel.

Or can set the image to be a background by switching to the Image tab of the Background panel to choose from one of the stock backgrounds or import your own image by clicking Import... at the bottom of the Background panel.

Adding Media

Media, such as videos, images, etc, can be added by simply dragging them from the Media Panel and dropping it on the Video Canvas. The media will then appear on the Video Canvas in the exact spot that it was dropped and will appear on top of all existing media objects that have already been added to the Video Canvas.

Repositioning Media

Any media object can be moved around the Video Canvas by simply clicking and dragging it to a new position on the canvas.

Objects can also be sent backward or brought forwards relative to other objects by right clicking on it ans selecting 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.

Resizing Media

Any media object can be resized by clicking and dragging the corners of the object. When resizing in this way, the proportions of the object will be locked so it will always increase in height and width together.

For Videos and Images, clicking and dragging on the edges of the object will allow you to crop the image down to just show part of the image. For all other types of media, dragging the edge will simply change the size of the object in that single direction rather than changing the hieght and width together.

Playback Size

When working on a project you may find that you need to zoom in or out to help you position objects better. Or you might want to switch to a fullscreen view to get a better idea of how the final thing might look when exported and played back in a video player.

You can adjust the zoom of the video playback by clicking on the zoom dropdown menu below the bottom right corner of the video preview and choosing one of the zoom levels. By default, the zoom level will be set to Fit, which will make the preview appear as large as possible without cutting off any of the image.

You can switch to fullscreen playback by clicking the button below the bottom right corner of the video preview.

How did we do?

The Timeline

Styling Media

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