Timeline, tracks & markers

Arrange clips in time, trim their ends, split and delete sections, control tracks, and use markers and snapping to make precise edits.

On phones and tablets, tap a track label such as V1 or A1 to reveal its controls. They fold back after an action or an outside tap. See the mobile workspace steps for closing, keyboard use and track-state indicators.

Read the timeline

The numbered ruler measures time from the start. The red vertical line is the playhead: the preview shows the sequence at this position. A clip's horizontal position is its start time; its width represents its length. The total duration appears in the timeline toolbar and beside the preview's current time.

A gap between clips is time without content from that track. Other visible layers can still appear there. A marker beyond the end can extend the visible ruler without extending the video's duration.

Add media clips

1. Use the top-bar Import button to add originals to Project files.
2. Click Media, then click the card you want to use. Videos and photos are appended to V1; audio is appended to A1. A card can also be focused with Tab and activated with Enter or Space.
3. To use the same file again, click its card again. Each click creates another timeline clip.
4. Drag the newly added clip to another time or a suitable track if required.

Dragging a media card onto the timeline also appends it to its default track. It does not insert it at the time under the drop pointer. Titles and built-in graphics follow their own creation workflow and can be placed at the playhead; see Text and Elements.

Select an item and place the playhead

Select a clip

1. Click the body of a clip, away from its narrow left and right edges. It gains a selection outline and its properties open on the right.
2. Read its name and track in the properties header. Click an expandable section to reveal its fields.
3. To select by keyboard, Tab to the clip and press Enter or Space. This also moves the playhead to the clip's start.

A normal mouse click on a clip selects it without necessarily moving the playhead to its start. Select the clip, then click the ruler at the time you want to inspect. The editor operates on one selected clip, caption, or transition at a time.

Seek or scrub

1. Pause playback for accurate placement.
2. Click the numbered ruler or an empty portion of a track to move the playhead.
3. Hold the mouse button and drag horizontally to scrub through the sequence.
4. When timeline Snapping is on, scrubbing can align to markers. Hold Alt during the gesture to bypass it.

Use the preview's Previous frame and Next frame buttons for individual frames. Left/Right do the same with editor focus; hold Shift to move one second. Up/Down jumps to the previous/next clip start or end. Home or I goes to the start; End or O goes to the sequence end. J and L seek two seconds backward and forward.

Move a clip in time or between tracks

1. Click and hold the middle of the clip, not an end handle.
2. Drag left or right to change its start time. Watch the clip, playhead, and any Snap indicator.
3. To change track, move the pointer over another row of the same kind while dragging: V tracks accept visual clips from V tracks; A tracks accept audio clips from A tracks.
4. Release the mouse to finish. The clip keeps its length and source selection.
5. Click Undo if the placement is wrong. You can also enter an exact Start in the Timing properties.

Clips cannot start before zero. Moving a clip does not automatically push other clips out of the way. Check for unintended overlaps or gaps, especially when placing several clips on one track. If linked audio/video is present, timing edits can move its linked partner too.

Trim the beginning or end

1. Select the clip. Zoom in if its end handles are difficult to target.
2. To remove material from the beginning, drag its narrow left edge to the right. This moves the start later, shortens the clip, and advances the source starting point.
3. To remove material from the end, drag its right edge to the left.
4. Drag an edge back outward to reveal material that remains available in the original. The left edge cannot reveal material before the original begins, and video/audio ends cannot extend past available source material.
5. Release, play across the edit, and use Undo if needed.

Dragging keeps a clip at least 0.2 seconds long. Photos can be held for a chosen length rather than ending like a recording. Timeline snapping applies to either trimmed edge; hold Alt while dragging to bypass it. Trimming is nondestructive: the original file is not cut or rewritten.

Set exact timing values

1. Select a clip and expand Timing in its right-hand properties.
2. Click a value, select its text, and type the new number. Press Enter or click away when finished.
3. Review the sequence around the edit. Use the timeline Undo button to reverse the change after leaving the field.

For example, Start 12 and Source in 3 begins the clip twelve seconds into your sequence using material from three seconds into its original. Do not set a recording's source point and length beyond the available original. Clip properties covers audio, transforms, color, resets, and further field details.

Split a clip at the playhead

1. Pause and select the intended clip.
2. Click the ruler to place the playhead clearly inside that clip, away from its ends. Use frame stepping if necessary.
3. Click the scissors Split button in the timeline toolbar, or press C, Ctrl+B, or Ctrl+K.
4. The clip becomes a left piece and a right piece; the right piece is selected. Each can now be trimmed, moved, or deleted.
5. Use Undo to join the edit back into its previous state.

The split follows a selected clip containing the playhead. If the selected clip does not contain it, the command can use a clip under the playhead on V1 or another track. Select the intended clip and place the playhead inside it to avoid an unexpected target. Linked partners are split together where the split falls inside them.

Alternatively, right-click inside a clip and choose Split clip here. This uses the clicked position rather than an unrelated playhead position. It is unavailable very near the clip's ends.

Delete clips and control ripple deletion

Leave other clips in place

1. Make sure Ripple editing in the timeline toolbar is off.
2. Select the unwanted clip, caption, or transition.
3. Click the timeline Delete trash icon, or press Delete or Backspace with editor focus.
4. Other clips keep their positions. A deleted clip can leave a gap. Click Undo to restore it.

Move later clips earlier after deletion

1. Click Ripple editing, the editing-behavior icon beside Snapping, so it is highlighted.
2. Select the unwanted clip and use the toolbar Delete button, the clip-properties Delete action, or Delete/Backspace.
3. Later clips on the affected track move earlier by the deleted duration. A linked partner can also be removed and affect its track.
4. Review neighboring tracks, captions, and markers before continuing. Ripple deletion is not a command to move everything in the entire project together.
5. Switch Ripple editing off when you no longer want this behavior.

Right-click Delete clip is a regular deletion that keeps later clips in place, even if the toolbar's Ripple editing toggle is on. Use the toolbar or keyboard deletion for ripple behavior. Moving and edge-trimming remain direct placement edits; do not assume that switching Ripple editing on makes every gesture automatically ripple.

Deleting a timeline clip does not delete the library card or the original file. If you remove a transition or caption, only that selected item is removed.

Work with linked audio and video

Videos with sound have linked picture and sound blocks. Select either block to see its linked partner highlighted. Silent videos have no companion audio block.

1. Select either block. The properties header shows Linked audio/video. On a phone, tap Properties in the tool rail to open the selected clip’s controls.
2. Move, trim, split or delete either block while linked. The same timing edit or deletion applies to its partner.
3. For independent sound editing, use Detach audio in the clip’s right-click menu or Properties. The audio stays on its own track and the video’s embedded sound stays muted.
4. Move, trim or delete the detached audio without changing the picture. Use Undo to recover a mistake and save the project to keep the result.

Linked audio and video

Use timeline snapping

1. Click Snapping in the timeline toolbar, or press S with editor focus. Highlighted means enabled.
2. Move a clip near the beginning, playhead, a marker, or another clip edge on the same destination track. Either moving edge can align to a nearby target.
3. Trim either end near one of those positions. A temporary Snap indicator identifies the aligned time.
4. Hold Alt while moving or trimming to bypass snapping for that gesture. Release Alt to allow it again.

Ruler scrubbing snaps to markers when enabled. Zoom in when several nearby targets are difficult to distinguish. Timeline Snapping is separate from the canvas Snap button above the preview; S changes the timeline setting.

Add, mute, hide, reorder, and remove tracks

Add a track and put a clip on it

1. Click Add video track or Add audio track in the timeline toolbar. Each icon shows the corresponding media symbol with a plus.
2. Find the new empty V or A row; scroll vertically if needed.
3. Drag an existing clip onto a row of the same kind. Importing another file does not automatically choose this new row.

Mute sound or hide a visual track

1. Find the track label at the left of its row.
2. Click Mute V1, Mute A1, or the equivalent speaker icon for that track. Click the resulting Unmute… control to restore sound.
3. On a video track, click the eye Hide… control to suppress that track, or Show… to restore it. Use Mute if you only intend to silence a track.
4. Check playback before export: these are project edits, not temporary solo-preview switches. Undo reverses them.

Change order or remove an empty track

1. Click the three-dot V2 track actions button, or the equivalent button on the desired row.
2. Choose Move track up or Move track down. Reordering stays within the video group or audio group. Visual order can change which layer appears in front.
3. To remove a track, first move or delete all of its clips, reopen the menu, and choose Remove empty track.
4. V1 and A1 are retained as the standard tracks. Remove empty track is disabled for them and for tracks that still contain clips.

Use Up/Down, Home/End, and Enter in the track menu; Escape or clicking elsewhere closes it. Track actions can be undone. There is no drag-to-reorder track header in this workflow.

Add, edit, navigate, and delete markers

Add at the playhead or a clicked position

1. Place the playhead at the desired time.
2. Click Add marker, the marker-with-plus icon, or press Ctrl+M. The Markers panel opens with the new marker selected.
3. Alternatively, right-click a timeline position and choose Add marker. This pauses playback and uses the position you clicked, including when the timeline is horizontally scrolled.

Edit its name, time, and color

1. Click Markers, the list-and-marker icon, or double-click a marker diamond on the timeline.
2. Click a marker in the list. Its name and time appear below; choosing a list item also moves the playhead to that marker.
3. Change Name to describe the position. Names can contain up to 200 characters.
4. Change Time in seconds. The step buttons follow the project's frame interval. Changing Time moves the marker, not the clips around it.
5. Click Color, choose a swatch or enter a six-digit hex color, then click Done in the color picker.
6. Close the Markers panel with its X, Escape, or an outside click. Accepted edits are already applied; use Undo to reverse them.

Jump or delete

1. Click a timeline marker once to seek to it.
2. Use Previous marker / Next marker in the toolbar, or Ctrl+Shift+Left / Ctrl+Shift+Right. These commands pause playback and seek strictly before or after the current position.
3. To remove one, select it in Markers and click the Delete marker trash icon, or right-click its timeline diamond and choose Delete marker.
4. Use Undo to restore a deleted marker.

Markers are saved with the project and can be placed up to 86400 seconds. The maximum is 1000 markers. Navigation buttons are disabled when there is no marker in that direction. Markers do not add pictures, captions, or extra exported duration by themselves.

Use the timeline right-click menu

1. Right-click the item or time you intend to act on. Opening the menu itself does not drag a clip or make an edit.
2. Click the action, or use Up/Down to move through enabled actions and Enter to choose. Home/End jumps to the first/last action.
3. Press Escape or click outside to dismiss without running an action.

For a keyboard menu, focus Timeline tracks and press the Context Menu key or Shift+F10. This opens the general timeline actions at the current playhead; it does not infer a pointer position inside a clip. Use a track's three-dot button for track actions rather than right-clicking its label.

Zoom, scroll, and change track height

1. Use the timeline's far-right Zoom out and Zoom in buttons or drag the Timeline zoom slider.
2. With editor focus, + or = zooms in and − or _ zooms out. Ctrl plus those keys also changes timeline zoom. These commands do not zoom the preview picture.
3. Scroll horizontally to reach later time and vertically to reach additional tracks. The timeline ruler and markers move with the timeline view.
4. Click Track height: … · change size, the track-height icon, to cycle through taller and more compact clip rows. Empty tracks remain compact.
5. Drag the separator above the timeline if you need to see more tracks at once; see Resize the workspace.

Zoom and row height affect your working view, not clip timing or export size. If a short clip seems difficult to select or trim, zoom in before trying again. For picture magnification, use preview zoom and pan.