Customizing track views

Depending upon the Workspace, the Video 1 track will display one of two ways. In A/B Editing mode, it displays as three subtracks: Video 1A, 1B, and the transition track. In Single-Track Editing mode, the three subtracks are combined. In this mode, the Video 1 track can display as either collapsed or uncollapsed. When it is collapsed, all clips and transitions are combined on one track. When it is uncollapsed, the view resembles that of the A/B Editing mode, except you cannot overlap the clips, and the separate tracks still behave as one track. You get only a visual representation of the overlap. The uncollapsed view is useful for obtaining a more accurate view of the transition overlaps. Choose between the collapsed and uncollapsed views by clicking the Track Mode button.

Track modes are activated automatically when you select a workspace for editing. See Selecting an editing workspace. The setting of the Track Mode button is saved in both the project file and in the Premiere preferences file.

In both editing modes, the Video 2 track, by default, is available for superimposing clips over the Video 1 tracks, and you can add more tracks for additional layers of superimposed video. Similarly, you can use Premiere's multiple audio tracks to overlap sound. To add video and audio tracks, see Adding, naming, and deleting tracks.

You can put a video clip on any video track and an audio clip on any audio track. However, to use a transition, there must be a video clip on a Video 1 track. If you intend to superimpose a video track, it must be on any track other than Video 1. If your project uses more tracks than the Timeline can display, you can resize the Timeline window or scroll vertically to see the tracks that are out of view. You can also control the proportion of space taken by video and audio tracks, condense the vertical space of tracks by collapsing them, or hide tracks. Finally, you can prevent tracks from being included when you preview, play back, or export the video program.

To collapse or uncollapse the Video 1 track in Single-Track Editing mode:

Note: In Premiere 5.0, these modes were selected using the triangle in the track header, which in this version is used to display or hide keyframes and fade controls.

To resize the track heading section of the Timeline window:

Position the pointer over the right edge of the track heading section so that the resize tool () appears, and then drag the right edge.

The editing tools in the upper left corner limit the minimum width of the track header.

To change the proportion of video and audio tracks displayed in the Timeline:

Drag the split-window bar, located at the right side of the Timeline between the Video 1 and Audio 1 tracks. This feature works best when there are many video or audio tracks in a large Timeline window.

Editing Video > Using the Timeline window > Customizing track views