| Video Edit Magic: Understanding the Timeline |
The first step towards producing good compositions, it is essential to understand the timeline. The timeline has been discussed briefly previously in this document. Now the timeline must be understood with an editing perspective.
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| Complete View of the Timeline |
This figure shows a portion of the timeline resized to accommodate the entire contents of the timeline. None of the components of this timeline are hidden so that they can be clearly identified and understood.
Out of the many components that make up the timeline of Video Edit Magic, the most prominent are tracks. These are the multiple horizontal bars that run across the entire stretch of the timeline. There are in all nine tracks in Video Edit Magic. Each track is labeled such that it relates to a group. If the tracks are to be categorized as groups then the tracks can be identified as:
One track out of the two video tracks can be selected and one track out of the two audio tracks can be selected. A selection is displayed as a thin line around the video and the audio track. Video and audio tracks can be individually selected. In the figure, Video 1 and Audio 1 tracks are selected (labels appear in bold). The Transition track cannot be selected. The Effect Track and the Volume Track can be selected only along with its corresponding Video or Audio track.
When the selection sliders are visible then a range
of timeline is selected. The range of a track that is selected appears with
a dotted rectangle spanning the selection sliders. The Link, Lock and Hide
option can result in a track not being selected.
When the selection sliders are not visible then the sources in all tracks can be
selected by clicking on them. A dotted line appears around the selected source
or sources. Multiple sources can be selected by pressing the Ctrl key and
then clicking a source.
The Effects and Volume tracks can be hidden or shown as desired. To hide/show effects track click the white square besides video track labels. The volume tracks can also be hidden or shown in a similar fashion. When Video Edit Magic is opened, the Effect Track associated with Video 2 and both the volume tracks are not shown.
A scale, right at the top of the timeline represents time. Time is expressed in the format ôH:MM:SS.LLLö. The first digit expresses hours (H), the next two minutes (MM), the next two seconds (SS) and the last three, after a decimal point, milliseconds (LLL) (1000 millisecond equals 1 second). All the tracks below this scale plot their contents as per the scale. The scale can be zoomed in and out by clicking the Zoom In and Zoom Out button from the timeline controls at the top left corner of the timeline (first two buttons). Zooming In and Out the Scale essentially means zooming in and out the timeline as the tracks use the scale to plot (display) their contents. The timeline can also be zoomed by going to Tools > Zoom In Timeline Scale and Tools > Zoom Out Timeline Scale or using the shortcut keys F6 and F7 respectively.
A track in general represents a stream of the added media file, an effect, a transition or volume variation corresponding to their types. When a media file that contains both audio and video is added to the timeline, the video stream of that file is added to the selected video track and the audio file is added to the selected audio track. The duration of the clip is represented on the track and plotted against the scale. In Figure 1, two separate media files û NewYear.wmv and XMas.mpeg are shown added to the timeline.
Streams, effects or transitions added to the timeline are collectively referred to as sources. The sources on the timeline are labeled by the file names, effect names or transition names. For instance the video stream of the file NewYear.wmv is displayed in Video 1 and the audio stream of the same file is displayed in Audio 1. The Effect and Transition tracks are similar to Video and Audio tracks except that they display effects and transitions (sources) respectively rather than video and audio streams and are labeled so. Each source can be can be individually or multiply selected by clicking on them. The volume tracks are unlike any other tracks. They display volume variation.
Learn about Using Volume Tracksà
The timeline also has three sliders running vertically across the height of the timeline. Each slider has a handle (in the scale) that is used to reposition them anywhere in the timeline. The slider with the blue handle is the Seek Slider and the sliders with the red handles are the Selection Sliders. The seek slider is used to preview the timeline. The sources that lie at the position (time) of the slider is displayed in the preview window. The seek slider is also used while editing.
To move the seek slider, drag its handle along the timeline. For better editing, you can also select the slider by clicking its handle and then tapping the Left and Right arrow keys to move the slider. To nudge the slider one millisecond at a time, hold down the Shift key while using the Left and Right arrow keys. When you select the seek slider or click anywhere on the scale, a small east-west double-headed arrow appears on the seek slider's handle.
The selection sliders, a start selection slider and an end selection slider, are not always visible. To bring them up click the Show/Hide Selection sliders button from the timeline controls at the top left corner of the timeline (last button) or select Selection Sliders from the View menu. The shortcut key F5 can also be used. The selection slider selects a range in the timeline. The selected range can then be edited. The Link, Lock and Hide options modify the way a range is selected.
Learn about Link, Lock and Hide Optionsà
Markers are cueing tools that are used to mark a particular position in the timeline. Markers can be added and removed to the timeline as desired by using the Add/Remove Markers in the Timeline controls at the top left corner of the timeline (middle two buttons).
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