Working with the Timeline

The timeline allows you to adjust objects in time and visually displays the order of objects.

There is a direct connection between objects in the timeline and objects in the scene editor. For example, when you select an object in the timeline, the same object gets selected in the editor; when you delete an object from the timeline, it is also deleted from the editor and vice versa. In fact this is the same object shown both in the scene editor and in the timeline.

Using the timeline you can adjust the moment an object appears in the scene and the duration. With the cursor you can select the current time in the editor, and the entire scene is redrawn in accordance with the current time marker. The current time in the editor is displayed in the status bar below the timeline, the status bar also displays the beginning and the end of the working area (selection).

You can adjust objects using the right-click menu. Any object can be copied, cut or pasted to and from the clipboard. Additionally, you can rearrange objects with the corresponding menu commands. The “Move cursor to begin/end” menu commands allow you to change the current time position and set it to the moment when an object appears or hides. The “Properties” menu command displays the object properties window.

When you select an object in the timeline, an additional tab with the name of that object is opened. Clicking this tab opens the edit mode of that object so you can add other objects to it or apply effects. The timeline will display the contents of the currently edited object. If you want to get back to editing the scene, you should click the tab with the name of the scene (it always the first). You can also switch to the object edit mode with a double-click on the name of an object in the timeline.

Note, when you edit a scene or a sprite, the order of objects in the timeline is reversed, that is, the first object in the timeline is shown the last one in the editor (above all others). At the same time the order of effects is direct and displays the order filters get applied to an object.

If you double-click one of blocks in the timeline, the working area corresponding to that block’s position and duration becomes selected. You can also select a working area using the corresponding toolbar (see below). Alternatively, you can click the timeline in the timeline window, hold the mouse button and select the desired range, then release the mouse. Another way to manage the working area is to control its markers directly. Move beginning or end markers with mouse to adjust the time position of the corresponding end of the work area.

The “Zoomtools” toolbar

This toolbar allows you to change the time scale in the timeline. It has the following elements: increase scale, decrease scale, minimum scale and the scale adjustment slider. You can also set the scale to fit the selected work area. Select a range in the timeline and then click the corresponding button on the toolbar.

The “Management tools” toolbar

The toolbar allows you to perform the following actions: switch between time/frame mode, move the cursor to the beginning of the selected object, to the previous second, to the previous frame, to the next frame, to the next second and to the end of the selected object respectively. Here you can also set the beginning and the end of the work area and to align its beginning or end to the cursor.

The “Blocksmanagement” toolbar

This toolbar allows you to manage blocks (objects) in the timeline; in particular it allows you to align blocks in the timeline by the cursor position, both by the starting time and by the end time. Here you can also align different blocks to each other so that one block would follow the other one immediately or with a certain time gap. This enables creating a scene where one object consequently replaces the other, instantly or after a while.

This software can be downloaded from Free Video Editor description page.