Timeline basics

The timeline is where you arrange and edit your recordings. It displays all your content on horizontal tracks, showing exactly how your project plays from start to finish.

The timeline behaves differently depending on whether you're in recording mode or editing mode. You can switch modes by toggling the switch right above the timeline.

In recording mode, the timeline has limited functionality — you can position the playhead to set where recording will start, but span editing is not available since you're setting up what to record, not editing existing content.

In editing mode, full timeline editing becomes available: selecting and moving spans, resizing spans to trim content, editing span attributes, reordering and muting tracks, and all other operations described in this article.

Timeline components

Tracks

Tracks are horizontal lanes that hold your content. Each track contains a specific type of media:

• Video tracks hold screen recordings and camera footage
• Slide track holds your presentation slides

Track labels appear on the left side of the timeline. You can reorder tracks by dragging them. You can mute tracks to disable their audio.

Spans

Each colored block on a track is called a span. Spans represent portions of your content with specific timing. You can move spans along the timeline, resize them, and edit their attributes. You can mute video spans to disable their audio.

Playhead

The red vertical line is the playhead. It shows your current position in the timeline and determines what frame appears in the preview.

Time ruler

The scale at the top of the timeline shows time. It adjusts automatically as you zoom in or out.

Track types and compatibility

Not all spans can go on all tracks:

• Slide spans can only exist on the slide track
• Video spans (screen, camera) can only exist on video tracks

When dragging a span, it will only snap to compatible tracks.

Reordering tracks

Drag a track label up or down to change the track order. This affects how content layers in the preview — tracks higher in the list appear on top.

Muting tracks

Click the mute icon (to the right of the track name) to disable that track's audio. The video content still renders, but audio from that track is silenced.

Navigating the timeline

Zooming

Zoom in to see more detail, or zoom out to see your entire project:

• Scroll wheel while holding the zoom modifier key
• Use the zoom slider in the timeline toolbar

When zoomed in, you can make precise edits. When zoomed out, you get an overview of your entire project.

Scrolling

If your project is longer than what fits on screen:

• Scroll horizontally using the scrollbar or trackpad
• Click and drag the timeline background

Moving the playhead

To move the playhead:

• Click anywhere on the time ruler at the top
• Drag the playhead left or right
• Use Left/Right arrow keys to move by 100ms
• Use Up/Down arrow keys to move by 1 second
• Press Home to jump to the start, End to jump to the end

Working with spans

Selecting spans

Click any span to select it. A selected span shows a highlight border.

To deselect, click an empty area of the timeline or press Escape.

Moving spans

To reposition a span:

1. Click and hold the span
2. Drag it left or right to a new position
3. Release to drop it

You can also drag spans between compatible tracks (video to video, slide to slide).

Spans automatically snap to avoid overlapping. If you drag a span into another one, they'll shift to make room.

Resizing spans

To change a span's duration:

1. Hover near the left or right edge of a span
2. When you see the resize cursor, click and drag
3. Drag inward to shorten, outward to lengthen

The left edge adjusts where the span starts (trims the beginning). The right edge adjusts where it ends (trims the end).

Editing span attributes

Select a span to view and edit its attributes in the properties panel. Available attributes depend on the span type.

Splitting and deleting

Splitting spans

There are two ways to split a span:

Using the S key:

1. Hold S and click on the span at the point where you want to split

Using the right-click menu:

1. Right-click on the span at the point where you want to split
2. Select Split clip from the context menu

The span divides into two separate spans at the click position that you can edit independently.

Deleting spans

Select a span and press Delete or Backspace to remove it. A gap remains where the deleted span was — remaining spans don't automatically shift.

Keyboard shortcuts

Next steps

Now that you understand the timeline basics:

• Explore Transitions to add smooth visual flow between segments