Editing Clips and Sequences > Navigating the Timeline >

# Timeline Reference

Use these settings to help you navigate and perform tasks on the timeline. You can also right-click anywhere on the timeline to display a contextual menu of relevant operations for the type of element selected.

## Navigation

Positioner
  The “playhead” for playing the clip. The frame directly beneath the positioner is displayed in the Player or is the current location for an edit such as a dissolve or cut.
Focus point
  A horizontal line on the positioner indicating the current track.

Back button
  Click to move back one page in the timeline window.

Horizontal scroll bar
  To pan, drag left or right. To zoom the timeline, drag up or down.

Forward button
  Click to move forward one page in the timeline window.

Current Timecode field
  Displays the timecode of the current position. Editable.

- button
  Click to expand track height.

+ button
  Click to decrease track height.

Vertical scroll bar
  To pan, drag up or down. To zoom the timeline, drag left or right.

Timeline Search button
  Click to open the Find and Select in Timeline window to search the timeline using many different criteria.

Timeline Layout combo box
  Select an option to display the timeline.

  Select: | To:
  --- | ---
  Home | Reset the view of the timeline.
  Reset Height | Reset the height of the tracks in the timeline.
  Fit to Width | Reset the horizontal scale of the timeline.
  Fit Selection | Centre the timeline on the selected element.

## Rendering

Rendering combo box
  Select an option to render timeline effects. You can edit effects after rendering.

  Select: | To:
  --- | ---
  Render | Render the selected elements. This is the default option.
  Force Render | Force a render on a timeline effect that needs to be refreshed. Use this to force a render on a locked element, or when Smoke fails to recognize that a processed clip is no longer valid. For example, if you change a track in a complex vertical edit, you may need to force a render to update all the tracks in the stack.
  Render Proxy | Render proxies only, not the corresponding high-resolution images. An amber outline appears on the timeline segment to indicate the state of the rendering.
  Force Proxy | Force the rendering of a proxy on a timeline effect that needs to be refreshed.

  NoteIf Burn is present, additional options are available.

Depending on how a clip is rendered, you can see a visual representation on the render bar at the top of the clip on the timeline:

Render Bar: | State:
--- | ---
| Unrendered.
| Rendered.
| Partially rendered.
| Proxy rendered.
| Proxy partially rendered.
| Sent to Burn.

## Viewing

Timeline View Mode box
  Select a viewing mode for working in the timeline.

  Select: | To Display:
  --- | ---
  Timeline | Video and audio tracks in a timeline format with a positioner at the location of the current frame.
  Reel | A collapsed view (only the current frame of each sequence). Shuttle through the sequence by dragging the cursor across the bottom of the frame.

  TipIn Reel view, you can drag sequences to reorder them. If you switch back to Timeline view, the new order of sequences is maintained.

## Timeline Tasks

Timeline Task menu
  Select a task to perform on the timeline. Some of the options have sub-menus with more options.

  Select: | To:
  --- | ---
  New | Add new tracks or versions to the timeline.
  Edit | Perform various element or timeline editing operations.
  Rename | Rename the selected timeline element.
  Rename Track | Rename the selected track.
  Media | Break the link between an element's metadata and media or high-resolution media.
  Select All | Select all elements in the timeline.
  Deselect All | Deselect all elements in the timeline.
  Container | Work with containers on the timeline.
  Group | Create an edit sync group for selected timeline elements.
  Go To | Navigate to various areas of the sequence.
  Marks | Work with In and Out, Cue, or Segment marks.
  Stereo | Work with stereo tracks on the timeline.
  Cut | Add a cut to the selected element at the positioner location.
  Cut All Tracks | Add a cut to all tracks at the positioner location.
  Merge Tracks | Merge timeline tracks into a single track.
  Swap Effects | Copy timeline effects between clips.
  Lift | Remove the selected element from the edit sequence, and leave a gap in its place.
  Ripple Delete | Remove the selected element from the edit sequence, and close the gap.
  Close Gap | Remove a gap and collapse the elements to fill the gap.
  Commit | Manage your timeline to simplify or save space.
  Render | Manage render options for the timeline.

## Other Options

Timeline Options menu
  Select an option for working on the timeline.

  There are a number of audio options in this menu:

  Select: | To:
  --- | ---
  Scrub Audio | Enable scrubbing audio while dragging the positioner.
  Show Gain Animation | Display the animatable Segment Gain level.
  Show Waveforms With Effects | Display waveforms after an effect is applied to an audio segment.
  Show Waveforms Without Effects | Display waveforms before an effect is applied to an audio segment.
  Hide Waveforms | Not display waveforms.
  Increase Waveform Range | Zoom in on the waveform.
  Decrease Waveform Range | Zoom out on the waveform.

  Use the Rectangle Selection options to select how timeline elements are included in a selection when drawing a bounding box around them.

  Select: | To select:
  --- | ---
  Inclusive | All elements that are partially or entirely included in the bounding box.
  Partial | Only the portions of the elements that fall within the bounding box. Audio is selected on a sub-frame basis if Sub-frame Positioner is selected in the Timeline section of the Preferences menu.
  Partial A/V | Only the portions of the elements that fall within the bounding box. Audio is selected on a frame basis even if Sub-frame Positioner is selected in the Timeline section of the Preferences menu.
  Bounded | Only elements that are fully in the bounding box.

  Enable one or both snap options to include in the timeline snap criteria:

  - Snap To Positioner on Gestural Insert
  - Snap Includes Marks

  Enable Focus on Trim if you want the timeline positioner to snap to the transition while trimming, allowing you to view frames in the player.

#### Topics in this section

- Timeline Media Management Options

#### Related Information

- Timeline Editing Settings
- Media Icons and Selection Reference