- Navigating with the playhead
- Controlling Timeline visibility
- Timeline header controls
Controlling Timeline visibility
Now that you know the basics of playing through and navigating the Timeline, you can learn how to customize the range of clips visible in the Timeline to focus on a specific area of the project you’re working on. In the process, you’ll also see how the Timeline can be customized in different ways.
The Timeline View controls at the far left, above the Timeline, let you define how much of the Timeline is visible while you work.
By default, the All button is enabled, which sets SpeedGrade to always show every clip in the Timeline, no matter how many there are. This is an absolute view of your project that makes it fast to navigate. However, long Timelines with a lot of clips may appear a bit crowded.
- Click the All button to turn it off, and then press the spacebar to initiate playback.
- Press Alt (Option) and push the scroll wheel of your mouse up to zoom into the Timeline. Keep Alt (Option) pressed and roll the scroll wheel of your mouse down to zoom out of the Timeline.
- Click 6s.
- Drag the playhead to timecode 00:00:45:17 (or thereabouts), and click the Set In Point button (to the left of the Monitor Transport controls) or press I.
- Next, drag the playhead to 00:00:54:07, click the Set Out Point button (or press O), and then click the |...| button (between the 6s and All buttons).
- Double-click the clip that currently intersects the playhead. Then click the Loop button once so it resembles a left and right arrow, and press the spacebar to begin playback. Double-clicking a clip in the Timeline automatically sets the In and Out points to the duration of that clip.
With All disabled, the Timeline is always centered on the current position of the playhead, which remains fixed. Playing your project or moving the playhead in this mode has the effect of scrolling the Timeline.
In addition, the Timeline zooms all the way in, so that you can’t really see that much of your project.
The two buttons labeled 6s and |...| to the right of the All button are for changing the Timeline zoom level to preset amounts. These can be useful if you’re not using a mouse.
The Timeline zooms in to the six seconds immediately surrounding the playhead.
This zooms the Timeline to the section defined by the In and Out points you’ve created. As you play through the clip, the zoomed in section of the Timeline scrolls from right to left as the playhead stays locked in the center of the Timeline.
Now is a good time to quickly loop the clip. The Loop button is to the right of the Monitor Transport controls; it’s default mode is “loop from the beginning,” with the loop points defined by the Timeline’s In and Out points. If you play the Timeline right now, you’ll find that you’re looping the same section of the Timeline that you’ve zoomed into.
The Loop button has three states, which you can select among by clicking the Loop button repeatedly.
The second loop mode is a “ping pong” effect, where you play forward, reverse from the beginning of a clip to the end, and then play back to the beginning again.
The third loop mode disables looping altogether.