Timeline view
Timeline view shows the positions and durations of clips relative to the Timescale. This view also displays up to eight tracks on which you can place various types of clip:
· Video, plus full-screen disc menus, titles and graphics: The video track contains the primary visual material in your production. See Video clips, Still images and Disc menus for more information.
· Original (or “synchronous”) audio: The original audio track contains the audio that was captured along with the video from your camera. You can manipulate the audio clips on this track to achieve various effects using insert-editing and split-editing techniques. See Insert editing and Split editing for more information.
· Overlay video and audio: Video and images placed on the overlay track can be used with the Picture-in-picture and Chroma key tools to give your video productions a professional appearance. Original audio for overlay video is stored on the linked audio track. See Two-track editing for details about the overlay track.
· Title and graphic overlays: Images placed on the title track will be rendered as overlays upon the main video, with transparent backgrounds. See Still images and Disc menus for more information.
· Sound effects and voice-overs: The audio clips on this track are mixed with the original audio track and the background music track to create the final soundtrack for your movie. See Sound effects and music for full information.
· Background music: The background music for your movies can be created to any desired duration with the ScoreFitter tool or imported with the CD audio tool. Your soundtrack can also make use of mp3 and other music files.
· Disc menus, chapter marks and return-to-menu links: This is an extra track that appears above the video track whenever the movie has at least one disc menu. See Disc menus for information.
Because many editing operations can be carried out only in Timeline view, you should choose it whenever extensive, detailed or advanced editing is required.
The video track normally takes precedence over all other tracks for trimming or deleting. This has several consequences:
· When you trim a video clip, clips running simultaneously on other tracks are also trimmed.
· When you delete a video clip, the time segment it used is also removed from any parallel clips.
· Clips that fall entirely within a deleted video clip’s span are also deleted.
These behaviors can be bypassed when necessary with a feature that allows you t
o “lock” any track independently of the others, thereby excluding it from editing and playback operations.
The padlock buttons along the right edge of the Movie Window, can be clicked to toggle locking for the corresponding track. Track-locking gives Studio insert-edit and split-edit capability (see Video clips).
The audio tracks can be individually muted with the mute buttons at the right edge of the Movie Window. These buttons have the same function as the mute buttons in the Volume and balance tool.
The equivalent operation for video tracks is effected with the hide buttons, which can be used to temporarily omit a track’s video from your project. This is especially handy to see what’s really going on while editing overlay video.
Studio gives you several types of feedback about your actions as you place clips in the Timeline view.
The status line: The status line area on the left of the Movie Window title bar displays messages as you place clips and perform other actions.
Placement symbols: While you are dragging a clip into position on the Timeline, Studio provides feedback to tell you whether the current placement of the clip is valid. The mouse pointer shape and the colors of the vertical placement lines indicate what you can and cannot do.
For example, if you attempt to drag a sound onto the video track, the placement guidelines turn from green to red, the mouse pointer changes from “copy” to “unavailable”, and the status line tells you, “Only scenes, titles, photos, menus and transitions on video track.”
Green placement lines with the “copy” pointer 
mean that an action is valid; red placement lines with the “unavailable” pointer X show that it is not.
Studio’s straightforward system of clip markers can simplify navigation within a project, especially one that is long or complex.
Markers can also be used to define start and end points for outputting a portion of your movie as a file or to the Web.
Controls relating to clip markers appear in the Movie Window title bar. In a new project, the only visible control in the group is the add marker button. The remaining controls appear only after the first marker has been added.
In a new project, the only visible clip marker control is the Add Marker button Œ. Clicking the button (or pressing your ‘M’ key) creates a marker at the position of the Timeline scrubber.
Once a marker has been added, the Add Marker button changes to Delete Marker, and the remaining controls appear . Notice marker tab ‘01’ at the scrubber position Ž.
As more markers are added, the Previous Marker and Next Marker buttons are enabled as needed . Studio renumbers markers to keep them in sequence , but leaves unchanged the name you provided, if any ‘.
A clip marker represents a particular frame in a particular clip. Even if that clip is moved around within the project, or trimmed, the anchor location remains unchanged. However, the marker itself can be moved, even to a different clip, by dragging it with the mouse.
The clip marker controls include:
· Add marker, Delete marker: In Timeline view, the add marker button is enabled whenever a clip is selected, provided there is not already a marker at the scrubber position. If a marker is present, the delete marker button appears instead.
· Previous marker, Next marker: These buttons allow you to step through the markers in your project. Unlike the add marker and delete marker buttons, these buttons are enabled in all Movie Window views, not just Timeline view.
· Clip marker title: If there is a clip marker at the Timeline scrubber position, its number and name are displayed in this text field (otherwise the field is uneditable). The displayed marker number is assigned automatically, and cannot be changed, but the optional name can be modified at will.
· Clip marker title list: Click the arrow button at the right of the clip marker title to open this list, which shows the number and name of each marker in your project. Selecting a marker moves the Timeline scrubber to the corresponding position.
Note: Once you have more than a very few markers in your project, managing them becomes simpler if you give them meaningful names. However, names are optional and, as noted above, Studio helps out by automatically keeping the list in time order.