Video Edit Magic: Preparing For Editing

Preparing for Editing

Once the files are opened in the Media Files list in the Collections window, they are available for editing.  To edit these files they must be added to the Timeline.

Adding Media Files to the Timeline

To start editing your media files and give them Effects and Transitions, they must be added to the Timeline.  To add media files to the Timeline:

1. Select one or more media files from the Media Files list in the Collections Window.
2. Select the Video and Audio track in the Timeline.  A thin line appears around the selected track.  Video Tracks and Audio Tracks are independently selected.
3. Go to Edit > Add to Timeline or use the F2 shortcut key to add the selected file to the selected tracks in the Timeline.

Add and Insert Options

You can add a media file present under Media Files in the Collections window to the Timeline by right-clicking on it and selecting any of the following options:

• Add to End of the Timeline: The source will be added at the end of the Timeline on the track which is currently selected.  E.g. If Video 1 track is selected then the source will be added at the end of the Video 1 track.
• Add to End of the Track: This option provides you different combinations of tracks and adds the media file at the end of those tracks.  Suppose you have selected Video 1 and Audio 2 then the video stream of the media file will be added to the end of Video 1 track and the audio stream will be added to Audio 2 track.
• Insert at Slider Position: This will insert the media file at the slider position on the selected track.
• Insert at Slider Position On: The user can select any of the track combinations provided.  The media file would be inserted at the position of the slider on those tracks i.e. the video stream would be in added in the video track and the audio stream would be added in the audio track mentioned in the combination.

Media files can also be added to the Timeline in many other ways:

1. Right-click the selected files and then select Add to Timeline from the context menu.
2. Right-click the selected files and go to Add to Track.  A list of all possible combinations of tracks to which the media files can be added will be presented.  Select the desired combination.  For example selecting Video 1 and Audio 2 from the Add to Track sub menu, the video streams of the selected media files will be added to Video 1 and the audio streams of the selected media files will be added to Audio 2.  This option works irrespective of the selected tracks in the Timeline.  Therefore even if Video 2 and Audio 1 tracks in the Timeline are selected, the Video 1 and Audio 2 combination will add the selected media files to Video 1 and Audio 2 only and not to Video 2 and Audio 1.
3. Drag the selected media file from the Collections window and drop it to any position on the Timeline.  This will add the streams of the media file to the selected video and audio track in the Timeline.  The slider will move to the position where the file is dropped.

If the "Fit to Timeline when adding sources" option is selected in the General tab of the Options window (Tools > Options), the Timeline is automatically zoomed out to accommodate the entire length of the added source(s).  Clear the option from the Options window if this behavior is not desired.

Zooming the Timeline

If the "Fit to Timeline when adding sources" is not selected and the media file that you drag into the Timeline has a very long duration then the complete file will not be visible.  If you wish to see the entire file, you may zoom the Timeline out using the Tools > Zoom out Timeline Scale menu option.  Continue zooming in or out until you find a view that is comfortable for your editing purposes.  Most users prefer to zoom out only to see an overview of their media in the Timeline and work in a zoomed in view at all other times (which makes it easier to work precisely with small time intervals).

Previewing the Timeline

Now that the sources are added to the Timeline, they can be previewed.  Just click the Play button in the Preview window and watch the preview of your Timeline.  The positions of the seek slider in the Timeline and the seek bar in the Preview move gradually to reflect the position that is being currently previewed.  The seek slider can be moved by dragging its handle.  When the seek slider is moved, the preview also changes to reflect the current slider position.  The same can be done with the seek bar in the Preview window.  As you edit your files in the Timeline, applying Effects and Transitions to them, you will have to preview your Timeline frequently.

Previewing a Selected Source

If you want to preview only a particular source, you can right-click on it and select Play Clip or double-click on it.  This is useful as you do not have to preview the entire Timeline.