The ruler and playhead
The ruler is the strip of time above the tracks. The playhead marks one moment on it: the frame the preview shows, and the point where most edits land.
- Where
- The ruler above the timeline's tracks
- Agent tools
set_playhead
The playhead
Section titled “The playhead”The playhead is the coral line down every track, with a triangle head on the ruler. A click or a drag lands it on a frame.
Scrub on the ruler
Section titled “Scrub on the ruler”Click the ruler to move the playhead there, and drag along it to scrub. Pressing on the ruler pauses playback, and it stays paused when you let go.
While you scrub, you hear the sound under the playhead. The press plays a short piece of it, and the drag plays more as it reaches new frames. See Hear a scrub.
The scrub snaps like any other drag. Hold ⌘ to scrub without snapping.
A press within 6 pt of a marker’s line grabs the marker, not the ruler, so start the scrub beside it.
Lane clicks
Section titled “Lane clicks”A click in a lane doesn’t move the playhead. On empty space it starts a marquee selection, and a plain click there clears the selection.
The exception is a click on an action band, which moves the playhead to the end of that action so the preview shows its end state.
The edit point
Section titled “The edit point”These commands work at the playhead, so put it where you want the edit first:
| Command | Key |
|---|---|
| Clip ▸ Split | ⌘T |
| Clip ▸ Trim Start to Playhead | W |
| Clip ▸ Trim End to Playhead | E |
| Clip ▸ Freeze Frame | ⇧⌘F |
| Edit ▸ Paste | ⌘V |
| Edit ▸ Insert at Playhead | No key |
| Edit ▸ Overwrite at Playhead | No key |
| Mark ▸ Add Marker | M |
To place the playhead exactly, step by frames or jump around the timeline.
Ticks and labels
Section titled “Ticks and labels”The ruler’s ticks adapt to the zoom. Zoomed in, they mark single frames. As you zoom out, they step through 2, 5 and 10 frames, then 1, 2, 5, 10, 15 and 30 seconds, then 1, 2, 5, 10, 15 and 30 minutes, and at the widest one hour.
Labels use the project’s timecode format, Frames or Milliseconds, set in the Document tab. A timeline under an hour long drops the leading 00: from its labels so they fit.
The ruler also carries markers, the in/out range and the selected action’s span. Inside an open nest, it counts from the nest’s own start and shows no markers.
Following the playhead
Section titled “Following the playhead”The timeline scrolls itself to keep the playhead in view, during playback and after a jump. When the playhead comes within 24 pt of either edge of the visible part, or leaves it, the view moves so the playhead sits about a third of the way in.
With an agent
Section titled “With an agent”set_playhead moves the playhead and the preview, in silence. It isn’t an edit, so there’s nothing to undo. An agent that splits, freezes a frame or adds a marker without giving a time works at the playhead. See Tools: playhead, range and selection.