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Version: 2.0.0-preview

Timeline

Use this tab to arrange and edit the elements in a scene along the time axis. You can add, move, split, and group elements on each layer. The tab also lets you control the playback position and manage the frame cache and markers.

Tab characteristics​

  • Open by default: Yes
  • Allow multiple instances: No

How to open​

Open it from the menu bar via View → Tools → Timeline.

Layout​

  • Timeline scale (top): The time-axis ruler. Shows the playback position, scene start/end bars, markers, and the frame cache.
  • Layer headers (left): Toggle each layer's lock / video mute / audio mute / solo state, and change its color and name.
  • Timeline panel (center): The work area where elements are laid out across time and layers.

You can drag the splitters between the columns to change their widths.

Working with elements​

Placing, moving, and resizing​

  • Drag an element's body to move it across layers or along the time axis.
  • Hover near the left or right edge of an element to resize it (drag the edge to change the start time or duration).
  • Hold Alt while dragging an element's body to drop a duplicate at the new position; the original stays in place. (When you drag an element's edge to resize it, holding Alt disables snapping instead.)
  • If an element is so small that only the resize handles are visible, hold Ctrl while dragging to move it without resizing.
  • While dragging, the edges snap to other elements, the scene start/end, the playhead, and the timeline origin. Toggle snapping from the empty-area right-click menu (Snap).

Selection​

  • Click an element to select it; Ctrl (or Cmd on macOS) + click to add to or remove from the selection.
  • Ctrl (Cmd) + drag on an empty area to select with a rectangular marquee.

Keyboard shortcuts​

ActionWindows / LinuxmacOS
CopyCtrl + CCmd + C
CutCtrl + XCmd + X
PasteCtrl + VCmd + V
Duplicate selected elementsCtrl + DCmd + D
Exclude (remove from timeline)DeleteBack
Delete (also delete the element file from disk)Ctrl + DeleteCmd + Back
Split by current frameCtrl + KCmd + K
Toggle group / ungroupCtrl + GCmd + G
Rename elementF2Enter
Snap scene start time to current frame[[
Snap scene end time to current frame]]
Switch to Razor ToolCC
Switch to Slip ToolSS
Switch to Roll ToolRR
Switch to Slide ToolDD
Exit the current tool modeV or EscV or Esc
Toggle Ripple EditBB
Close gap after the selected element;;
Close all gapsShift + Alt + ;Shift + Alt + ;
Go to next gapShift + ;Shift + ;
Go to previous gapAlt + ;Alt + ;
Add / remove markerMM
Nudge element 1 frame left / right, / ., / .
Nudge element 10 frames left / rightShift + , / Shift + .Shift + , / Shift + .
Nudge element 1 second left / rightAlt + , / Alt + .Alt + , / Alt + .

You can also rename an element by double-clicking it.

Playback and playhead navigation​

ActionWindows / LinuxmacOS
Play / pauseSpaceSpace
Step one frame back / forward← / →← / →
Jump to start / endHome / EndCmd + ← / Cmd + →
Shuttle backward / stop / forwardJ / K / LJ / K / L
Shuttle backward / forward (fine)Shift + J / Shift + LShift + J / Shift + L
Toggle loop playback//
Previous / next markerCtrl + ← / Ctrl + →Alt + ← / Alt + →
Previous / next keyframe (selected element)Ctrl + Shift + ← / Ctrl + Shift + →Cmd + Shift + ← / Cmd + Shift + →

Press J / L to shuttle backward / forward — press again to go faster — and K to stop; add Shift for finer speed steps. Toggle looped playback with /.

Press G to open the Goto timecode dialog and jump the playhead to an exact position. It accepts a timecode (hh:mm:ss.fff or mm:ss.fff), an absolute frame (#120 or 120f), a relative offset (+5s, -10f, +2m), or a marker-name prefix (@intro).

Command palette​

Press Ctrl + Shift + P (Cmd + Shift + P on macOS) to open a searchable command palette that lists the available editor and tool-tab commands, so you can find and run an action — and see its shortcut — without hunting through the menus.

Element right-click menu​

  • Toggle Enable element
  • Toggle Lock (a locked element cannot be moved, trimmed, split, or deleted)
  • Toggle Razor Tool
  • Toggle Ripple Edit
  • Split / Split by current frame
  • Cut / Copy / Delete / Exclude
  • Group selected elements / Ungroup selected elements
  • Rename
  • Change to original length (restore media elements and the like to their original duration)
  • Change color
  • Toggle Disable Thumbnails
  • Save as Template
  • Animation submenu: Finish editing / Bring to the top

Editing modes​

Choose a tool mode from the Editing Mode submenu in the empty-area right-click menu, or use one of the keyboard shortcuts above. Only one tool mode can be active at a time. The timeline shows a colored border and the mode's name while it is active; press V or Esc to return to the normal selection tool.

  • Razor Tool (C): Click an element to split it at that position.
  • Slip Tool (S): Drag a clip to shift its source-media window (in/out points) without moving the clip on the timeline.
  • Roll Tool (R): Drag a clip edge to move the boundary with its neighbor while preserving the total length.
  • Slide Tool (D): Drag a clip to move it while the neighboring clips compensate, preserving the total length.

Ripple Edit​

Ripple Edit (B) is an on/off setting, not a tool mode. It stays enabled until you turn it off, and Beutl remembers its state between sessions. When enabled, the following operations shift later clips on the same layer to close (or open) the resulting space:

  • Delete / Exclude / Cut
  • Trimming an element's edge

Locked layers stay in place. A locked clip acts as an anchor, so the ripple does not propagate past it.

Closing and navigating gaps​

Empty spaces between clips on the same layer are treated as gaps. Use the Gaps submenu in the empty-area right-click menu or the keyboard shortcuts below:

  • Close Gap: closes one gap. The menu command uses the gap at the right-click position; the shortcut (;) uses the gap after the selected element.
  • Close All Gaps (Shift + Alt + ;): closes every gap on every layer. Locked layers are skipped.
  • Go to Next Gap (Shift + ;) / Go to Previous Gap (Alt + ;): moves the playback position to the next or previous gap from the current frame.

Locking, muting, and soloing​

Locking elements​

Use Lock in an element's right-click menu to lock or unlock it. A locked element appears semi-transparent with a lock icon and cannot be moved, trimmed, split, renamed, or deleted. It also acts as an anchor for ripple and gap operations.

Layer toggles​

Each layer header includes four toggle buttons:

  • Lock: locks every clip on the layer. Locked layers are also excluded from ripple and gap operations.
  • Video (video mute): the layer is skipped when compositing video; its audio still plays.
  • Audio (audio mute): the layer is skipped when compositing audio; its video is still shown.
  • Solo: when at least one layer is soloed, layers that are not soloed are neither shown nor heard. You can solo multiple layers at the same time.

Working in the timeline panel​

Mouse wheel​

  • Wheel scrolls along the time axis.
  • Ctrl (Cmd) + wheel zooms in and out.
  • Shift + wheel scrolls vertically.

Right-click menu on empty area​

  • Editing Mode submenu: toggle Razor Tool / Slip Tool / Roll Tool / Slide Tool / Ripple Edit
  • Add Element / Add from Template (pick from items registered in the library)
  • Add Adjustment Layer (adds a Backdrop-based element; filter effects you add to it apply to the layers below it)
  • Paste (elements, files, or images on the clipboard)
  • Set start time / Set end time (snap to the click position)
  • Gaps submenu: Close Gap (the gap at the click position) / Close All Gaps / Go to Next Gap / Go to Previous Gap
  • Toggle Automatically adjusts scene duration
  • Toggle Snap
  • Settings (open the Scene settings tab)
  • BPM Grid (configure BPM, beat, and offset)
  • Zoom: 20% / 50% / 70% / 100% / 120% / 150% / 170% / 200%

Drag and drop​

  • Drop an item from the Library (drawables, templates, etc.) to add an element.
  • Drop a file (image, video, audio, or template JSON) to add an element.

Inline animation editing​

This feature shows a property-specific lane directly under an element so you can edit keyframe animations on the timeline without opening the Graph Editor tab.

Opening and closing​

  • Click the vertical three-dot menu (⋮) to the right of a property and choose Edit animation in inline view to add an inline lane below that element.
  • The same property's animation cannot be opened inline twice at once.
  • Close it with the × button in the inline lane's header (the property's animation itself remains).
  • The element's right-click menu → Animation → Finish editing closes all of that element's inlines at once.

Inline lane layout​

  • Header (layer-header side)
    • Reorder handle (drag vertically to change the order of inlines within the same element)
    • × (close) button
    • Open button: open the same animation in the Graph Editor tab
    • Property name text box (read-only)
  • Timeline side
    • A border showing the element's frame
    • The easing curve between adjacent keyframes (drawn upward or downward depending on whether the next value is higher, lower, or the same)
    • A diamond icon for each keyframe

Working with keyframes​

  • Left-drag to change a keyframe's time.
    • On release, the time is snapped (rounded) to the scene's frame rate.
    • The post-drop value is recorded in the undo/redo history.
  • Shift + drag moves the other keyframes in the same inline along with the dragged one (preserving their relative offsets).
  • Keyframe right-click menu:
    • Copy — copies just that keyframe to the clipboard as JSON.
    • Paste — pastes at that keyframe's position (if the type doesn't match, only the easing is applied).
    • Delete — deletes that keyframe.

Inline lane right-click menu​

Right-clicking an empty area of the lane (not on a keyframe) shows the following:

  • Copy All — copy this property's entire animation as JSON.
  • Paste — paste a keyframe or animation at the mouse position.
    • If the clipboard holds a keyframe: insert the keyframe at the mouse position. If a keyframe already exists at the same time, its value and easing are overwritten.
    • If the clipboard holds an entire animation: replace the existing animation in its entirety.
    • If the pasted keyframe's property type doesn't match, only the easing is applied.
  • Delete — delete this property's animation in its entirety (the property reverts to a static value).

Drag-and-dropping easings​

Dropping a Library easing item onto an inline lane behaves differently depending on the drop position:

  • If there is an existing keyframe near the drop position, it changes that keyframe's easing.
  • If there is no nearby keyframe, it inserts a new keyframe at the drop position and applies the specified easing to that transition.

Reordering and display order​

  • When multiple inlines are open on the same layer, drag the reorder handle on the header vertically to change the order.
  • The element's right-click menu → Animation → Bring to the top moves all of that element's inlines to the top of the layer at once.

Global clock and element clock​

When an animation's Use the Global Clock is enabled, moving the element does not change where keyframes appear — they are always drawn at the same time position regardless of the element's start time.

Timeline scale (top ruler)​

  • Drag the red scene start/end bars to change the scene's start time and duration.
  • Click a marker on the upper part of the scale to edit it; drag to move it.
  • Right-click the frame-cache display along the bottom edge for Delete All / Delete / Lock / Unlock.

Layer headers​

  • Drag the handle at the left edge up or down to change the layer's height.
  • Toggle Lock / Video (video mute) / Audio (audio mute) / Solo with the four buttons (see Locking, muting, and soloing).
  • Change the layer color with the color picker.
  • Change the layer name in the text box.

Auto-scroll during playback​

Depending on the Settings > Editor > Timeline auto-scroll during playback setting, the timeline scrolls automatically to follow the playback position during playback.

Source​