Timeline

Bill 22Apr11: extensive changes - have I got this right?

The horizontal ruler above the tracks measures time from zero (the start of the track). Depending on zooming the ruler may span minutes of audio or give a "close up" view of a few seconds or fractions of a second.

This image of the ruler shows:

• The editing cursor (the black vertical bar)
• The playback start position cursor (the left-pointing grey triangle with short grey vertical bar)
  • When Quick-Play is not active (see below) the editing cursor and the playback start position cursor are always at the same point on the Timeline, and together are called the standard cursor.
• The playback cursor (the green triangle)

This image of the ruler shows:

• The editing cursor and the playback start position cursor (as above)
• The recording cursor (the red triangle)

This image of the ruler shows the result of clicking in the timeline, initiating "Quick-Play".

• The editing cursor position is unchanged
• The playback start position cursor moves to the point clicked
• The playback cursor shows the current playback position

This image of the ruler shows the result of clicking and dragging in the timeline, initiating "Quick-Play" of a region.

• The editing cursor position is unchanged
• The playback cursor shows the current playback position
• The playback region is indicated by the horizontal grey bar with arrows on each end.

This image of the ruler shows the result of clicking and dragging in the waveform.

• Instead of the editing cursor, a shaded region shows the time range of the selected audio.
• The playback region is indicated by the horizontal grey bar with arrows on each end.

Summary of ruler symbols:

• The selected region: (when present) is shown as a shaded region on the ruler. Pressing Play or Record on Transport Toolbar plays or records from the left edge of this region.
• The editing cursor: (always present when there is no selected region) is shown as a black vertical line. When Quick-Play is not active, the playback start position cursor is attached to it. Pressing Play or Record plays from this cursor position.
• The playback cursor: (when playing or paused during play) is shown as a green triangle. Clicking in the Timeline (without dragging) starts immediate "Quick-Play" playback from the click point, continuing to the end of the track.
• The record cursor: (when recording or paused during record) is shown as a red triangle.
• Quick-Play region: A selectable region that always plays "on demand", shown by arrowheads with a line connecting them. Select a region on the ruler by dragging with the mouse, and that region will play as soon as you release the mouse, even if audio is already playing elsewhere. Neither an already selected region or the editing cursor is affected by Quick-Play.

For other methods of navigating to playback points or areas, see Playing and Recording.