Arrange clips in the Expert view timeline

The Advanced view timeline graphically represents your movie project as video and audio clips arranged vertically stacked tracks. When you capture video from a digital video device, the clips appear sequentially as they occur.

The Advanced view timeline uses a time ruler to display the components of your movie and their relation with each other over time. You can trim and add scenes, indicate important frames with markers, add transitions, and control how clips are blended or superimposed.

The zoom controls on the Advanced view timeline let you zoom out to see your entire video or zoom in to see clips in more detail. You can also change how the clips appear in the tracks and resize the tracks and the header area.

To edit to edit crisp and awesome videos quickly in Premiere Elements by understanding various panels and workspace, see Workspace.

Tracks in the Advanced view timeline

Tracks let you layer video or audio and add compositing effects, overlay titles, soundtracks, and more. You can add narration and background music to another track with multiple audio tracks. The final movie combines all the video and audio tracks.

By default, the Advanced view timeline contains three video (or images) and audio tracks. You can drag linked clips (clips that include both audio and video) to a track.

The video and audio components of linked clips appear together (the video and the audio) in their respective tracks (such as Video1 and Audio1). You may have to scroll up or down the Advanced View timeline to see the tracks.

If you drag and release a clip above the topmost video track, a new track is inserted. There is no limit to the number of tracks a project can contain. You can add or delete tracks anytime, even before adding clips.

A movie must contain at least one of each type of track (the track can be empty). The video track order is important because any clip in Video 2 also overlays the Video 1 track. Audio tracks are combined in playback, so the track order isn't relevant.

To know how to add Music Scores and Narrations to the Advanced Timeline, see Add Music Scores and Create Narrations.

Advanced view timeline tools

Use the Advanced View Tools in the program monitor to play a clip, stop playback, or change playback speed. Use the panels in the Action bar to add titles, transitions, special effects, and music. You can also add markers, open the Audio Mixer, or add narration. To know more about Audio Mixer, Time Remapping and Color Correction and Grading, see Tools.

Quick Tools in Advanced View Timeline

Quick Tools in Advanced View Timeline help streamline the editing process, allowing you to work more efficiently within the timeline. These tools provide quick access to common functions like trimming, editing, rearranging clips, and more directly from the timeline. 

Selection Tool

• Function: The default tool used to select clips, move them around, or adjust their start and end points.
• Use: Click on clips to select, drag to move, and hover over the edges to trim.

Track Select Forward/Backward Tool

• Function: Selects all clips forward or backward from the point you click, making it easy to move entire sections of your sequence.
• Use: Use when reorganizing large portions of your timeline quickly.

Ripple Edit Tool

• Function: Trims clips and automatically closes gaps created in the timeline, keeping the sequence intact.
• Use: Use this when you want to shorten or lengthen a clip without affecting the overall sequence flow.
• Keyboard Shortcuts: Ripple Delete: Backspace (Win)/ Delete (macOS)
  Clear: Delete (Win) or use the Delete button in Program Monitor (both Win and macOS)
  

Rate Stretch Tool

• Function: Adjusts the speed of a clip by dragging its edge, effectively speeding up or slowing down the clip while keeping the overall sequence duration.
• Use: Perfect for fitting clips into specific durations without manually adjusting speed settings.

Scissor Tool

• Function: Cuts clips at the playhead position or any point on the timeline.
• Use: Quickly split clips into smaller sections for precise editing.
  

Text Tool 

• Function: Allows you to add text directly to the timeline.
• Use: Click on the program monitor to create text titles and graphics directly in your sequence.

Remix Tool

• Function: Adjusts the duration of a music track to match the length of your video while maintaining the natural flow of the music.
• Use: Click the Remix Tool (found under the Ripple Edit Tool) and drag the edge of a music clip to extend or shorten it. The tool automatically rearranges the music seamlessly..

Rectangle Tool

• Function: Directly add rectangle shapes in the timeline, which can be used as overlays, backgrounds, or design elements.
• Use: Select the Rectangle Tool from the toolbar. Click and drag on the Program Monitor to draw a shape. Customize the shape's color, size, and position in the Titles and Shapes panel.

For more information on using Keyboard Shortcuts for the above-mentioned Quick Tools in Advanced View Timeline, see Keyboard Customisation.

Add a clip to the timeline

You can add clips to a sequence in the following ways:

• Drag the clip from the Project Assets panel to the  Advanced View Timeline panel or the Program Monitor.

• Use the Insert and Overwrite buttons in the Source Monitor from the contextual menu to add clips to the Timeline panel.

• In project assets, we can right-click > Insert into Timeline.
  

An overwrite edit adds a clip by replacing any frames already in a sequence starting from the edit point and extending for the length of the clip. Overwrite is the default method when dragging a clip to a sequence or when rearranging clips in a sequence.

With an insert edit, adding a clip to the sequence forces any clips later in time to shift forward to accommodate the new clip. When dragging a clip, press the Ctrl (Windows) or Command (macOS) key to shift into insert mode.

Align clips by using the Snap option

The Snap option, which is enabled by default, makes it easier to align clips with each other or with particular points in time. You can move a clip with the Snap option selected. The clip automatically aligns with the edge of another clip, a marker, the start and end of the time ruler, or the current‑time indicator.

Snapping also helps ensure that you don’t inadvertently perform an insert or overlay edit when dragging. As you drag clips, a pop‑up window displays the distance, in frames, that you have moved them. A negative number indicates you’ve moved them toward the beginning of the movie.

Drag video and audio to the Timeline

By default, when dropped into a sequence, the video and audio components of clips appear in corresponding tracks (for example, Video 1 and Audio 1) unless the clip's audio channel type is incompatible with the target track. In this case, the linked audio appears in the next compatible track, or a compatible track is created automatically.

However, you can alter this behavior by holding the Shift key while you drag.

The Program Monitor can help you determine where to position a clip you’re adding to a sequence. During an overwrite edit, it displays the frames in the sequence adjacent to the new clip’s head and tail. During an insert edit, it displays the frames adjacent to the insertion point.

Few Keyboard Shortcuts for Timeline

• Increase/ Decrease Video track Height: Ctrl+= / Ctrl+-
• Increase/ Decrease Audio track Height: Alt+= / Alt+-
• Go to next Edit Point: Up/Down
• Fit To Timeline:  \
• Nudge Clip Selection Five Frames left/ right: Alt+Shift+Left/Right
• Add Edit (Cut): Ctrl +K
• Add Edit to All Tracks: Ctrl + Shift+K
• Expand/Minimize All tracks: Shift +/-
  

You can place clips in playback order to create a sequence in a Timeline panel. You can also change the order of clips once they are there, replace them, remove them, or insert additional clips.

Move clips in a Timeline panel

You can drag a clip and place it in an empty spot or snap it to another clip. You can also insert and overwrite clips that you move. Watch the translucent rectangle that represents the clip’s duration as you drag it. To move multiple clips, select a range of clips, or move a group of clips. A tool tip displays the amount of time moved as you drag. The window displays a negative number if you drag the clip toward the beginning of the sequence, and a positive number if toward the end.

Overwrite is the default mode and is indicated by the Overwrite icon when dragging clips. Pressing Ctrl (Windows) or Command (macOS) as you drop a clip performs an insert edit. The Insert icon appears when you drag clips while pressing Ctrl (Windows) or Command (macOS).

By default, you can change the track location of either portion of a clip, audio or video, by dragging that portion. The other portion will remain in its original track. When you drag a part of a clip vertically into a new track, it will snap to its original time location in the new track, if Snap is turned on.

Move clips using the keypad

You can change the position of a clip in a sequence by typing the number of frames that you want to move.

Copy and paste at the playhead

You can copy and paste one or more clips at a time. The relative spacing (both horizontal spacing in time, and vertical spacing in tracks) of clips is maintained. You can paste and insert copies of clips into tracks, at any new playhead locations.

Copy and paste clips by dragging in the Timeline

You can copy and paste clips by dragging them and holding down a modifier key to a different place in the Timeline.

To copy and paste clips to a new place in the Timeline, do the following:

Clear and Ripple Delete clips

Clear allows you to delete a clip, leaving the gap behind. Clearing the clip leaves a space or gap where the clip used to be. The other clips in your timeline remain in their original positions, meaning that no automatic adjustments are made to fill the gap created by the deletion.

Ripple Delete allows you to delete a clip and automatically close the gap left behind. First, you can use this feature to select the clip or clips you want to delete. You can do this by clicking on the clip in the timeline. Once the clip is selected, right-click on it and choose 'Ripple Delete' from the drop-down menu.

Ripple Delete: Backspace (Win) and Delete (macOS)
Clear: Delete (Win) or use the Delete button in Program Monitor (both Windows and macOS)

Enable/Disable a Clip in the Timeline

Enable Clip option is used to toggle the visibility and playback of a clip in the timeline. This is useful for temporarily turning off a clip without deleting it from your project, allowing you to see how your sequence looks with or without that particular clip.

How to Enable/Disable a Clip in the Timeline:

1. Locate the Clip:

   • Find the clip in the timeline you want to enable or disable.

2. Right-click on the Clip:

   • Right-click directly on the clip in the timeline. This will open a context menu with various options related to that clip.

3. Select Enable:

   • In the context menu, look for the option labeled Enable. If the clip is currently enabled, this option will have a checkmark next to it.
   • To disable the clip, click on Enable to uncheck it. This will turn off the clip, making it invisible in the playback and preventing it from rendering or being included in the final export.
   • Verify Clip Status:
4. • Once you select Enable, the checkmark will disappear, indicating that the clip is now disabled.
   • To re-enable the clip, repeat the process and select Enable again. The clip will become visible and active in the timeline.

Grouping and Ungrouping Clips

Grouping and ungrouping clips in Premiere Elements allows you to manage multiple clips as a single unit. This is particularly useful for maintaining synchronization between related clips, such as audio and video, or for organizing your timeline more effectively. Here’s a detailed guide on how to group and ungroup clips in Premiere Elements:

How to Group Clips:

1. Select the Clips:

   • Click and drag a selection box around the clips you want to group, or hold down the Shift key and click on each clip individually to select multiple clips.

2. Right-Click and Group:

   • With the clips selected, right-click on one of the selected clips to open the context menu.
   • Choose Group from the menu. Alternatively, you can use the keyboard shortcut Ctrl + G (Windows) or Cmd + G (Mac).

3. Verify Grouping:

   • The selected clips are now grouped. When you move, trim, or apply effects to one clip, the changes will simultaneously affect all clips in the group.
   • Group is highlighted by selecting any clip in the group.

How to Ungroup Clips:

1. Select the Grouped Clips:

   • Click on one of the clips within the group to select it. This will select the entire group.

2. Right-Click and Ungroup:

   • Right-click on one of the grouped clips to open the context menu.
   • Choose Ungroup from the menu. Alternatively, you can use the keyboard shortcut Ctrl + Shift + G (Windows) or Cmd + Shift + G (Mac).

3. Verify Ungrouping:

   • The clips are now ungrouped and can be edited individually. The group indicator will no longer be visible.