Timeline editing

The timeline combines visual, annotation, zoom, and audio tracks on one playhead. Editing rules depend on selection, clip type, project ownership, and available duration.

Add media and layers

Item	How it is added	Initial duration or behavior
Video	Add → Video or drag and drop	Asset duration divided by its initial playback speed.
Image	Add → Image or drag and drop	5 seconds.
Audio	Add → Audio or drag and drop	Asset duration divided by its initial playback speed.
Text	Add → Text or click the text-caption track	Saved caption-duration preference; 2-second fallback and 200 ms minimum.
Blur	Add → Blur	5 seconds.
Zoom	Click an available point on the Zoom track	Saved zoom-duration preference or 1.2-second fallback; fitted to the gap with a 200 ms minimum.

Timeline controls

Control	Range or shortcut	Behavior
Split	S	Requires one selected clip and a playhead strictly inside that clip.
Magnet	On by default	Snaps to timeline start/end, clip edges, zoom edges, and the playhead when the operation supports it. The ruler-derived threshold never falls below 20 ms.
Play / Pause	Space	Ignored when focus is in an editable field.
Skip Back / Forward	Toolbar buttons	Moves to the start or end of the timeline.
Playback Quality	Full, Half, Quarter	Changes preview resolution only.
Timeline zoom	100%–3200%	Buttons step by 50 below 500%, 100 below 1000%, then 250; Ctrl+wheel uses 25/50/100 steps. Saved after changes.
Time display	MM:SS or HH:MM:SS	Switches format when duration reaches one hour.

Selection

Gesture	Result
Click a clip	Selects that clip as the primary item.
Click another clip	Replaces the current clip selection.
Click a track header	Selects every clip on the track; the clip nearest the playhead becomes primary.
Ctrl, Cmd, or Shift + track header	Adds that track's clips to or removes them from the current track selection.
Click a canvas element	Selects the corresponding supported clip, caption, blur, cursor, or screen area.
Click empty space	Clears the conflicting selection where the active tool permits it.

Move, trim, and layer

• Drag a clip to change its timeline start; linked recording sidecars move together until unlinked.
• Drag the start or end handle to trim the active range. A clip must remain at least 40 ms long, and clips sharing a group ID trim together.
• Dragging media beyond the current end extends the composition duration.
• Drag visual track headers to change layer order.
• Moving a visual clip into another visual row can also reorder visual tracks.
• Disabled clips stay on the timeline but do not contribute to preview or export.
• A multiple-selection change is applied only to selected clips compatible with the primary clip's property.

Clipboard and deletion

Action	Availability	Edge case
Copy	A supported primary selected clip or zoom	Copies only the primary item, even when several clips are selected; the payload remains associated with its project.
Paste	A project is loaded and clipboard data is compatible	Items copied from another project are rejected.
Delete	Supported selected timeline items	Removes the selected item from the composition.
Unlink	A selected item has a recording-sidecar link	After unlinking, it can move independently.
Enable / Disable	Supported clips	Disabled media is ignored by playback and export.

Clip and canvas transitions

Property	Values	Default or constraint
Side	Entry and Exit	Configured independently.
Visual preset	None, Fade, Slide left, Slide right, Slide up, Slide down, Zoom in, Zoom out, Blur	Available for visual clips and canvas transitions.
Audio preset	None or Fade	Other transition presets are not available for audio.
Duration	1–5000 ms	500 ms; capped by clip duration minus the transition on the opposite side.
Visual curve	1×–5×	3×; not shown for audio transitions.

Hold Frame

Hold Frame freezes the selected video at the playhead and extends the still portion as a timeline item.

Requirement	Rule
Clip type	Enabled screen, video, or webcam clip with video media.
Selection	A compatible clip must be selected.
Playhead	From start + 40 ms through end − 40 ms, inclusive.
Frozen segment	1000 ms.
Linked media	Linked clips are split together, and the frozen segment can remain grouped with its audio sidecar.
Menu	Available from the supported clip's context menu.

Imported-media failures

Dropped files are validated before import. Beam reports unsupported extensions or codecs, invalid or empty media, decode failures, non-local sources, and project-import failures. If an imported video contains unsupported audio, the video can be added while its audio is ignored.

One import at a time

A new drag-and-drop import is rejected while another media import is already running.