Interface tour

The first time you open the studio the screen looks busy. In truth it's just four areas, and each one has a single clear job. Understand those four and everything else falls into place.

In one line: your material sits on the left, the result is shown in the middle, the timeline where you arrange it in time runs along the bottom, and the settings for whatever you've selected live on the right.

1. The media panel (left)

This is your store room. Everything that will end up in the video passes through here first, and from here you drag it down onto the timeline. The tabs at the top of the panel sort things by what they are.

2. The preview (middle)

The preview is what your viewer will see. This exact frame is what ends up in the exported mp4, so “if it looks right in the preview, it's right in the file” genuinely holds.

But the preview isn't only a window — you can work directly in it. Click a layer (a piece of text, an image) either on the timeline or right there in the preview, and handles appear around it.

• Grab it in the middle and drag — the layer moves around the frame.
• The corner and edge handles make it bigger or stretch it.
• The separate handle above it rotates it. Double-click that handle to snap the angle back to zero.

Play / pause

Space

Open the preview fullscreen

F

Clear the selection (and leave fullscreen)

Esc

3. The timeline (bottom)

The timeline is the video's time. Picture a strip that runs left to right: the far left is the start of the video, and time passes as you move right. Your material lies on that strip as clips, and editing is mostly a matter of moving, shortening and cutting them.

Zoom the timeline (around the cursor)

Ctrlwheel

Scroll the timeline sideways

wheel

Split the clip at the playhead

S

Jump back to the start

Home

4. The properties panel (right)

The panel on the right holds every setting for whatever is currently selected. It always answers one question: “what is selected, and what can I do with it?” When nothing is selected the panel is empty — that's not a fault.

1. 1

   Click a clip on the timeline

   The clip lights up to show it's selected, and the panel on the right immediately fills with the settings that apply to it.

2. 2

   Find the section you need

   The settings are grouped by kind: position and size in the frame, color, speed and volume, fades, effects. A different kind of clip gives you a different panel — select text and you'll get fonts, colors and outlines instead.

3. 3

   Drag a slider and watch the preview

   Every change shows up in the preview at once. Experiment freely — if you don't like it, Ctrl+Z.

The four areas together

In practice the work always goes round the same loop: take material from the media panel → drop it on the timeline and place it in time → watch the result in the preview → fix what you don't like in the properties panel. Then round again. All of editing is that loop, repeated.