Arranging Effects in Time: Difference between revisions

Latest revision as of 13:23, 3 September 2026

Effects in a composition live in time: each effect occupies its own strip on the Timeline — with a start, an end, and a duration. While the time cursor is inside the strip, the effect is rendered on the fixtures; outside it, the effect simply doesn't exist. By arranging strips along the scale and layering them on top of each other, individual effects are combined into a finished animation.

This article is about working with strips: how to move an effect, shorten it, place it exactly on the frame you need, and what happens at the boundaries of a composition. For the window itself and its panels, see Timeline; for adding effects, see Adding an Effect to a Composition.

What the Effect Strip Shows

Open a composition with a double-click in the Compositions window — its contents will appear in the Timeline window.

On the left are listed the layouts and the effects nested in them; on the right, on the time scale, are the strips of these effects. To see the effects of a layout, expand it with the arrow to the left of its name — a collapsed layout shows no strips.

An effect's strip is a light gray rectangle on the layout's dark track. Its left edge is the moment the effect begins, its right edge is when it ends, and its width is its duration at the current scale of the timeline. A strip under the mouse cursor lightens slightly; a selected one lightens noticeably and is outlined with a light border.

A few important points:

an effect only works inside its own strip and switches on and off abruptly: there is no fade-in or fade-out on the strip itself — smoothness is achieved with opacity keyframes, see Keyframes and Effect Parameters;
time inside an effect is counted from the left edge of the strip, so its whole animation travels together with the strip: move the effect 10 seconds later, and its motion also starts 10 seconds later;
a new effect added from the Effects window occupies the entire composition — from zero to its end. It is then shortened and moved manually;
the checkbox to the left of the effect's name turns it off entirely, regardless of the strip's position: with the checkbox unchecked, the effect plays nowhere and is not included in the export;
under the strip are tracks only for parameters that have keyframe mode enabled — as a flat list, without groups. Opacity keys lie on the effect's strip itself.

Selecting Strips

Click a strip with the left mouse button — the effect will be selected, and its parameters will open in the Properties window.

Ctrl + click — add an effect to the selection. Shift + click works the same way, but Shift is used for snapping while dragging, so Ctrl is more convenient for selection.
You cannot deselect a single strip by clicking it again: to leave only it selected, click it without Ctrl.
Clicking an empty area of the timeline deselects all effects.
The right mouse button does not change the selection: the context menu works with whatever is currently selected — select the strip with the left button first.
Selected strips move and are deleted together, as a single group.

Moving an Effect in Time

Select the strip (or several strips).
Press the left mouse button on the strip, in its middle, and, without releasing it, drag the mouse right or left. Dragging doesn't start immediately, but after a shift of a few pixels — a short click won't move the strip.
Release the button at the desired place. The image in the Mapping field and in the 3D View is recalculated immediately.

What happens:

the effect always lands on a frame boundary — you cannot land "between frames";
the strip's duration does not change, only its position does;
the effect does not go beyond the composition's bounds: at the zero mark and at the end of the composition, the strip stops at the boundary and goes no further;
several selected strips move together, keeping the distances between them. But at the composition's boundaries, each strip stops on its own, and the relative arrangement can shift — when moving a group, it's better not to push it right up against the edge;
the layout does not change when dragging along the scale. To move an effect to a different layout, drag it by its name row on the left side of the window — see Перемещение эффектов между лейаутами.

Changing Duration

Move the cursor to the left or right edge of the strip: right at the edge, in a strip about a dozen pixels wide, the cursor changes to a left or right arrow. Drag the edge — the strip will stretch or shrink, while its other edge stays in place.

Edge	What changes
Right	The moment the effect ends. It does not go past the end of the composition
Left	The moment the effect begins. The effect's keyframes stay in their place in time — only the reference point shifts, and the animation is "trimmed" from the front

Limitations:

an effect cannot be made shorter than one frame — the strip will hit its minimum length;
only edges of regular effects can be dragged. An imported video's strip cannot be dragged by its edges: its length is calculated automatically from the file's duration and the Loop Count value in the Properties window;
stretching an effect to the right does not stretch its animation: the keyframes stay where they were, and after the last key the values simply stop changing.

The audio track is moved and trimmed with the same techniques, but by its own rules: its right edge does not go past the end of the audio file, and its left edge trims the beginning of the sound itself.

Snapping Strips to Each Other

During normal dragging, a strip moves freely. To join effects end to end, without a gap or overlap, hold Shift — this enables snapping. While the key is held, the edges of the dragged strip stick:

to the starts and ends of all other strips visible on the timeline — including in other layouts and to audio tracks;
to the start of the composition;
to the current position of the time cursor.

The point of snapping is shown by a vertical light-blue line, and the strip it snapped to is outlined in red. Snapping works both when moving a whole strip and when dragging either of its edges. It triggers when a few pixels remain to the target on screen: the larger the scale, the more precisely you need to bring the strip. Release Shift — the strip moves freely again.

Two more things: strips of a collapsed layout do not participate in snapping, and the end of the composition is not a snap point — a strip stops there on its own anyway. When you drag several strips at once, only the outer edges of the group stick — the start of the earliest and the end of the latest.

A time-saving trick: place the time cursor at the desired moment — it's easier to aim at than an empty scale — and pull the edges of the strips to it with Shift held.

Landing Exactly on the Right Moment

There are no numeric start/end fields for a strip in version 3.3 — the Set time item in the strip's context menu remains inactive. When you need to land not "by eye" but exactly at a given moment, proceed as follows:

Place the time cursor exactly where the effect should begin: type the time into the current time field on the timeline's playback panel, or step to the needed frame with Ctrl + → and Ctrl + ←.
Zoom in on the scale with the mouse wheel so individual frames on it are distinguishable.
Pull the strip's edge to the cursor with Shift held — the edge will snap exactly to it.

It's convenient to check the result with a frame-by-frame step: stand on the frame before the effect's start and step forward — the effect should appear exactly on the next frame.

Besides Set time, the strip's context menu has Copy and Delete. Deletion works both from there and with the Delete and Backspace keys. But copying a strip — neither with this item nor with Ctrl+C and Ctrl+V — is not possible in version 3.3: a copy of an effect is made with the Duplicate command in the list on the left.

Time Cursor

The orange vertical line on the timeline is the time cursor: it shows which moment of the composition you're currently seeing in the Mapping field and in the 3D View.

Click the top ruler with the time scale — the cursor will jump to that point. Without releasing the button, you can drag it along the scale and "flip through" the animation manually, even moving the mouse outside the window; playback pauses while doing this.
The cursor always lands exactly on a frame — just like the edges of strips.
Space — play and pause, Home — go to the start of the composition, End — go to the end; the scale scrolls there as well.
Ctrl + → and Ctrl + ← — step one frame forward and back, Ctrl + Shift + → and Ctrl + Shift + ← — ten frames at once. Stepping with keys also pauses playback.

The current time and frame number are shown on the timeline's playback panel, next to the composition's duration.

Scale and Scrolling

Strips a fraction of a second long can't be made out on a minute-long scale, so the scale changes on the fly:

mouse wheel over the scale — zoom time in and out. The scale changes relative to the pointer, so aim it at the part you want to examine;
dragging with the wheel held (or the right button) — scrolling: horizontally it scrolls through time, vertically — through the list of layouts and effects. A short right-click still opens the context menu;
the preview bar at the very bottom of the window: the middle slider moves the visible time segment as a whole, the side ones set its length.

The scale does not zoom in closer than about half a second across the whole window width, and does not go beyond the composition's bounds. The scale's zoom is for viewing only: it does not affect the effects themselves or the export.

Overlapping Effects in Time

Within one layout, strips can overlap in time as much as needed. At a moment when several effects are playing at once, they are composited top to bottom: an effect that is higher in the layout's list is drawn over the ones below it, according to its blend mode and opacity. The order is changed by dragging the effect's row on the left side of the window, see Режимы смешивания.

Hence two common techniques:

image change — strips go end to end: one ends, the next begins. Easiest to set up with Shift snapping;
smooth transition — strips overlap, and the opacity of the upper effect is animated with keyframes in the overlap zone.

To repeat an effect later in the composition without configuring it again, right-click the effect's row on the left side of the window and choose Duplicate: a copy will appear in the same layout next to the original, at the same point in time, already selected — all that's left is to drag it. The neighboring Clone item sends a copy of the effect to another composition in the project.

Composition Boundaries

The length of the scale is the composition's duration. It's set by clicking the underlined duration value on the playback panel, or by right-clicking the composition in the Compositions window → Set Duration. See Настройки композиций.

Worth remembering:

effects cannot go past the end of the composition: when dragged or stretched, they stop at it;
shortening the duration of a finished composition is risky. Effects that cross the new boundary are cut off at it, and those that end up entirely past it are removed from the composition. They won't come back on their own, so it's better to set the duration before arranging effects;
in a composition with Infinite enabled, time continues past the end of the scale. At that point, only effects stretched all the way to the composition's end keep playing: the rest have already finished by then;
the cue file gets exactly what plays within the composition's duration — see Exporting Compositions.

If an Effect Plays at the Wrong Time

Check in order:

whether the time cursor is inside the effect's strip — most often the effect simply hasn't started yet or has already ended;
whether the checkbox next to the effect's name is enabled and whether it has zero opacity set;
whether the effect is covered by another one — one lying above it in this layout, or an effect in a layout positioned higher on the timeline;
whether it's the right layout: the strip may have ended up in a neighboring layout, and the effect is playing on other fixtures — see Перемещение эффектов между лейаутами;
whether the starts of the strips coincide, if several effects are supposed to start at the same time: pull their edges to each other with Shift held, otherwise a discrepancy of a frame or two will stay invisible on the scale but will show in the animation.

Keep in mind: shifting and trimming strips in time is not recorded in the undo history. Ctrl+Z will undo adding or deleting an effect, but will not return a strip to its previous place on the scale — position is restored by dragging.

Keyboard Shortcuts

Action	Keys
Play / pause	Space
Time cursor to start / end	Home / End
Step one frame forward / back	Ctrl + → / Ctrl + ←
Step 10 frames forward / back	Ctrl + Shift + → / Ctrl + Shift + ←
Snapping while dragging strips	hold Shift
Add an effect to the selection	Ctrl + click (or Shift + click)
Delete selected effects	Delete or Backspace

@@ Line 1: / Line 1: @@
 [[ru:Расстановка эффектов по времени]] [[en:Arranging Effects in Time]]
-Effects in a composition live in time: each effect occupies its own bar on the '''Timeline''' — with a start, an end, and a duration. While the time cursor is inside the bar, the effect is rendered on the fixtures; outside it, the effect simply doesn't exist. By arranging bars along the scale and layering them over one another, individual effects are assembled into a finished animation.
+Effects in a composition live in time: each effect occupies its own strip on the '''Timeline''' — with a start, an end, and a duration. While the time cursor is inside the strip, the effect is rendered on the fixtures; outside it, the effect simply doesn't exist. By arranging strips along the scale and layering them on top of each other, individual effects are combined into a finished animation.
-This article is about working with bars: how to move an effect, shorten it, position it at the exact second you need, and what happens at the boundaries of a composition. For the window itself and its panel, see [[Таймлайн]]; for adding effects, see [[Добавление эффекта в композицию]].
+This article is about working with strips: how to move an effect, shorten it, place it exactly on the frame you need, and what happens at the boundaries of a composition. For the window itself and its panels, see [[Timeline]]; for adding effects, see [[Adding an Effect to a Composition]].
-== What the effect bar shows ==
+== What the Effect Strip Shows ==
-Open a composition by double-clicking it in the '''Composition''' window — its contents will appear in the '''Timeline''' window.
+Open a composition with a double-click in the '''Compositions''' window — its contents will appear in the '''Timeline''' window.
-On the left are listed the layouts and the effects nested inside them; on the right, on the time scale, are the bars for these effects. To see a layout's effects, expand it using the triangle to the left of its name: a collapsed layout shows no bars.
+On the left are listed the layouts and the effects nested in them; on the right, on the time scale, are the strips of these effects. To see the effects of a layout, expand it with the arrow to the left of its name — a collapsed layout shows no strips.
-An effect bar is a light gray rectangle on the layout's dark track. Its left edge is the moment the effect starts, its right edge is when it ends, and its width is its duration at the current scale of the timeline. A bar under the mouse cursor lightens slightly; a selected one lightens noticeably.
+An effect's strip is a light gray rectangle on the layout's dark track. Its left edge is the moment the effect begins, its right edge is when it ends, and its width is its duration at the current scale of the timeline. A strip under the mouse cursor lightens slightly; a selected one lightens noticeably and is outlined with a light border.
 A few important points:
-* an effect works only within its own bar and switches on and off abruptly: the bar itself has no fade-in or fade-out — smooth transitions are made with opacity keyframes, see [[Ключевые кадры и параметры эффектов]];
+* an effect only works inside its own strip and switches on and off abruptly: there is no fade-in or fade-out on the strip itself — smoothness is achieved with opacity keyframes, see [[Keyframes and Effect Parameters]];
-* time inside an effect is counted from the left edge of the bar, so its whole animation travels together with the bar: move the effect 10 seconds later, and its motion starts 10 seconds later too;
+* time inside an effect is counted from the left edge of the strip, so its whole animation travels together with the strip: move the effect 10 seconds later, and its motion also starts 10 seconds later;
-* a new effect added from the '''Effects''' window occupies the entire composition — from zero to its end. After that it is shortened and moved manually;
+* a new effect added from the '''Effects''' window occupies the entire composition — from zero to its end. It is then shortened and moved manually;
-* the checkbox to the left of the effect's name turns it off entirely, regardless of the bar's position: with the checkbox cleared, the effect plays nowhere and is excluded from export.
+* the checkbox to the left of the effect's name turns it off entirely, regardless of the strip's position: with the checkbox unchecked, the effect plays nowhere and is not included in the export;
+* under the strip are tracks only for parameters that have keyframe mode enabled — as a flat list, without groups. Opacity keys lie on the effect's strip itself.
-== Selecting bars ==
+== Selecting Strips ==
-Click a bar with the left mouse button — the effect is selected, and its parameters open in the '''Properties''' window.
+Click a strip with the left mouse button — the effect will be selected, and its parameters will open in the '''Properties''' window.
-* '''Ctrl + click''' — add the effect to the selection. '''Shift + click''' works the same way, but '''Shift''' is already used for snapping while dragging, so '''Ctrl''' is more convenient for selecting.
+* '''Ctrl + click''' — add an effect to the selection. '''Shift + click''' works the same way, but '''Shift''' is used for snapping while dragging, so '''Ctrl''' is more convenient for selection.
+* You cannot deselect a single strip by clicking it again: to leave only it selected, click it without '''Ctrl'''.
 * Clicking an empty area of the timeline deselects all effects.
-* Selected bars move and are deleted together — as a single group.
+* The right mouse button does not change the selection: the context menu works with whatever is currently selected — select the strip with the left button first.
+* Selected strips move and are deleted together, as a single group.
-== Shifting an effect in time ==
+== Moving an Effect in Time ==
-# Select a bar (or several bars).
+# Select the strip (or several strips).
-# Press the left mouse button on the bar's middle and, without releasing it, drag the mouse right or left. Dragging doesn't start immediately but after a small offset — a short click won't move the bar.
+# Press the left mouse button on the strip, in its middle, and, without releasing it, drag the mouse right or left. Dragging doesn't start immediately, but after a shift of a few pixels — a short click won't move the strip.
-# Release the button at the desired position. The image on the '''Mapping''' field and in the '''3D View''' is recalculated instantly.
+# Release the button at the desired place. The image in the '''Mapping''' field and in the '''3D View''' is recalculated immediately.
 What happens:
-* the effect always lands on a frame boundary — it's impossible to land "between frames";
+* the effect always lands on a frame boundary — you cannot land "between frames";
-* the bar's duration doesn't change, only its position does;
+* the strip's duration does not change, only its position does;
-* the effect doesn't go beyond the composition's bounds: at the zero mark and at the end of the composition the bar stops at the boundary and goes no further;
+* the effect does not go beyond the composition's bounds: at the zero mark and at the end of the composition, the strip stops at the boundary and goes no further;
-* several selected bars move together, keeping the distances between them. But at the composition's boundaries each bar stops on its own, and their relative positions can shift — when moving a group, it's best not to push it right up against the edge;
+* several selected strips move together, keeping the distances between them. But at the composition's boundaries, each strip stops on its own, and the relative arrangement can shift — when moving a group, it's better not to push it right up against the edge;
-* the layout doesn't change while dragging along the scale. To move an effect to another layout, drag it by its name row in the left part of the window — see [[Moving Effects Between Layouts]].
+* the layout does not change when dragging along the scale. To move an effect to a different layout, drag it by its name row on the left side of the window — see [[Перемещение эффектов между лейаутами]].
-== Changing duration ==
+== Changing Duration ==
-Move the cursor to the left or right edge of the bar: right at the edge the cursor changes into a resize arrow. Drag the edge — the bar stretches or shortens, while its other edge stays in place.
+Move the cursor to the left or right edge of the strip: right at the edge, in a strip about a dozen pixels wide, the cursor changes to a left or right arrow. Drag the edge — the strip will stretch or shrink, while its other edge stays in place.
 {| class="wikitable"
 ! Edge !! What changes
 |-
-| Right || The effect's end moment. The edge doesn't go past the end of the composition
+| Right || The moment the effect ends. It does not go past the end of the composition
 |-
-| Left || The effect's start moment. The effect's keyframes stay in their positions in time — only the reference point shifts, and the animation is "trimmed" from the front
+| Left || The moment the effect begins. The effect's keyframes stay in their place in time — only the reference point shifts, and the animation is "trimmed" from the front
 |}
 Limitations:
-* an effect can't be made shorter than one frame — the bar stops at the minimum length;
+* an effect cannot be made shorter than one frame — the strip will hit its minimum length;
-* only regular effects' edges can be dragged. An imported video's bar can't be dragged by its edges: its length is calculated automatically from the file's duration and the number of repeats, which is set in '''Properties''';
+* only edges of regular effects can be dragged. An imported video's strip cannot be dragged by its edges: its length is calculated automatically from the file's duration and the '''Loop Count''' value in the '''Properties''' window;
-* stretching an effect doesn't stretch its animation: the keyframes stay where they were, and after the last keyframe the values simply stop changing.
+* stretching an effect to the right does not stretch its animation: the keyframes stay where they were, and after the last key the values simply stop changing.
-== Snapping bars to each other ==
+The audio track is moved and trimmed with the same techniques, but by its own rules: its right edge does not go past the end of the audio file, and its left edge trims the beginning of the sound itself.
-During normal dragging, a bar moves freely. To join effects edge to edge, without a gap or overlap, hold '''Shift''' — snapping turns on. While the key is held, the edge of the bar being dragged sticks to:
+== Snapping Strips to Each Other ==
-* the starts and ends of all other bars visible on the timeline (including in other layouts);
+During normal dragging, a strip moves freely. To join effects end to end, without a gap or overlap, hold '''Shift''' — this enables snapping. While the key is held, the edges of the dragged strip stick:
-* the start of the composition;
-* the current position of the time cursor.
-The point being snapped to is shown by a vertical blue line. Snapping works both when moving the whole bar and when dragging either of its edges. Release '''Shift''' and the bar moves freely again.
+* to the starts and ends of all other strips visible on the timeline — including in other layouts and to audio tracks;
+* to the start of the composition;
+* to the current position of the time cursor.
-A time-saving trick: place the time cursor at the moment you need — it's easier to aim at than an empty scale — and pull the edges of bars to it while holding '''Shift'''.
+The point of snapping is shown by a vertical light-blue line, and the strip it snapped to is outlined in red. Snapping works both when moving a whole strip and when dragging either of its edges. It triggers when a few pixels remain to the target on screen: the larger the scale, the more precisely you need to bring the strip. Release '''Shift''' — the strip moves freely again.
-== Exact start and end time ==
+Two more things: strips of a collapsed layout do not participate in snapping, and the end of the composition is not a snap point — a strip stops there on its own anyway. When you drag several strips at once, only the outer edges of the group stick — the start of the earliest and the end of the latest.
-When you need not "by eye" but exactly at 00:00:12, right-click the bar and choose '''Set time'''. A small window opens with three fields in the format ''hours:minutes:seconds:milliseconds'':
+A time-saving trick: place the time cursor at the desired moment — it's easier to aim at than an empty scale — and pull the edges of the strips to it with '''Shift''' held.
-{| class="wikitable"
+== Landing Exactly on the Right Moment ==
-! Field !! Value
-|-
+There are no numeric start/end fields for a strip in version 3.3 — the '''Set time''' item in the strip's context menu remains inactive. When you need to land not "by eye" but exactly at a given moment, proceed as follows:
-| '''Start''' || The effect's start time
-|-
+# Place the time cursor exactly where the effect should begin: type the time into the current time field on the timeline's playback panel, or step to the needed frame with '''Ctrl + →''' and '''Ctrl + ←'''.
-| '''End''' || The effect's end time
+# Zoom in on the scale with the mouse wheel so individual frames on it are distinguishable.
-|-
+# Pull the strip's edge to the cursor with '''Shift''' held — the edge will snap exactly to it.
-| '''Duration''' || Duration; changing this field moves the effect's end, the start stays in place
-|}
+It's convenient to check the result with a frame-by-frame step: stand on the frame before the effect's start and step forward — the effect should appear exactly on the next frame.
-Values are applied immediately as you type, and the window closes with the '''Enter''' or '''Esc''' key. The same right-click menu has a '''Delete''' item — delete the selected effects.
+Besides '''Set time''', the strip's context menu has '''Copy''' and '''Delete'''. Deletion works both from there and with the '''Delete''' and '''Backspace''' keys. But copying a strip — neither with this item nor with '''Ctrl+C''' and '''Ctrl+V''' — is not possible in version 3.3: a copy of an effect is made with the '''Duplicate''' command in the list on the left.
-== Time cursor ==
+== Time Cursor ==
-The orange vertical line on the timeline is the time cursor: it shows which moment of the composition you're currently seeing on the '''Mapping''' field and in the '''3D View'''.
+The orange vertical line on the timeline is the time cursor: it shows which moment of the composition you're currently seeing in the '''Mapping''' field and in the '''3D View'''.
-* Click the upper ruler with the time scale — the cursor moves to that point. Without releasing the button, you can drag it along the scale and "scrub" the animation manually; playback is paused while you do this.
+* Click the top ruler with the time scale — the cursor will jump to that point. Without releasing the button, you can drag it along the scale and "flip through" the animation manually, even moving the mouse outside the window; playback pauses while doing this.
-* '''Spacebar''' — play and pause, '''Home''' — go to the start of the composition, '''End''' — go to the end.
+* The cursor always lands exactly on a frame — just like the edges of strips.
-* '''Ctrl + →''' and '''Ctrl + ←''' — step one frame forward and back, '''Ctrl + Shift + →''' and '''Ctrl + Shift + ←''' — ten frames at once. Frame-by-frame stepping is handy for checking whether an effect starts exactly where it's supposed to.
+* '''Space''' — play and pause, '''Home''' — go to the start of the composition, '''End''' — go to the end; the scale scrolls there as well.
+* '''Ctrl + →''' and '''Ctrl + ←''' — step one frame forward and back, '''Ctrl + Shift + →''' and '''Ctrl + Shift + ←''' — ten frames at once. Stepping with keys also pauses playback.
-The current time and frame number are shown on the timeline's playback panel, with the composition's duration next to them.
+The current time and frame number are shown on the timeline's playback panel, next to the composition's duration.
-== Scale and scrolling the timeline ==
+== Scale and Scrolling ==
-Bars a fraction of a second long can't be made out on a minute-scale timeline, so the scale can be changed on the fly:
+Strips a fraction of a second long can't be made out on a minute-long scale, so the scale changes on the fly:
-* '''mouse wheel''' over the scale — zoom time in and out. The scale changes relative to the pointer, so aim it at the section you want to examine;
+* '''mouse wheel''' over the scale — zoom time in and out. The scale changes relative to the pointer, so aim it at the part you want to examine;
-* '''dragging with the wheel held down''' (or the right button) — scrolling: horizontally scrolls time, vertically scrolls the list of layouts and effects. A short right-click still opens the context menu.
+* '''dragging with the wheel held''' (or the right button) — scrolling: horizontally it scrolls through time, vertically — through the list of layouts and effects. A short right-click still opens the context menu;
+* the '''preview bar''' at the very bottom of the window: the middle slider moves the visible time segment as a whole, the side ones set its length.
-The timeline's scale only affects the view: it has no effect on the effects themselves or on export.
+The scale does not zoom in closer than about half a second across the whole window width, and does not go beyond the composition's bounds. The scale's zoom is for viewing only: it does not affect the effects themselves or the export.
-== Overlapping effects in time ==
+== Overlapping Effects in Time ==
-Within one layout, bars can overlap in time as much as needed. At a moment when several effects are playing at once, they're composited top to bottom: an effect higher in the layout's list is drawn over the ones below it, according to its blend mode and opacity. The order is changed by dragging the effect's row in the left part of the window, see [[Режимы смешивания]].
+Within one layout, strips can overlap in time as much as needed. At a moment when several effects are playing at once, they are composited top to bottom: an effect that is higher in the layout's list is drawn over the ones below it, according to its blend mode and opacity. The order is changed by dragging the effect's row on the left side of the window, see [[Режимы смешивания]].
-This gives rise to two common techniques:
+Hence two common techniques:
-* '''scene change''' — bars go edge to edge: one ends, the next begins. Easiest to set up with '''Shift''' snapping;
+* '''image change''' — strips go end to end: one ends, the next begins. Easiest to set up with '''Shift''' snapping;
-* '''smooth transition''' — bars overlap, and the upper effect's opacity is animated with keyframes within the overlap zone.
+* '''smooth transition''' — strips overlap, and the opacity of the upper effect is animated with keyframes in the overlap zone.
-To repeat an effect later in the composition without configuring it again, right-click the effect's row in the left part of the window and choose '''Duplicate''': a copy appears in the same layout at the same point in time, after which you just need to drag it.
+To repeat an effect later in the composition without configuring it again, right-click the effect's row on the left side of the window and choose '''Duplicate''': a copy will appear in the same layout next to the original, at the same point in time, already selected — all that's left is to drag it. The neighboring '''Clone''' item sends a copy of the effect to another composition in the project.
-== Composition boundaries ==
+== Composition Boundaries ==
-The length of the scale is the composition's duration. It's set in the composition's settings: right-click the composition → '''Set Duration''', or click the duration value on the timeline panel. See [[Настройки композиций]].
+The length of the scale is the composition's duration. It's set by clicking the underlined duration value on the playback panel, or by right-clicking the composition in the '''Compositions''' window → '''Set Duration'''. See [[Настройки композиций]].
-Things to keep in mind:
+Worth remembering:
-* effects can't extend past the end of the composition: when dragging and stretching they stop against it;
+* effects cannot go past the end of the composition: when dragged or stretched, they stop at it;
-* if you set the composition to a shorter duration, effects that no longer fit are trimmed at the new boundary. Restoring the previous duration isn't enough — trimmed bars will have to be stretched again, so it's better to set the duration before arranging effects;
+* shortening the duration of a finished composition is risky. Effects that cross the new boundary are cut off at it, and those that end up entirely past it are removed from the composition. They won't come back on their own, so it's better to set the duration before arranging effects;
-* in a composition with '''Infinity''' enabled, time keeps running past the end of the scale. At that point only effects stretched all the way to the composition's end keep playing: the rest have already finished by then;
+* in a composition with '''Infinite''' enabled, time continues past the end of the scale. At that point, only effects stretched all the way to the composition's end keep playing: the rest have already finished by then;
-* the cue file receives exactly what plays within the composition's duration — see [[Экспорт композиций]].
+* the cue file gets exactly what plays within the composition's duration — see [[Exporting Compositions]].
-== If an effect plays at the wrong time ==
+== If an Effect Plays at the Wrong Time ==
-Check, in order:
+Check in order:
-* whether the time cursor is inside the effect's bar — most often the effect simply hasn't started yet or has already ended;
+* whether the time cursor is inside the effect's strip — most often the effect simply hasn't started yet or has already ended;
-* whether the checkbox next to the effect's name is enabled and its opacity isn't set to zero;
+* whether the checkbox next to the effect's name is enabled and whether it has zero opacity set;
-* whether the effect is covered by another one — one higher in this layout, or an effect in a layout positioned above it on the timeline;
+* whether the effect is covered by another one — one lying above it in this layout, or an effect in a layout positioned higher on the timeline;
-* whether it's the right layout: the bar may have ended up in a neighboring layout, so the effect plays on different fixtures — see [[Moving Effects Between Layouts]];
+* whether it's the right layout: the strip may have ended up in a neighboring layout, and the effect is playing on other fixtures — see [[Перемещение эффектов между лейаутами]];
-* whether the starts of the bars line up, if several effects are meant to start at the same time: pull their edges together while holding '''Shift''', otherwise a discrepancy of a frame or two will stay invisible on the scale but will show up in the animation.
+* whether the starts of the strips coincide, if several effects are supposed to start at the same time: pull their edges to each other with '''Shift''' held, otherwise a discrepancy of a frame or two will stay invisible on the scale but will show in the animation.
-Keep in mind: shifting and trimming bars in time isn't recorded in the undo history. '''Ctrl+Z''' will undo adding, deleting, or moving an effect to another layout, but it won't put a bar back in its previous position on the scale — that's restored by dragging it or through '''Set time'''.
+Keep in mind: shifting and trimming strips in time is not recorded in the undo history. '''Ctrl+Z''' will undo adding or deleting an effect, but will not return a strip to its previous place on the scale — position is restored by dragging.
-== Hotkeys ==
+== Keyboard Shortcuts ==
 {| class="wikitable"
 ! Action !! Keys
 |-
-| Play / pause || '''Spacebar'''
+| Play / pause || '''Space'''
 |-
 | Time cursor to start / end || '''Home''' / '''End'''
@@ Line 153: / Line 158: @@
 | Step 10 frames forward / back || '''Ctrl + Shift + →''' / '''Ctrl + Shift + ←'''
 |-
-| Snapping while dragging bars || hold '''Shift'''
+| Snapping while dragging strips || hold '''Shift'''
 |-
-| Add effect to selection || '''Ctrl + click'''
+| Add an effect to the selection || '''Ctrl + click''' (or '''Shift + click''')
 |-
-| Delete selected effects || '''Delete'''
+| Delete selected effects || '''Delete''' or '''Backspace'''
 |}
-== See also ==
+== See Also ==
-* [[Таймлайн]]
+* [[Timeline]]
-* [[Добавление эффекта в композицию]]
+* [[Adding an Effect to a Composition]]
-* [[Ключевые кадры и параметры эффектов]]
+* [[Keyframes and Effect Parameters]]
 * [[Режимы смешивания]]
-* [[Moving Effects Between Layouts]]
+* [[Перемещение эффектов между лейаутами]]
-* [[Композиции]]
+* [[Compositions]]
 * [[Настройки композиций]]
-* [[Экспорт композиций]]
+* [[Exporting Compositions]]