Timeline & Sequencer

Labs. Turn it on in Settings → Labs → Sequencer. It is free. It is experimental: what it saves is kept, but its screens and tools are still changing.

With the sequencer on, the Director view's Scenes strip becomes a full Timeline, and an Inspector shows the details of what you select. The film plays through the script, storyboard, 3D previz, footage and sound, scene by scene.

Exporting the film as a video, for a site, for editing or as a web build needs Pro as well. See Exporting Pictures & Sound.

The layout

• Browser on the left, as before. Director · Create now also lists the Sequence.
• Viewer in the middle: the picture at the playhead.
• Inspector on the right: the scene under the playhead (its length, Scene page, Show in script, Add sound, and Move up / Move down), then whatever is selected. It shares the column with the Assistant.
• Timeline along the bottom, with the transport and tools above it.

On a phone the Inspector opens as a sheet from its button.

Transport and tools

Above the timeline:

• Previous scene, Play / Pause, Next scene, and the timecode (hours:minutes:seconds:frames).
• Undo and Redo for timeline edits.
• Scale by time or Scale by structure: give each scene its real length, or the same width.
• Zoom out, the zoom level, Zoom in, and Fit to window. 100% fits the whole sequence; click the level to fit.
• Snapping (N): edges pull onto nearby edges and the playhead. Edits always land on frames.
• When a clip lands on another: Clips overlap, Push later clips, Refuse overlaps or Overwrite what is under.
• Project frame rate.
• Picture: what the Viewer shows: Best available, 3D, Storyboard, Script or Video.
• Objects in this shot: titles, boxes, circles and images over a storyboard shot.
• Voice the script and Play the story (below).
• Mix: the sound mix (below).

To zoom you can also use View → Zoom In and Zoom Out (⌘= and ⌘− on a Mac, Ctrl+= and Ctrl+− on Windows and Linux) while the Director is showing, pinch on a trackpad, or press + and − with the timeline focused. ⌘0 / Ctrl+0 fits.

Tracks

The timeline starts with these lanes: Acts, Scenes, Script, Storyboard, Camera previz, Final video, Sound and Envelope.

Add a track adds a Video, Picture, 3D, Titles, Markers or Adjustment track, or another Sound track. Each track header has:

• Lock, so its clips can't be changed;
• Show in the viewer for picture tracks, and Mute and Solo for sound;
• a menu with Rename…, Fold, Move up, Move down, Delete track and Add a track below;
• a click on the name selects that track's clips (Shift-click adds them).

Footage you put on a video track brings its sound on its own track, just under it. Mute that track to silence the footage.

Editing on the timeline

• Select a clip with a click; Shift-click or drag a box for more. ⌘A / Ctrl+A selects every clip.
• Move clips by dragging them, to another time, another track, or another scene.
• Right-click a clip, a track or an empty spot for its menu: Cut, Copy, Paste here, Duplicate, Delete, Split at the playhead, Trim start to the playhead, Trim end to the playhead, Move to the playhead, Move to track, Move to scene, Add a title here, Add a marker here, Add an adjustment layer here, Move the playhead here, Zoom to fit and more. On a scene you also get Move the scene earlier and Move the scene later. A shot can be moved to another scene of the same script.
• Transitions between clips: Cut, Crossfade, Fade through black, Fade through white or Dip to black, with a length. Click a transition handle to switch between a cut and a crossfade.
• Effects on a clip: Level, Pan, Opacity, Blur and Colour (brightness, contrast, saturation), stacked in order.
• Envelopes: double-click the Envelope lane to add a point for level, pan or opacity, and pick a Curve.

Keys

These work while the timeline has focus:

Undo and Redo cover every timeline edit. Use the buttons beside the zoom, Edit → Undo, or ⌘Z / Ctrl+Z anywhere in the Director.

Storyboard panels in time

Select a storyboard panel on the timeline and the Inspector shows:

• Held for (s): how long it stays on screen.
• Camera move: Still, Push in, Pull out, Pan left, Pan right, Tilt up, Tilt down or Custom, at a Speed of Eased or Steady.
• Comes in with: Cut, Dissolve, Fade through black, Wipe or Push, with a direction and a length.
• 3D camera for this shot, or Follow the cuts of the 3D blocking.

Objects in this shot puts text, boxes, circles and images over the panel. Changing a value keys it at the playhead, so objects can move.

Sound

• Add sound, at the top of the Inspector for the scene under the playhead: built-in Effects, Add a sound file…, From your Library, or Generate with AI….
• Generate sound: describe a Sound effect, Music or Ambience, set the seconds, and it is added at the playhead. It uses a downloaded sound model, your ElevenLabs key, or your own ComfyUI server, set up in Settings → AI → Connections. A hosted service uses credits on your account.
• Select a sound clip to set its Starts at, Length, Trim start, Volume, Fade in and Fade out, and, under Advanced, its Bus.
• Mix: a level for each bus (Dialogue, Narration, Effects, Music, Ambience) and for each sound track you added, with Mute and Solo, and Master. Export mix (WAV), Export stems (ZIP) (one file per track) and Stems by bus (ZIP) save it.

Voice the script

Voice the script (Record dialogue) records every line of dialogue with AI voices, so each scene runs as long as it is spoken. Choose the scope (This scene or Whole sequence), the Cast, and whether a narrator reads headings and action too. It shows how many lines are left to record and asks before it sends them. Recordings of lines no longer in the script can be removed.

It needs a voice service chosen in Settings → AI → Which model does what. System voices can't be recorded. See Table Reads & Voices.

Footage and takes

Select a storyboard panel and the Inspector's Video takes for this shot lists its footage.

• Generate a take sends the panel's prompt and first frame to the video model you chose in Settings → AI → Which model does what. It shows the estimated cost and asks first. Nothing is chosen for you, and a hosted model costs money.
• Restyle remakes a take in the film's style prompt, on your own server (ComfyUI).
• Make takes for this scene's N shots without footage, or for the whole film, makes several in one go.
• A take made before the script, storyboard or look changed is marked Out of date.
• Save As… saves a take as a file.

See Generating Media for setting up video models.

Select a footage clip for Footage: Trim start, Trim end and Starts into the shot. Shot at tells the timeline the frame rate the footage was shot at, so it plays as Slow motion, Fast motion or Timelapse in the project's frame rate.

Colour

The Colour section sets a Look for the whole film (a built-in look or a .cube from Media) with a Strength, shown live on the timeline's picture. Per shot, Match to its neighbours or Match to… another shot evens out the colour, and Clear the match undoes it. Style prompt for generating and restyling sets the words every take is made with.

Maps and game rooms

With the sequencer on, Director · Plan offers New → Map: a page where you place locations and other maps (Place…), group them into Levels, and see the doors between scenes. A location is drawn at the size of its 3D set.

A scene can be a game room instead of video. At the top of the Inspector, set the scene's Final layer to Game · first person, Game · third person, Game · top-down or Game · point and click. The room is built from the scene's 3D, or from a map's level. Add a Door in the scene's 3D blocking to lead to another scene.

Play the story watches the video scenes, lets you walk through the game rooms, and follows the doors you take. The Playable web build export plays the same story in any browser.