Playback Controls
Use the transport bar below the Preview or its keyboard shortcuts to play your edit, move to an exact frame, and check a section at a different speed.
Play and move through your edit
Press Space or use Play/Pause on the transport bar. If the playhead is at the end of the timeline, move it back before starting playback.
Click or drag in the timeline ruler to scrub to another point. Scrubbing stops playback and leaves it paused where you finish.
Use Left and Right to step one frame at a time. Home moves to the start of the timeline, and End moves to the end. Stepping or jumping while the edit is playing stops playback first.
Playback shortcuts stay inactive while you're typing in a field, using a dialog, or using a menu that has keyboard focus. This keeps Space and the arrow keys from changing the timeline while another control needs them.
Jump to an exact time
- Click the timecode above the track headers or below the Preview. Playback stops.
- Type a timecode such as
00:01:29:02. - Press Enter to move the playhead there.
You can omit the colons. Solar Sailer reads the digits from the right, so 12902 means 00:01:29:02, or 1 minute, 29 seconds, and 2 frames.
To enter a frame number instead, click the frame count beneath the timeline timecode. Type the number without commas and press Enter.
Press Escape or click elsewhere to cancel. A destination beyond the sequence moves to its end.
Change playback speed
The J, K, and L keys let you change speed without reaching for the transport bar. There is no reverse playback.
- Press L to play at normal speed. While playing, each press doubles the speed, up to 8x.
- Press K to stop.
- Press J while playing to halve the speed, down to 0.25x. When playback is stopped, J steps back one frame.
Playback returns to normal speed each time you stop.
Set in and out points
Press I to set an in point at the playhead and O to set an out point. You can drag either point in the timeline ruler to adjust it. Playback stops at the out point instead of continuing to the end of the timeline.
Press Alt+I to clear the in point or Alt+O to clear the out point. Solar Sailer saves both points with the project.
Control the audio
Use the volume slider below the Preview to set the overall output level from 0% to 100%. There is no master mute. To silence one track instead, use Mute on that track. See tracks and linked clips.
Adjust the Preview
Use PXY to switch between optimized preview media and the original files. The zoom menu changes the Preview size without changing your edit.
Press F or double-click the video to enter fullscreen. Press F, Escape, or double-click again to exit. Fullscreen fits the video to the screen, then restores your previous zoom when you leave.
Next, learn to move around the timeline itself in Navigate and Zoom the Timeline.