Is there a way to view the time on a video on a 2nd layer?

Help/How To
1

I’m making a video with 2 layers. One on top right of the video has a talking head cropped into a small square, and then another video layer under it.

The 2nd layer starts off a few minutes into the video. The top layer has a timer embedded in. I want to “move” the beginning of the 2nd layer video to match the embedded timer on the top layer.

How do I view the timeline on the 2nd layer so I can match the beginning of it to the embedded timer on the top layer?

2

Yes, the Timer video filter does this. Add it to the clip on your second track. When a Timer filter is applied to a clip, the counter it displays is relative to that clip, so while you scrub or drag the clip you can read its internal time and match it against the timer embedded in the talking-head video. If you need to align exactly, set the Format to a precise one, for example HH:MM:SS.SSS.

Two details worth knowing:

  • The filter has to be applied to the clip itself (or to the Output track for project-relative time) - on an empty video track nothing is rendered, because the Timer generates visible graphics and needs an image to draw onto.
  • Since it burns the counter into the image, remove or disable the filter again once the alignment is done, before you export.

That way you can visually match the start of the second layer to the embedded timer on the top layer.

3

Thanks, I thought maybe there was a way to show some kind of timer on the timeline where the 2nd layer is

5

Hi @Pcmaker. Welcome to the forum.

Sorry, but your description is confusing to me.

I guess you mean here that there are 2 timeline tracks (V1 & V2) in your Shotcut project.

shotcut_52OAAk1ib2
shotcut_52OAAk1ib2299×194 7.25 KB

Let me know if I understand the rest of your description:

  • On track V1 you have some video, and embedded in the top corner of that video there is small clip of a person talking appearing after a few minutes.
  • On track V2 you have a clip using a Timer filter.

What you want is to is to make the timer appear and start counting at the moment the talking head appears in the clip on track V1?

If so, try this:

6

thanks

7

Another straightforward option without adding a filter is to select the clip on the second track and open the Properties panel. It displays the clip’s exact In point and source timecode. You can also view the clip directly in the Source player (double-click the clip on the timeline) to see its independent playhead and timecode, which makes it easy to find the exact frame you want to align to the upper layer.

11

Hello:waving_hand: , is there a way to actually burn the timecode onto the video layer so it stays visible during export?:pleading_face:

12

Yes, everything that shows up in the preview (like what MusicalBox did) will also show in the end file.

13
  • Add a track above the other one(s) in the timeline.
  • Generate a Text clip on that track (Choose the Text: Simple filter).
  • Extend the clip as long as you need.
  • Select the Text filter.
  • Delete the default line of text
  • Open the Insert field menu and choose one of the 2 #timecode# options.
  • Edit the text parameters (font, font size, font color etc…)
  • Edit the text position

Export your project. The timecode will be burned on your exported video.