The timeline is a horizontal bar typically located at the bottom for any video editing software you may use. You use this bar to “jump” to specific points in your video to make edits, such as adding video, removing video, transitions and so on.
Using the timeline in modern-day software is very easy because all you have to do is literally drag and drop what’s known as “clips” into the timeline to begin editing.
Using Windows Movie Maker as an example:
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The two viewing modes available in Windows Movie Maker are “Storyboard” and “Timeline”. To switch between one and the other, press CTRL+T on your keyboard. If the horizontal bar at the bottom looks like a series of squares, this is storyboard mode. If it looks like a film strip, this is Timeline mode.
After you have imported/captured video into Windows Movie Maker, your clips will appear above the time as squares. To place them in the timeline, all you have to do is drag and drop. When you do, this will be the result:
Above: Windows Movie Maker with clip inside the timeline.
Once clips are inside the timeline, this is where you begin editing.
Important note: You cannot edit video unless it is present in the timeline first.
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