How to Use Timeline Tracks in PowerDirector

The timeline is where your edit comes together. You drag videos, images and music onto its tracks, then stack and arrange them to build the scene. What sits on an upper track wins, and that one rule is behind every overlay, title and picture-in-picture shot you will build. Tracks can also be added, reordered, hidden and muted as a project grows past what one screen shows.

Each track holds media, and PowerDirector stacks them bottom-up by default. That means a clip on a lower track sits on top of the one above it. So if an image on the bottom track overlaps a video on the middle track, the image is what shows. Move that same image to the top track and the video covers it instead.

Prefer top-down stacking, where the top track wins? Click the gear icon in the top-right corner to open Preferences, choose Editing on the left, and tick Reverse timeline track order. The timeline now follows top-down logic.

To add a new track, click the add track button in the upper-left corner of the timeline. Each track gives you another layer to stack media on.

To remove a track, right-click it and choose Remove Selected Track from the menu.

To change a track's position, click to select it, then drag it up or down to where you want it. The media on the track moves with it.

Each track has an eye icon and an audio icon. Click the eye to hide the track's video, or the audio icon to mute its sound. A hidden track won't show in the preview or the final export until you turn it back on.

Click the lock icon to lock a track. Once locked, its media can't be moved or edited, which is handy for protecting parts of your edit you've already finished. Click the lock again to unlock it.

Move your mouse to the left edge of the track header and drag right to expand it, then rename the track. Clear names keep a busy timeline easy to read.

To make a track taller or shorter, double-click it or drag its edge to the height you want. Taller tracks make it easier to see thumbnails and audio waveforms.

To zoom in or out, hover over the ruler at the top until the cursor becomes a clock, then hold and drag left or right. You can also use the ruler slider in the lower-left corner, or click View entire video to fit the whole project on screen. Zooming in lets you edit precisely; zooming out shows the overall structure.

Above the timeline is the toolbar with basic and advanced editing tools. Click the button on the far right to customize it, so the functions you use most are always within reach.