Rubber bands and keyframe lanes on the Video by Zaweba timeline
Show a volume, opacity or effect line on each clip in Video by Zaweba, drag it and its diamonds, add keys with the pen tool and use Inspector keyframe lanes.
Not every adjustment needs a panel. Lowering music under a voice, fading a picture out, or pulling an effect up for a moment can be done right on the timeline, where you can see the cut and the sound at the same time. Video by Zaweba shows a rubber band on each clip for this, and keeps detailed keyframe lanes in the Inspector for when you need more.
What a rubber band is
A rubber band is a line drawn across a clip on the timeline, showing the value of one setting over time. On sound clips it shows volume by default. On picture clips it shows opacity. You can change it to any setting, effect or mask value from Clip > Rubber band shows.
Being able to pick the value matters. You can show a blur's strength on a clip and shape it right there, or a mask's feather, or a colour setting, without opening the Inspector.
Working with the band
Drag the band up or down to change the value for the whole clip, if it has no keys. Once it has keys, they show as diamonds on the band. Drag a diamond in time and value to move it. Hold Shift while dragging to change only the value, which keeps the key at exactly the same moment.
To add a key, Ctrl+click on the band, or use the pen tool on P and click. Adding two keys close together and dragging the line between them down is the classic way to dip music for a line of dialogue: the music drops, the voice speaks, and the music comes back up.
Keyframe lanes in the Inspector
In the Inspector, every animated setting has a lane showing that clip's keys along a small timeline of its own. Lanes can be zoomed and scrolled. They are the place to see several animated settings at once, line keys up across settings, and work on detailed animation without the main timeline being in the way.
Use the rubber band for quick adjustments while you edit, and the lanes when you are working on a clip's animation in depth.
Jobs it suits
Music under dialogue. Set the band on the music to volume, add keys around each line and pull the band down between them. Watching the waveform of the dialogue below helps you place the keys.
Fades on pictures. Set the band to opacity and drag keys at the start and end of a clip to fade it in and out without adding a transition.
Effect moments. Show an effect's value on the band and lift it briefly to make a blur, glow or shake arrive on a beat.
Overall levels. Drag a band with no keys up or down to set a clip's overall volume or opacity in one move.
Zoom the timeline in before adding keys, so you can place them precisely. Use Shift when you only want to change a level, so you do not nudge a key out of time. Keep keys few. A dip for a line of dialogue needs four keys at most, and fewer is often fine.
When a clip has several animated settings, switching the rubber band between them is quicker than switching to the Inspector, but for lining up keys across settings, the lanes are better.
When a drag surprises you
Forgetting which value the band shows is the usual one. If you drag a band expecting volume and the picture fades, the band was set to opacity. Check Clip > Rubber band shows if a drag does something unexpected.
The other is fixing every volume problem with keys. If a whole clip is too loud, drag the band with no keys first, or set its level in the mixer, and use keys only for changes within the clip.
One set of keys, many views
Rubber bands, Inspector lanes, the keyframe graph and the diamond buttons all edit the same keys. In Video by Zaweba you can add a key on the timeline, refine its curve in the graph and check it in the lane, without anything getting out of step.
