Labels

Labels are used in order to set exact locations on the timeline that you want to be able to easily get to. To create a label, position the insertion point at a location and click on the label icon in the Transport and Buttons bar. The new label is displayed on the timebar as a down arrow at that location as shown in figure 2.5. Whenever the insertion point is at the same position as a label, it changes color to emphasize that it is exactly at that spot. Labels make it so you can jump back and forth to exact marked locations on the timeline. Use the lower case letter “L” as a shortcut for the label button.

You can use labels to reposition the insertion point when that label is selected. They are also especially useful for moving along the timeline to the Next label or Previous label with the buttons on the Transport and Buttons bar to the right of the Labels button. When moving along the timeline with the Next or Previous label buttons, if a label is out out of view the timeline will automatically be repositioned so that the label is visible. If you perform a Next label operation and there are no more, the insertion point will go to the End position. Conversely if you perform a Previous label operation and there are no more labels, the insertion point will go to the Home position. Keyboard shortcuts for label traversal are:

Ctrl-left

moves the insertion point to the previous label.

Ctrl-right

moves the insertion point to the next label.

There is a Label folder in the Resources window which has a list of every label and its exact location where the label is. The location is based on the timestamp, frame number, or sample number depending on the selected Time Format of your timebar. You can edit, delete, or goto a label by clicking the RMB on that label in the Resources window which brings up a popup menu with those options. It can be quite helpful to edit the label and add a text string to help identify what the label represents. In addition, RMB clicking the label symbol on the timebar brings up a textbox displaying the current text string and allowing you to change it. If a Label has been given a name, simply mousing over the label symbol on the timebar will display that string.

With labels you can also select regions:

Shift-Ctrl-left

highlights the area between the insertion point and the previous label.

Shift-Ctrl-right

highlights the area between the insertion point and the next label.

Double-clicking

on the timebar between two labels, highlights the area between the labels.

Shift-clicking

on a label, highlights the area between that label and the insertion point. If an area is already highlighted, it extends the highlighted area up to that label.

If you LMB click the label button when an area is highlighted, labels are created at each end of the highlighted area. When a label is selected, if you click on the label icon, the label will be deleted. To delete multiple labels, highlight that area, then use the Edit → Clear → Clear labels function to delete them all. The same precedence rules apply to this operation as mentioned earlier. That is, if both In/Out points are set and there is a highlighted area also set, the highlighted area's labels will be cleared and not those between the In/Out points.

If you enable Edit labels in the Settings pulldown menu or disable the Lock labels from moving button on the Transport and Buttons bar, labels will be cut, copied or pasted along with the selected area of the first armed track. In the same manner, if a selected area of media is spliced from the viewer to the timeline in a position before labels, the labels will be moved to the right on the timebar so that the label maintains its relative position to its edit. To prevent labels from moving on the timebar, enable the Lock labels from moving icon or disable the Edit labels option under the Settings pulldown.