Step 2: Build the timeline

The Timeline is a visual plan of your shoot, laid out over time — much like the timeline in a video editor. Each department gets its own track, and you place blocks of time on it for scenes, setups, moves, and meals. In this step you'll lay out one shoot day.

One rule shapes everything here: the timeline is a working draft. Editing it never changes your bookings or call sheets until you choose to push the change out — so you can sketch and rearrange freely.

Open the timeline

In your project's sidebar, open Timeline. Use the date arrows or the Today button in the top bar to move to your shoot day, and set Zoom to day so one day fills the view.

Add a stream for each department

A stream is a horizontal track, usually one department or unit — "Camera Dept", "Lighting", "Art". Click + Stream and add one for each department on your shoot. Two or three is plenty to start.

Each stream's ⋮ menu lets you rename it and set a Color, which tells streams apart on the grid. A stream can also have sub-streams beneath it — "A Camera" and "B Camera" under Camera, say.

📷 Screenshot: /images/docs/tutorial-producer/timeline-editor.png The timeline with several streams and items across a shoot day. Alt: A timeline editor showing horizontal department streams with time blocks laid across them.

Place items on the streams

An item is a block of time on a stream — a scene, a setup, a company move, a lunch. Place a few on each stream: drag on the grid to create one, then drag and resize to adjust. Each item has a start and an end and a type — work, travel, break, off, or hold. Turn on Snap in the top bar to make items snap to a grid as you drag.

An item can also be tied to a location, so the place shows on the item and can flow through to call sheets later. Locations are managed in the separate Locations tool, which keeps place names consistent across the project.

Check the day reads right

Toggle Times in the top bar to show time labels, and read the day across: does each department's track match how the day should actually run? Adjust until it does. This draft is what your bookings, budget, and call sheets will be built from in the coming steps.

Your shoot day is laid out. Next you'll freeze a version of it, so you have a stable plan to book against.

Where to go next

Next: Step 3: Save a snapshot
Go deeper: Timeline basics