Timeline editor: arrange, trim, fade and overlap audio

The timeline shows every audio clip in an episode on its own track, so you can move, trim, fade and layer them. It is part of the episode editor in Podcasts and Episodes, and it is for timing and mixing rather than wording.

Opening and resizing the timeline

Click the Open Timeline button on the right of the playback bar, below the script editor. The same button then reads Collapse Timeline. It is disabled until the episode has generated audio.

Drag the top edge of the timeline panel to resize it, up to the full height of your window. Dragging it below its smallest usable height collapses it, and reopening restores your previous height.

Timeline layout

• Track headers (left): each host has a track named after them, with their avatar. Music gets its own rows, labeled Intro Music, Outro Music or Background Music (numbered when you add more than one of the same kind). A track made by dropping your own audio file is named after that file.
• Time ruler (top): click it to move the playhead.
• Segments: colored blocks with waveforms. Each host and each uploaded track has its own color.
• Playhead: the current playback position.

The zoom slider, with Zoom in (+) and Zoom out (-) buttons beside it, appears on the right of the playback bar while the timeline is open. Zoom in for precise edits, out to see the whole episode.

Moving, snapping and trimming

Drag a segment to reposition it. Segments snap to the edges of other segments and to the playhead, and guide lines show when one aligns. Snapping is always on.

Each host has one track, so a host's segment stops when it reaches another segment on that host's track. Segments on different hosts' tracks can overlap by any amount, which gives you crosstalk. To overlap every pair of takes at once, use Speaker spacing.

To trim, hover over a segment's edge until the trim handle appears, then drag inward. A segment cannot be trimmed shorter than one second. Trimming is a quick way to cut a long pause from the start or end of a speech block.

Selecting and seeking

Click a segment to select it and move the playhead there. Clicking empty space in a track or on the ruler moves the playhead without selecting anything. None of this starts or stops playback: playing audio keeps playing from the new position, and paused audio stays paused.

Cut, copy, duplicate and delete

Right-click a segment, or select it and use a shortcut:

The right-click Delete asks you to confirm before removing the segment.

A generated narration segment cannot be cut, copied or duplicated. Each script block has exactly one take, so a second copy would leave the timeline with no single narration to regenerate. Its right-click menu offers only Regenerate Audio, Edit Audio and Delete. Regenerate Audio replaces only that block's narration; see Regenerating individual segments for behavior and credit costs. Music and uploaded audio keep the full menu.

Deleting a host's narration

Deleting a speech segment removes that host's narration from the timeline. The matching block in the script editor is marked stale and needs regeneration before you can render, download or publish. This holds after a reload.

Volume and fades

Right-click a segment and choose Edit Audio to open:

• Volume: a decibel control for the segment's level.
• Fade In and Fade Out: how long the segment takes to ramp up at the start or down at the end, up to 10 seconds. A short segment, or a long fade already set on the opposite end, lowers that limit. The dialog shows the current maximum.

You can also drag a segment's fade handles on the timeline.

Each track header has a volume control that adjusts the whole track while keeping the balance between its clips, with a Mute / Unmute button. It is available on music and uploaded tracks as well as host tracks. Muting a track silences it, so you can hear the episode with or without music.

Speaker spacing

Click Audio Settings in the playback bar, next to Add Music, to open the Speaker spacing slider. It sets the gap between every pair of consecutive speakers' takes at once, from a one-second overlap (-1) to a one-second gap (+1), in 0.05-second steps. The default is 0, back to back.

Drag left for overlap and right for a gap. The popover shows the current value with its sign, such as +0.50s or -0.40s. Reset returns to back to back and is disabled when you are already there.

Overlapping takes creates crosstalk. A take cannot be overlapped past half the length of the shorter take in the pair, so two takes never swap places.

Speaker spacing moves only speech. An intro or outro keeps its position. Background music follows the sizing rules under adding music.

Adding your own audio from the timeline

Drag an audio file from your desktop onto the timeline. A preview shows where it will land, and dropping it adds the clip to a new track named after the file. Use this for a recorded intro, a guest's voice memo or an interview snippet alongside your AI hosts. You can then move, trim and fade it like any other segment. To replace the whole episode with a recording, see Uploading your own episode.

Music on the timeline

Music sits on its own lane: trim, move, cut, copy, duplicate, adjust volume and fades, or delete it. Add or swap music with Add Music in the playback bar. Looping, defaults and background music sizing are covered in Adding music.

Missing files

If a music or uploaded audio file is removed from your media library, its segment shows a File missing badge naming the file. The episode keeps playing and skips that segment, but rendering, downloading or publishing fails and names the same file. Replace the file to clear the badge.

Playback controls

The playback bar sits between the script editor and the timeline, in three parts:

• Left: Add Music and Audio Settings. Both are disabled while the timeline is locked.
• Center: Go to Start, Play/Pause, Go to End, and the time display.
• Right: the zoom slider (timeline open only) and the Open Timeline / Collapse Timeline button.

Press Space to toggle play/pause (it is ignored while you are typing in a text field). Go to Start jumps to 0:00 and Go to End jumps to the end of the episode. The time display reads current / total, for example 1:23 / 12:45, and updates as the playhead moves.

All playback controls are disabled until the episode has generated audio. Playback keeps working while the script editor or timeline is locked, so you can still play, pause and scrub during a render. For what locks the timeline, see Editing while an episode renders.