Basic Features¶

This chapter covers the main window, panels, timeline tools, viewer, export, and project settings.

Main Window Overview¶

The Oak main window with the footage manager, node editor, param editor, sequence viewer, timeline, and audio meter.¶

The default layout is divided into:

Upper-left: tabs for the Footage Manager, Node Editor, and Param Editor.
Upper-right: the sequence viewer (e.g. Sequence 1) for previewing the active sequence.
Lower-left: Project and History panels.
Bottom center: the Timeline showing tracks and clips.
Right side: the Audio Meter showing real-time volume.

Panel	Purpose
Footage Manager / Project	Manage project footage, sequences, and folders.
Node Editor	Organize effects and compositing relationships as a node graph.
Param Editor	Adjust parameters for the selected node, with keyframe support.
Sequence Viewer	Preview the current sequence.
Footage Viewer	Preview original footage.
Timeline	The core non-linear editing surface for arranging clips.
Audio Meter	Display the master output volume.
Scopes	Histogram / waveform / vectorscope monitoring (hidden by default; see Histogram).
Task Manager	Monitor background tasks such as export and proxy generation.

The left toolbar provides the main timeline tools (some shortcuts can be customized in Edit > Preferences > Keyboard):

Tool	Shortcut	Purpose
Pointer	`V`	Select, move, and trim clips.
Edit	`Y`	Beam-pointer style editing selection.
Ripple	`B`	Move a clip while automatically shifting following clips.
Rolling	`N`	Trim adjacent in/out points simultaneously.
Razor / Blade	`C`	Split a clip at the playhead or click position.
Slip		Change a clip’s internal media start without changing its timeline position or length.
Slide		Move a clip while its neighbors expand/contract to keep the overall length.
Hand		Pan the timeline view.
Zoom		Drag to zoom the timeline horizontally.
Transition	`T`	Add a transition at an overlap between two clips.
Add	`A`	Add generated clips (solid, title, shape, tone, etc.).
Record		Record audio directly onto the timeline.
Track Select		Select all clips on a track after the clicked point.

Toggle snapping from the toolbar or Tools > Snapping.
Snapping targets include clip edges, playhead, markers, keyframes, and work-area boundaries.

Operation	Description / Shortcut
Move a clip	Drag with the Pointer tool; hold `Alt` for fine adjustment.
Trim in/out	Drag the clip edge; Ripple/Rolling tools affect neighboring clips.
Split / Razor	Press `C` and click, or press `;` to split at the playhead.
Delete	`Delete` for a regular delete; `'` for a ripple delete.
Copy / Paste	`Ctrl+C` / `Ctrl+V`; dependencies are preserved.
Undo / Redo	`Ctrl+Z` / `Ctrl+Shift+Z`
Marker	`M` adds a marker at the playhead.
In / Out points	`I` / `O` to set; `Shift+I` / `Shift+O` to jump.
Zoom timeline	`=` / `-`; track height `Ctrl+=` / `Ctrl+-`.
Jump to cut	`↑` / `↓`
Nudge clip	`Alt+←` / `Alt+→`

The Param Editor showing a Transform node’s position, rotation, scale, and anchor; the OCIO LUT node lets you load a LUT file.¶

Selecting a node or timeline clip lists its parameters in the Param Editor.
A small circle next to a parameter enables keyframing; when lit, changes at the current frame are recorded as keyframes.
Color parameters (shown highlighted in yellow) open the color picker when clicked.
File parameters (such as LUT file) open a file chooser when clicked.

The Sequence Viewer and Footage Viewer share the same playback controls:

Space: play / pause
Shift+Space: play in-to-out
← / →: previous / next frame
Home / End: jump to start / end
J / K / L: Shuttle controls (rewind / stop / fast-forward)
The right-click menu sets fullscreen, playback resolution, safe margins, color-management sampling, etc.

Open File > Export to bring up the Export dialog:

Range: Entire sequence or In to Out.
Format: MP4 / MOV / MKV / WebM / WAV / MP3 / PNG sequence / OpenEXR, etc.
Video codec: H.264 / H.265 / ProRes / DNxHD / VP9 / AV1 / lossless PNG, etc.
Audio codec: AAC / PCM / MP3 / FLAC / Ogg Vorbis, etc.
Subtitles: embed into the container or export as an SRT sidecar.
Run in Background: sends the export job to the Task Manager so you can keep working.

Preferences (Edit > Preferences) contain several tabs:

General: language, auto-scroll behavior, auto-recovery, default still length.
Appearance: UI style, color tags, marker colors.
Audio: audio backend, input/output devices, recording format, sample rate, channel layout.
Timeline / Playback / Project / Node behavior: various interaction toggles.
Rendering: graphics backend (OpenGL / experimental Vulkan), Use glFinish.
Disk: disk cache location, proxy preset (width/height/CRF/encoding preset).
Keyboard: customizable shortcuts.

Project Properties (Sequence > Project Properties) mainly set:

Color Management: OpenColorIO config file, default input color space, reference space.
Disk Cache: default location / same directory as project / custom path.

The sequence-wide cache menu is currently hidden; auto-cache is still a stub or temporarily disabled.
The Vulkan backend is marked experimental.
Headless export mode is not fully implemented.