Markers

A marker is a labelled point on a composition or a layer. Comp markers draw as small flags on the Timeline ruler; layer markers draw on the layer’s own bar and move with it.

Each frame holds one marker at most. Adding a marker where one exists replaces it, and dragging a marker on top of another does the same.

Add, move, edit

Action	How
Add at the playhead	Composition ▸ Add marker at playhead, or `*`, `Shift+NUMBER`, or `Shift+M`
Add anywhere	Double-click empty ruler. Edit marker… opens on the new marker.
Move	Drag the marker along the ruler
Edit	Double-click the flag, or right-click it: Edit marker…
Delete	Right-click the flag: Delete marker

Pressing or dragging a marker does not move the playhead.

Each comp marker draws a line in its colour down through the rows of the Timeline, the Cut timeline and the Audio timeline. Beat markers draw theirs once the view is zoomed in far enough to tell them apart. Settings ▸ Appearance ▸ Panels ▸ Marker lines turns the lines off.

Colour

Right-click a flag and pick a chip to set the marker’s colour. The first chip is the plain grey. Edit marker… carries the same chips. Layer markers take a colour the same way.

Regions

A region is a comp marker with a duration. It draws as a bar on the ruler, from the flag to a handle at its end, and shades that stretch of time down through the lanes and the graph editor in the marker’s colour.

Action	How
Make a region	Right-click the flag: Make region. It starts one second long.
Resize	Drag the handle at the region’s end, or set Duration in Edit marker…
Move	Drag the flag
Remove	Right-click the flag: Remove region, or set Duration to 0

A region is at least one frame long and stops at the composition’s end. Layer markers and beat markers have no region.

Snapping

With the magnet on, a dragged bar, keyframe, work-area edge or marker snaps to the markers, the playhead, layer ends, the edit points inside Sequence layers, keyframes and work-area edges. Ctrl suspends it.

On the ruler of the Timeline, the Cut timeline and the Audio timeline, holding Shift while dragging the playhead lands it on the nearest of the same targets. Holding Ctrl (Cmd on macOS) sounds the mix as the playhead moves.

Numbered markers

Press Shift+0–Shift+9 to set that numbered marker at the playhead. Pressing the shortcut again moves it to the current playhead.
Press the bare digit 0–9 to jump to that marker. Nothing happens until it has been set; if you edit the marker’s contents this will stop working for that marker.

Beat markers

Beat markers are markers generated by audio onset detection. On a comp with audio:

Composition ▸ Detect beats analyses the comp’s audio and writes beat markers.
Composition ▸ Clear beat markers removes only the generated ones.

Detection runs in the background. Where a comp carries no audio, nothing happens.

A beat marker stays a beat marker once you drag it or rename it.

The Audio panel’s Beats section generates beat markers with a chosen source, sensitivity, range and tempo.