Descript's playback and navigation features allow you to see where you are in the script and Timeline and play your composition. These features are comprised of two elements: the transport and playhead.
Transport
The transport is the main playback and navigation control center and is located at the top of the Timeline.
| Skip to next marker | |
| Skip to previous marker | |
| Play at playhead | |
| Pause at playhead | |
| Access menu for playback speed |
Playback Speed
Have you ever felt like it takes too long to listen through your media while editing? Changing your playback speed allows you to listen at up to 3x the normal speed! Check out our How to adjust playback speed video guide for a walkthrough.
Keep in mind that this only adjusts playback while editing in Descript. If you want to adjust the speed of clips on your exported files, see the Looping and clip speed adjustment article.
Playhead
The playhead indicates the starting position of your playback media and is represented in the script as a blue cursor and in the timeline as a vertical blue line. During playback, the playhead will also highlight the current word in your script.
Navigating frame by frame
In your project, you now have the ability to go through each frame one at a time. This is accomplished by pressing the left or right arrow keys. This is especially useful when you need to pinpoint a specific frame for precise edits or to add new video or audio content. For a quicker navigation through your project's timeline, simply hold down an arrow key. This method allows for quickly scrub through your content.
Timeline Focus
To navigate frame by frame using the left and right arrow keys, make sure the Timeline is the active editor panel. This can be done easily by clicking anywhere on the Timeline.