Play video in the Source Monitor and Program Monitor

The Source Monitor and Program Monitor contain several controls that resemble the playback controls on a video deck. Use the Source Monitor controls to play or cue a clip. Use the Program Monitor controls to play or view the active sequence.

Most playback controls have keyboard equivalents. When you want to use keyboard shortcuts to control playback, make sure that the monitor you want is active. Click the video image in the monitor you want to activate. When a monitor is active, it displays blue bars above and below the video display area.

Note: When using keyboard shortcuts to move in a time ruler, make sure the panel you want is active. (Japanese-language keyboards only) To use these keyboard shortcuts on a Japanese-language keyboard, make sure your keyboard is in direct input mode, rather than Japanese input mode.

Do any of the following:

To play, click the Play button , or press L or the spacebar. (To stop, click the Stop button or press K or the spacebar. The button and the spacebar toggle between Play and Stop.)
To play in reverse, press J.
To play from the In point to the Out point, click the Play In To Out button .
To play an entire clip or sequence repeatedly, click the Loop button , and then click the Play button . Click the Loop button again to deselect it and prevent looping.
To play from the In point to the Out point repeatedly, click the Loop button , and then click the Play In To Out button . Click the Loop button again to deselect it and prevent looping.
To play forward faster, press L repeatedly. For most media types, the clip’s speed increases from one to two to three to four times.
To play backward faster, press J repeatedly.
To play forward slower, hold down the K key and press the L key, or press Shift+L repeatedly. For most media types, the clip plays in slow motion, from .1 to .2 times.
To play backward slower, hold down the K key and press the J key, or press Shift+J repeatedly.
To play around the current time, from preroll to postroll, Alt‑click (Windows) or Option-click (Mac OS) the Play In To Out button. Pressing Alt (Windows) or Option (Mac OS) changes the button to the Play Edit button .