---
title: "Preview your video"
canonical_url: https://docs.zvid.io/docs/editor/preview/
source: docs/editor/preview.md
content_revision: 6338386a1dd87e4a
---

# Preview your video

Play your composition in the editor to check timing, content, and layout before spending credits on a render.

## When to use it

Preview after editing text, moving clips, changing audio, or reordering scenes. Editor playback is a browser preview; rendering creates the final downloadable media.

## How to preview the current timeline

**Navigation:** **Editor → timeline playback controls**.

1. Click the time ruler where you want playback to begin.
2. Click **Play (Space)**, or press Space outside an input field.
3. Click **Pause (Space)** to stop.
4. Use **Previous frame** and **Next frame** to inspect an exact moment.
5. Use **Previous start point (Home)** and **Next start point (End)** to jump between content starts.
6. Toggle **Loop (L)** for repeated playback and **Mute (M)** to mute the preview.

![Zvid editor timeline showing a demo text clip, playback, frame stepping, loop, mute, and time controls.](https://docs.zvid.io/img/dashboard-guide/editor-timeline-playback.png)

Dragging the ruler scrubs through time. Preview mute does not change the video's exported audio; edit the element's **Volume** to change the output.

## How to preview all scenes

1. Open **Scenes → Global overlays**.
2. Above the timeline, select **full movie**.
3. Click **Play (Space)** and inspect transitions between scenes.
4. To edit a scene, select its scene card. To edit global content, switch back to **overlays**.

**full movie** is read-only. The preview resolves repeated scenes and conditions using the current variable defaults; a single-scene editing view previews the first item of a repeating scene.

## How to check template content

1. Open **Variables** and set realistic default values.
2. Enable **preview** to show resolved values on the stage.
3. Check text length, image sources, conditional content, and scene count.
4. Use **full movie** when the project contains repeated or conditional scenes.

Local variable preview is separate from the API's template preview, which returns resolved JSON rather than a rendered video.

## Troubleshooting

### I cannot select an element in the full movie

**Cause:** **full movie** mode is read-only.

**Solution:** Select the scene containing the element, or switch to **overlays** to edit global elements.

### The preview differs from the rendered video

**Cause:** The browser stage approximates some rendering effects and depends on available fonts and browser media playback.

**Solution:** Inspect the completed cloud render for final output. Effects marked **≈** are approximations, and chroma key is shown as a badge rather than removing the color on the stage. Check font loading and media access if content is missing.

## What happens next

When timing and content look right, [save the project](https://docs.zvid.io/docs/editor/projects/) and [start a render](https://docs.zvid.io/docs/editor/export/). Previewing locally does not produce a download or consume rendering credits.

## Related documentation

- [Keyboard shortcuts](https://docs.zvid.io/docs/editor/shortcuts/)
- [Scenes](https://docs.zvid.io/docs/editor/scenes/)
- [Variables and templates](https://docs.zvid.io/docs/editor/templates/)
- [Rendering and exporting](https://docs.zvid.io/docs/editor/export/)