The video scrubbing definition

Scrubbing in video or audio files means moving a slider along the timeline back and forth in order to get the needed point right away, without waiting when the track reaches this moment “in a natural way”.

In other words, scrubbing is a manual navigating through the footage, so that a person can review a track in a convenient speed and manner.

Mind, that it’s not the same as just skipping from one frame to another. While scrubbing you can see thumbnails – miniatures – of all the frames and look them through. It means that you don’t have to “guess” the exact point, you can just get to it.

In simple terms, scrubbing the video – is the same, as if you run to the destination point instead of walking, but you still can observe the same landscape on your way.

How to use video scrubbing

It comes in handy while editing a clip, so you do not need to click on the different places of a timeline and look for the necessary part to revise. It may seem useless but only until you actually start working on your video. Only imagine adding subtitles to a movie without the ability to... well... scrub through it — it would be too exhausting and time-consuming.

If you have to edit several long footages in a limited period of time, embedded video scrubbing is a must-have.