diff --git a/src/TrackLabConstants.ts b/src/TrackLabConstants.ts
index 9c689b7..bcdd15e 100644
--- a/src/TrackLabConstants.ts
+++ b/src/TrackLabConstants.ts
@@ -13,7 +13,6 @@ export const PANEL_CORNER_RADIUS = 8;
 // ── Screen layout bounds ───────────────────────────────────────────────────────
 // SceneryStack's ScreenView.DEFAULT_LAYOUT_BOUNDS = Bounds2(0, 0, 1024, 618).
 const LAYOUT_WIDTH = 1024;
-const LAYOUT_HEIGHT = 618;
 
 // ── Video display dimensions ───────────────────────────────────────────────────
 // The video element is always rendered at this fixed pixel size.
@@ -22,10 +21,12 @@ export const VIDEO_WIDTH = 640;
 export const VIDEO_HEIGHT = 360;
 
 // ── Video position in screen (layout) coordinates ────────────────────────────
-// The video element is centered at layoutBounds.center + (0, VIDEO_PLAYER_Y_OFFSET).
-export const VIDEO_PLAYER_Y_OFFSET = -20; // video center offset below layout center
+// The video player VBox is top-anchored at y=10.  The source-control row
+// (~40 px) plus MAIN_CONTENT_SPACING (10 px) places the video top at ~60 px,
+// so the video centre sits at approximately y=240.
+export const VIDEO_PLAYER_Y_OFFSET = -20; // kept for reference; no longer used for positioning
 export const VIDEO_CENTER_X = LAYOUT_WIDTH / 2; // 512
-export const VIDEO_CENTER_Y = LAYOUT_HEIGHT / 2 + VIDEO_PLAYER_Y_OFFSET; // 289
+export const VIDEO_CENTER_Y = 240; // approximate video centre with top-anchored layout
 
 // ── Initial calibration tool geometry ─────────────────────────────────────────
 // Half-length of the default calibration segment (pixels from centre to each endpoint).
diff --git a/src/screen-name/view/PlaybackControlsNode.ts b/src/screen-name/view/PlaybackControlsNode.ts
index 0244309..3fdff57 100644
--- a/src/screen-name/view/PlaybackControlsNode.ts
+++ b/src/screen-name/view/PlaybackControlsNode.ts
@@ -108,11 +108,9 @@ export class PlaybackControlsNode extends HBox {
     // ── Time and frame info display ────────────────────────────────────────
     const formatDuration = (seconds: number): string => {
       if (!Number.isFinite(seconds) || seconds <= 0) {
-        return "0:00";
+        return "0.00 s";
       }
-      const mins = Math.floor(seconds / 60);
-      const secs = Math.floor(seconds % 60);
-      return `${mins}:${String(secs).padStart(2, "0")}`;
+      return `${seconds.toFixed(2)} s`;
     };
 
     const totalTimeTextProperty = new DerivedProperty([model.durationProperty], (duration: number) =>
@@ -167,7 +165,7 @@ export class PlaybackControlsNode extends HBox {
       tandem: Tandem.OPT_OUT,
     });
 
-    this.children = [infoDisplay, timeControlNode, scrubber, rewindButton];
+    this.children = [timeControlNode, scrubber, rewindButton, infoDisplay];
 
     this.disposePlaybackControlsNode = () => {
       timeSpeedProperty.unlink(onSpeedChange);
diff --git a/src/screen-name/view/SimScreenView.ts b/src/screen-name/view/SimScreenView.ts
index 4144b97..432f100 100644
--- a/src/screen-name/view/SimScreenView.ts
+++ b/src/screen-name/view/SimScreenView.ts
@@ -6,7 +6,6 @@ import {
   CONTROL_PANEL_LEFT_MARGIN,
   DATA_TABLE_TOP_SPACING,
   RESET_BUTTON_MARGIN,
-  VIDEO_PLAYER_Y_OFFSET,
 } from "../../TrackLabConstants.js";
 import type { SimModel } from "../model/SimModel.js";
 import { CalibrationToolNode } from "./CalibrationToolNode.js";
@@ -66,7 +65,7 @@ export class SimScreenView extends ScreenView {
     // SimModel from the tool state properties above).
     this.videoPlayerNode = new VideoPlayerNode(model, this);
     this.videoPlayerNode.left = controlPanel.right + 20;
-    this.videoPlayerNode.centerY = this.layoutBounds.centerY + VIDEO_PLAYER_Y_OFFSET;
+    this.videoPlayerNode.top = this.layoutBounds.top + 10;
     this.addChild(this.videoPlayerNode);
 
     // ── Coordinate system overlay (above video, below camera modal) ─────────
@@ -96,6 +95,16 @@ export class SimScreenView extends ScreenView {
     });
     this.addChild(resetAllButton);
 
+    // ── Playback controls bar (bottom of screen, same height as reset button) ─
+    const playbackControlsNode = this.videoPlayerNode.playbackControlsNode;
+    this.addChild(playbackControlsNode);
+    playbackControlsNode.centerX = this.videoPlayerNode.centerX;
+    playbackControlsNode.centerY = resetAllButton.centerY;
+    playbackControlsNode.boundsProperty.lazyLink(() => {
+      playbackControlsNode.centerX = this.videoPlayerNode.centerX;
+      playbackControlsNode.centerY = resetAllButton.centerY;
+    });
+
     // ── Kinematics graph (bottom right, above reset all) ─────────────────
     const kinematicsGraph = new KinematicsGraphNode(model, this, trackLabPreferences);
     this.addChild(kinematicsGraph);
diff --git a/src/screen-name/view/VideoPlayerNode.ts b/src/screen-name/view/VideoPlayerNode.ts
index 78ab5f5..2c39bb5 100644
--- a/src/screen-name/view/VideoPlayerNode.ts
+++ b/src/screen-name/view/VideoPlayerNode.ts
@@ -23,6 +23,8 @@ export class VideoPlayerNode extends Node {
   private readonly videoElement: HTMLVideoElement;
   /** Webcam recording panel; positioned by SimScreenView for correct z-ordering. */
   public readonly webcamPanel: WebcamPanel;
+  /** Playback controls bar; positioned by SimScreenView at the bottom of the screen. */
+  public readonly playbackControlsNode: PlaybackControlsNode;
   private readonly model: SimModel;
   private readonly disposeVideoPlayer: () => void;
   /** Tracks the current blob URL so it can be revoked when a new one is loaded. */
@@ -103,15 +105,15 @@ export class VideoPlayerNode extends Node {
     };
     model.playbackRateProperty.link(playbackRateListener);
 
-    // ── Playback controls ─────────────────────────────────────────────────
-    const playbackControlsNode = new PlaybackControlsNode(
+    // ── Playback controls (positioned by SimScreenView at screen bottom) ──
+    this.playbackControlsNode = new PlaybackControlsNode(
       model,
       this.videoElement,
       () => this.seekByFrames(-1),
       () => this.seekByFrames(1),
     );
     // Pin to the video width so internal text changes never shift the row.
-    playbackControlsNode.preferredWidth = VIDEO_WIDTH;
+    this.playbackControlsNode.preferredWidth = VIDEO_WIDTH;
 
     // ── Fit video element to its intrinsic aspect ratio ───────────────────
     // When a new clip is loaded, scale it to fill as much of VIDEO_WIDTH ×
@@ -131,14 +133,14 @@ export class VideoPlayerNode extends Node {
       this.videoElement.width = displayW;
       this.videoElement.height = displayH;
       model.videoDimensionsProperty.value = new Dimension2(displayW, displayH);
-      playbackControlsNode.preferredWidth = displayW;
+      this.playbackControlsNode.preferredWidth = displayW;
       model.tracker.resize(displayW, displayH);
     };
     this.videoElement.addEventListener("loadedmetadata", onDimensionsLoaded);
 
     // Sync model time from video during playback (event-driven, not polled)
     const onTimeUpdate = () => {
-      if (!playbackControlsNode.scrubbing) {
+      if (!this.playbackControlsNode.scrubbing) {
         model.currentTimeProperty.value = this.videoElement.currentTime;
       }
     };
@@ -173,7 +175,7 @@ export class VideoPlayerNode extends Node {
 
     // ── Layout ─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
     const mainContent = new VBox({
-      children: [videoSourceControlNode, videoLayer, playbackControlsNode],
+      children: [videoSourceControlNode, videoLayer],
       spacing: MAIN_CONTENT_SPACING,
       align: "center",
     });
@@ -208,7 +210,7 @@ export class VideoPlayerNode extends Node {
         this.currentBlobUrl = null;
       }
       autoTrackerNode.dispose();
-      playbackControlsNode.dispose();
+      this.playbackControlsNode.dispose();
       videoSourceControlNode.dispose();
       autoTrackingShownProperty.dispose();
     };