| Version 3 (modified by nmatelan, 15 years ago) (diff) |
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9. Working with timelines
Timelines allow the authors of Sophie books to create complex books with reader-triggered actions that change over time. Timelines can work in conjunction with time-based media or separately.
To edit timelines in Sophie, you need to open the timeline interface, which is the bottom flap. The timeline interface will show the timeline for the current page (if you have no frames selected) or for the frame currently selected.
Every page in a Sophie book has a master timeline which shows all the frames on the page. Each frame (or group of frames) has its own timeline as well.
Currently, timelines can not be triggered by the book; they start automatically when a page that uses a timeline is opened. Much more timeline functionality will be added in the future to Sophie.
THIS PAGE IS CURRENTLY BEING UPDATED
The page timeline
The page timeline appears in the bottom flap when the page is selected. Right now, it just consists of a slider; it looks like this:
The slider can be dragged back and forth, which will show what the page looks like at that point in time.
You can move frames around on the page: if you move the slider to 0:10, then move a frame from the upper left corner to the lower right corner, when the timeline is played back, the frame will move from the upper left corner to the lower right corner at 0:10.
You can also use the page timeline to change visibility: a frame can be made to appear from 0:00-0:10, then disappear, then reappear at 0:20. To do this, move the slider to 0:10. Then select the frame you want to hide; open the frame's appearance HUD:
Uncheck the checkbox that says Visibility. Then move the slider on the timeline to 0:20; turn Visibility back on. When the timeline is played back, the frame will disappear from 0:10 to 0:20.
The frame timeline
Each frame's timeline appears in the bottom flap when the frame is selected. The frame timeline currently looks like the page timeline; the frame timeline slider moves with the page timeline slider, so they are interchangeable.
Playing back a timeline
When a book with timelines is opened in Sophie Reader or in Preview mode, the timeline on a page starts playing as soon as the user turns to that page. Currently the timeline loops indefinitely; this will change in the future.
