| 9 | | ^Here follows the detailed description (will be written later). |
| | 9 | === User interactions === |
| | 10 | |
| | 11 | A book in Sophie2 cannot have timelines than span all over it. Instead, each page of the book has its own timeline (that can be only one). Each group of objects on the page can also have its own single timeline. This separation ensures that there won't be situations when the timeline says the user is simultaneously on more than one page and prevents having actions involving a frame that is not on the current page. It is a substitute to the single/multiple page timelines in Sophie 1.0. The timelines of the grouped objects provide more interactive content. For example, a movie playing or some objects moving while a table of contents is shown is now possible. |
| | 12 | |
| | 13 | Each timeline visually has three parts - intro, main part and outro (internally these will be implemented as three different timelines). The intro and outro cannot be looped, while the main part can. By default both the intro and outro are 0 seconds long, while the main part is infinitely looped with all objects on the page shown (or hidden if the author has provided so). This will ensure that if an author wants a simple book with no interactions and animations, he doesn't have to bother with timelines. On the other hand, it is robust enough for the experienced. The intro and outro allow fade in/out effects to be created not only for the page, but for grouped elements as well. |
| | 14 | |
| | 15 | There are two areas of timeline channels. The first one contains group channels - one for each group of elements on the page. This channel is specialised for this group and can contain only entries holding this group. This will prevent constructing invalid sets of actions by overlapping the same object on several channels. Still, it will provide flexibility to work with multiple channels and objects easily. The second type of channeles does not hold an object or group that is on the page. Instead, it can hold an audio resource or eventually some other events (for example opening a book in a new window). There can be several such channels, similarly to what Sophie 1 allows. |
| | 16 | |
| | 17 | When a page is entered, its timeline starts playing automatically, showing the intro, main part and outro. The user will be able to skip the intro and outro. If the main part is not looped, the next page will be shown automatically after the timeline of the current stops playing. If it is looped, it will show continuously until the user (or a link action triggered by the timeline) requests to go to another page. In such case, the outro is shown. Timeline playback cannot be controlled by links. The user, however, will be able to pause the timeline and change the position of the head in the bottom flap timelines panel. |
| | 18 | |
| | 19 | As a start, timelines will be able to control the visibility of page elements and the state of the media. Additional actions might be supported at a later stage. The current LinkActions for Hide/Show/Toggle Frame will be used. |
| | 20 | |
| | 21 | === Internal design === |
| | 22 | |
| | 23 | ^Here will be the description of the internal design of the timelines. |
