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= Timelines =
This document describes the concept of Timelines in Sophie2. Here you will find a description of what timelines, channels and timeline entries are, how are timelines and links working together, what are the most popular uses of timelines and other useful information related to this key part of the project.

== Design ==
[[Include(wiki:TIMELINES/Design)]]
[wiki:TIMELINES/Design?action=edit Edit]

== Discussion log ==
This is an overview of what the design discusson about timelines on 2009-04-24 was about.

 * Issues to consider:
  * Are timelines a resource?
  * Having a timeline for the book vs. having a timeline for each page.
  * Single page/multiple page timelines in Sophie 1.0 - should we keep them?
  * Frame behaviour when dragged on timelines - it seems strange that a frame is visible all the time when not on the timeline and only for a short time when dragged to a channel.
  * Overlapping actions with one object on multiple channels.
  * Triggering a timeline from another timeline, playing several timelines simultaneously.
  * Timelines triggering links, links triggering timelines.
  * User interactions while a timeline is playing.
 * Timelines concept
  * Each page in the book has its own timeline, the book itself doesn't have a timeline.
  * Each top-level group in the page can have its own timeline.
  * There are no different kinds of timelines (single page/multiple page).
  * A timeline consists of three parts - intro, main and outro. The main part can be looped.
  * There are two sections in a timeline - channels for groups and channels for media and misc events (e.g. audio background).
   * For each group in the page, a channel is created. It can contain only this group in its timeline entries.
   * The user can drag an audio resource to an area below the group channels. Other events can be drawn here as well.
  * User interactions are with higher priority than timeline-triggered events. If a user triggers a link, it is executed no matter whether it conflicts with the actions in the timeline.
  * Timelines play automatically but the user can pause them or change the position of the head:
   * When a page is shown, its intro is played, followed by the main part.
   * If the main part is not looped, the outro is shown after it and the next page is shown.
   * If the main part is looped, the outro is shown when the user requests a page change.
  * Links cannot trigger timelines. The opposite is possible (and is critical to the correct behaviour of timelines).
  * Timelines will be pro-objects.
 * Use cases
  * A slideshow of pictures with audio annotations (the most popular use of timelines in Sophie 1).
  * Fade-in/fade-out effects for a page.
  * DVD menu, table of contents.

== Sophie 1 Issues ==
[[Include(wiki:TIMELINES/SophieIssues)]][[BR]]
[wiki:TIMELINES/SophieIssues?action=edit Edit]


== User Interface ==
[[Include(wiki:TIMELINES/UserInterface)]]
[wiki:TIMELINES/UserInterface?action=edit Edit]

== Comments ==
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