9. Working with timelines

Timelines allow the authors of Sophie books to create complex books with reader-triggered actions that change over time. Each page has its own timeline, which can control actions on that page. Sophie books can also synchronize page turning to audio.

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 or group currently selected. The timeline interface for a page might look something like this:

Every page in a Sophie book has a master timeline which shows all the frames on the page, which is what this image shows; it shows a page that has two resources on it, one an embedded book and the other an image. Each frame also has its own timeline as well. In both, you can change the resolution of the timeline by using the drop-down menu at the lower left of the timeline interface.

The page and frames have timeline halos, which will open up the timeline HUD for the page or frame.

Timelines start automatically when a page is opened, but links can be added to a book to control timelines.

Controlling timelines

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.

9.1. Creating timelines
9.2. Controlling timelines
9.3. Playing back timelines
9.4. Synchronizing audio to pages