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  • Adam Behringer

    Seattle, Washington USA

    Adam is the founder of BEEDOCS, an artisan software company that makes great timeline software for Mac OS X.

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ScreenCastsOnline: Bee Docs' Timeline

Wednesday, August 20, 2008

This week Don McAllister of ScreenCastsOnline features a video of Bee Docs' Timeline.

Don contacted me a few weeks ago to let me know that he wanted to use Bee Docs' Timeline in a presentation he was giving in Las Vegas and also wanted to feature the software on his video podcast. He asked if there was anything that I'd like him to include and I passed along a few of the most frequently asked questions that I get asked:

  • What are the basics steps of creating timelines with Bee Docs' Timeline?
  • How do you use full motion 3D timelines with Keynote?
  • How do you format a timeline to fit on a single page?

I admit that my own videos and help documentation are lacking in response to these issues at the moment, but Don did a great job of addressing these common concerns.

If you are a Bee Docs' Timeline customer or are thinking of becoming one, the 37 minute video is a must watch. Especially the part where Don shows how he built his amazing Keynote presentation using 3D timelines.

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11 Comments:

Anonymous AnonymousAugust 20, 2008 8:08 PM

I was there for his presentation, and it was wildly effective. You've created an amazing app!

Well done!

Anonymous AnonymousAugust 21, 2008 5:59 PM

Just finished viewing the ScreenCastsOnline presentation of Timeline. A first-rate screencast (Don never disappoints) and an especially effective demonstration of Timeline's capabilities. And I agree with Adam that Don's combining of Timeline and Keynote is a "must watch"—very clever stuff.

Anonymous AnonymousAugust 22, 2008 5:36 AM

Michael Flower says it all.

Fiddly/complex looking stuff simplified so that even we non-geeks can follow and implement :-)

Don's saved everyone a LARGE learning curve i.e. trying to work out things, experiment etc..

1 thought, though :-) I noticed his notes were stretching long taking up a lot of space lengthwise when that text could have been easily accomodated to fit the vertical side/measurement of the event image. This can be achieved by simply placing the cursor somewhere in the text line to suit and then pressing the space bar until it flows into the next line. Big space saver and looks neater :-)

Anonymous AnonymousAugust 22, 2008 5:44 AM

Hi Adam,
Honestly, I was on the fence about Timeline 3-D mostly because I figured I could do all this myself with a little more work but when this ScreenCastsOnline Review exampled the 3-D features, that was the closer.
Great, cleanly designed GUI too - Get in, get out is absolutely a plus if I'm needing to punch out a quick 2-D Timeline in no time at all.
I did not see a suggestions area so I'm going to throw-in my two cents here regarding potential features for a future release, if I may:
An Export method to make either an "interactive" QT Movie or even maybe a Flash Movie where I could embed a project on a webpage and have the viewer scroll down though the 3-D perspective (back & forth) and also have each event that pivots out to be clickable. I could envision your App providing a new means for navigating through a webpage written for events or extreme detail, like a company's history page, etc. -Just a thought. I love what I see though. Good Luck and please keep up the inspiring work!

Blogger Adam BehringerAugust 22, 2008 10:17 AM

Michael,

Thank you for the feedback. Indeed, we currently have interactive web timelines under development (for possible 2009 release).

Adam

Blogger Adam BehringerAugust 22, 2008 10:19 AM

Anonymous,

Thanks for tip. However, you can simple use the Return key in the notes field to force a line break.

To force a line break in the Event Label field, use Option-Return or copy and paste the text from another application (like TextEdit).

Adam

Blogger DonAugust 28, 2008 3:18 AM

Thanks for the great comments on the ScreenCastsOnline tutorial - much appreciated!

Anonymous AnonymousSeptember 03, 2008 10:29 AM

Hey there,

Simply wanted to let you know that your application was highlighted on MacBreak Weekly 8/26. Great looking software and a nice price!

- Josh

Anonymous AnonymousSeptember 10, 2008 9:48 AM

Don's video showed the ability of importing data from application such as Skitch & NetNewsWire. I have both applications installed, but do not have the ability to select that option. What is the key to unlocking that feature?
Thanks,
Alex

Blogger Adam BehringerSeptember 10, 2008 10:50 AM

Alex,

Every time you launch Bee Docs' Timeline, it does a spotlight search for the applications it knows how to communicate with. It if finds them, it displays the import icon.

If you have the applications installed, and you still do not see the icon, please send me an e-mail so that I can help track down the issue (Adam at BeeDocs dot com).

Blogger London Citilife CreativeOctober 07, 2008 11:34 AM

I just discovered don mcallisters presentation re 3D timeline. I was very impressed with the app, but disappointed to discover i had just missed the save25 promo. Will Bee's be coming up in any other promos anytime soon?

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