v3: Improved 3D Presentations
Wednesday, January 19, 2011
Our interactive 3D presentation feature was designed for storytelling to a live audience. Most timeline charts designed for web sites, touch screens, or printing are not simple enough to see across a classroom or a courtroom. Giving a three dimensional perspective to your timeline is the best way to show both the context and detail of your events during a presentation.
With that in mind, we've made some improvements to the 3D presentation interface that will make it an even better tool for storytelling with a live audience.
The first thing we have added is a new controller interface for navigating your presentation. In previous versions of our software, you had to learn keyboard commands to fly over your timeline presentation. While advanced presenters will still want to use keyboard, the new button interface will make it much easier for people who are getting started.
In addition to navigating your timeline, the controller lights up when there is a link or multimedia content in an event. For example, in the screenshot above the link button is lit up because the focussed event is connected to a blog article on the web. Clicking this button (or pressing "L") hides the 3D presentation and pulls up the website in Safari. Click back to Timeline 3D and your presentation will resume where it left off.
If there is a movie or audio file in your event, the media button will light up. Click this button (or press "M") to play the media directly in your 3D presentation. If the media is a movie, the presentation will zoom in so that the movie fills the screen.
One popular request from our customers is the ability to skip around a timeline presentation without passing through every single event. Our new bee-line interface allows you to do this intuitively. The bee-line shows your entire timeline as a series of tick marks. The focussed event is highlighted so that you can see how it fits into the entire context of your timeline. Hover your mouse across the bee-line to peek at a preview of all your events. When you find the one you want, a single click will take you there.
These new interface elements fade away when not in use, to keep your audience focused on your storytelling.
Labels: 3d, 3d timeline, interactive, presentation, v3
16 Comments:
The possibilities for interplay between the new Timeline 3D and external and multimedia resources absolutely boggle the mind. Will the link work for local files too?
Steve,
Yes if you are doing a 3D presentation on the same machine as the files reside then local file links will work. So you could link an event to a Keynote presentation or PDF for example.
If you publish to the web, only web links will be retained (because local links don't make sense in that context).
I'm glad your mind is boggled!
All of this looks great - I can't wait for the geological timescale! When is v3 planned to be released to the public?
Jessica, we are currently rolling out the v3 beta to existing customers and fixing bugs as we find them. I expect that a public release is a couple of months away, though it really depends on our beta experience.
Hi Adam,
first i apologize for my english that is not too good.
i just want to know if ”middle” timeline will be one of the new feature.
i must explain. I find very interesting for my students to have double entry in the timeline: exemple : in the upper section > inventions or news or political events, in the down section, masterpieces of art.
by doing this, the timeline can be read horizontaly and verticaly so events can be put in their context...
few exemples : http://www.newlaunches.com/entry_images/0708/03/iphone-timeline.jpg
or here : http://www.playlsi.com/Learn-About-Us/Our-History/Timeline/PublishingImages/web2010_timeline.gif?wax-srv=r5LXzmh4ytHXlqhcPmVbHA13
in the spirit they show what can be done to do very interesting timelines with ”double entry”
i hope you will understand what i tried to explain. Excuse me again for my lack of english skills...
best regards.
Battersea 47 - Thank you for your feedback. Our software does not support the style of timeline that you are describing. However, we do have a feature called "event rows" that is similar: http://bit.ly/eDGe5E
hi Adam,
Actually, i’m already using ”event rows” but i think that this second time line is a waste of space.
I really hope in the future that this function of a single middle centered line will be added.
it will be soooooo great !
best regards, btw, the version 3 looks fantastic.
Hi Adam & 'staff'...
Love BeeDocs Timeline and plan to join your Family upograde for the v3 beta (and do tell all my friends with Macs about your great s/w).
Wondering aloud -- you mention that Timeline V3 will allow to kick off via a link a Keynote/PPT presentation, great stuff indeed. Is there a way to do the opposite? Kick off Timeline from a Keynote/PPT presentation (via a link or a macro/button of some sort). Would be useful. TIA ///GregH HBch, CA.
greghudd - I don't think that Keynote allows you to link to local files (it does allow linking to web sites). However, it is fairly simple to put a timeline within a Keynote presentation either as a movie or a PDF so that it plays at the appropriate time in your slide show.
With these new navigation features, the iPhone is begging for an app that would allow you to control the Timeline 3D wirelessly. The interface could match that of these new navigation features.
I just purchased Timeline 3D and cannot wait for version 3.
Hello Adam,
I bought the license of Beedocs Timeline in March 2010. Yesterday, I installed an update. it now requires a license again. the problem is that I no longer have the license code. what should I do? Thank you.
Krysthyann - Please send an e-mail to Elise (elise@beedocs.com) who can help find your license.
Dear Adam,
I bought the software this week and I am now learning how to use it for a class I will give on history. When I use the3D full screen, the years on the 2 rows of the timeline I made don't appear. Since the years are important for being a class on history, how do I make them appear? Aren't they supposed to appear automatically?
Roque - Please send us an e-mail with a screenshot of your 3D mode so that we can fully understand what you are seeing. We'll do our best to help. Thanks!
for the moment i can’t use the 3D preview because it crashes (?) the Macbook everytime (the screen went black, i see the mouse cursor but the ESC button is no help, and i hear the usual mac bloooing sound that means that ” you press the wrong button” ...
i send log file but no news... i have updated to latest version available...
help me please.
Sorry in the previous comment i just saw that i don’t say Hello. Sorry Adam (@^_^@)
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