Working with timelines for multiple layers

[JimK]

Here are some suggestions that could make working with timelines for multiple layers much easier and more efficient. These suggestions build upon the existing software architecture, which is easy because PTE has a good foundational design. I just retired from working as a software designer and programmer and have seen many times the striking effects of improvements like this.

The basic strategy is to have one active timeline as currently occurs, but also display timelines for selected other layers or objects. For ease of communication, I’ll use the term layer for any object or row in the object list on the lower right of the O & A screen. Certain methods would allow easily switching to a different active layer and aligning keypoints across layers.

On the O & A screen, the timeline area at the bottom would be expanded to show up to 6 timelines. The lines for the timelines could be fairly close together and the times would not be permanently displayed for each keypoint as they are now (or time could be displayed on only the active timeline). There would be a time axis at the bottom with ticks every .25 seconds.

The actual layers that are displayed in the timeline area would be selected by adding checkboxes to the objects list that is currently displayed on the lower right of the screen. For each layer or row, a checkbox would be present. By default the checkbox is blank. If the checkbox is checked, the timeline for the layer is displayed in the timeline area. Up to 6 layers can be checked. The displayed timelines would be numbered from top to bottom in both the timeline area and the objects list and would be in the order found in the objects list.

If a layer that is not checked is selected by clicking on the layer name in the objects list, then only that one layer will be displayed in the timeline area. If no layers are checked the system would basically operate as it does today. The user who only wants to pan and zoom an image would not have to see or work with multiple timelines.

The single timeline that is active could be selected by clicking on one of the timelines in the timeline area or by clicking on the layer name in the object list as currently happens. The image displayed would be for the selected active timeline as is current practice and the active timeline row would be highlighted in the timeline area as well as on the objects list.

On the displayed timelines, a keypoint would be indicated by a dot (as it currently is) if there is no other displayed keypoint at that time. If there are one or more other displayed keypoints at that time, all the keypoints at that time on different layers would be indicated by a square rather than a dot. A keypoint could be moved by dragging the dot or square. If the Alt key was held down while a square keypoint was being dragged, all the other displayed keypoints at that time would be moved in synch. When the mouse pointer is held over a keypoint, moving the mouse scroll wheel would cause the keypoint or keypoints to move left or right with fairly fine resolution for precise alignment. If the mouse pointer is over the image display, then the mouse scroll wheel will zoom the image size.

As a keypoint is moved, round keypoints on other layers would become squares as the moving keypoint aligned with them. Stopping would allow permanent alignment and continuing to move would result in the keypoints becoming dots again. Similarly, a moving round keypoint would become square as it aligned with another keypoint.

As the mouse pointer is held over a keypoint, the exact time of the keypoint and time duration from the keypoint on the left would both be displayed. A system option would determine whether the time displayed for a keypoint is relative to the beginning of the slide or the beginning of the slideshow. Or, perhaps both times could be displayed.

When any location on the active timeline is clicked, the right mouse button would include the option to insert or remove time at that point. A box to input the amount of time would be displayed. The time would be added or removed immediately to the right of the clicked point. The overall duration of the slide would be changed by the specified amount of time and keypoints on all layers (including those not displayed) would be shifted accordingly without changing the times between keypoints except at the location of the time insertion/removal. If the removed time includes any keypoints on any layer, a warning message would display and notify the user that keypoints are in the removed area and they will be shifted to the cut point (they would not be deleted). The option to cancel the time change would also be available.

The Animation tab would have two checkboxes added in the zoom, pan, and rotate area. The boxes would be something like “Same as Left” and “Same as Right”. These would indicate and can set whether the zoom, pan, and rotate settings are the same as on the adjacent keypoints to the left and to the right. These boxes would be updated if changes are made later to the adjacent keypoints.

System options would determine whether the default type of animation speed for a new keypoint is linear, smooth, etc. and the default would be separate rather than glued.

The above would be the basic features. The maximum number of timelines displayed could be more or less than 6 depending on how much space is needed for displaying the image. When trying to imagine how this will work, keep in mind that it will be very easy to switch which timelines are displayed and to use one or two timelines as a model for transferring changes to other groups of timelines.

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Additional options that could be added initially or at a later time are listed below.

Holding down the control key while dragging a keypoint would cause all the other keypoints on the timeline in the direction of motion to shift while keeping the same times between keypoints (except for the keypoint on the very end). The duration of the slide would not be changed. Holding down both the Alt and control keys would cause all keypoints on all displayed layers to shift in the direction of motion. If a timeline is displayed that should not be moved, click the checkbox to remove the layer from display, move the keypoints for the remaining layers, and then check the box to bring back the other layer.

Three checkboxes could be displayed somewhere on the screen to control display options. These would be:

- Time Markers: checking this box would make vertical thin or dotted lines display up through the timelines on every .25 second tick.

- Connections: checking this box would make vertical thin or dotted lines connect the square keypoints.

- Snap: checking this box would make movement on the timelines snap to .25 second increments.

The number of timelines that could be displayed in the timeline area could be increased and include scroll bars for larger displays. I’m not sure if this will be needed. It may be that 6 timelines will be about all that people need or can handle, or it may be that some people will want to display all the timelines. I would suggest seeing how 6 work first but programming in a way that anticipates possible expansion.

A few options that are more sophisticated and challenging to program (but are becoming routine for Adobe products) are:

- Allow the user to drag a rectangle that selects keypoints on one or more of the displayed timelines and shift the entire block without changing the relative timing of keypoints within the block.

- If the mouse pointer is in the timeline area but not on a keypoint, then the mouse scroll wheel will zoom or expand the resolution of the timeline and scroll bars will appear. A slider could also be used to expand the resolution of the timeline.

- If a large number of timelines can be displayed at once, allow the user to drag a line separating the image display and timeline area to change the relative size of the image and timeline areas.

- Allow the user to add time to the slide by holding down the control-alt-shift keys while dragging the mouse on the active timeline. The location and amount of time added would be displayed real-time based on the amount of dragging. Time could be removed by dragging the mouse to select an area on the active timeline and then having a remove option on the right mouse button. The time changes would apply to all layers and warning would be given if keypoints are in an area to be removed.