Photo Slideshow Tips - Explore Timeline

Posted at 2016/10/19


To make more accurate control on photo slideshow, you can select arbitrary spot on timeline, then add or edit pictures there. The selected spot is called current time in Pholody's glossary. You can change current time by combinations of the following operations.

Before introduce each operation, it makes sense to have a relook at Timeline Panel of slideshow editor. The panel is showed below. Key items related to timeline exploring are annotated with yellow text.

Photo slideshow editor timeline window

 

1. Zoom in and out

Use the plus button at top-right corner of Timeline Panel to zoom-in, and minus button at top-left corner to zoom out. The clocks at each end of Time Window indicate start and end time of current window.

 

2. Jump to specific time spot.

You can jump to any time spot by double-clicking blank area in Timeline Panel (i.e. any area not occupied by icons and thumbnails). Depending on the distance to the closest picture before that spot, the contents of Video Window may be different.

  1. If spot is before animation end of previous picture, Video Window will show previous picture with a highly-transparent mask, which acts as a message to tell you previous picture is in animation so you can't add new pictures. If click Video Window, you will select that picture.
     
  2. If spot is more than 10 seconds behind animation end of previous picture, Video Window will turn to light blue with a message saying "Double click loaded picture to employ it". This message implies previous picture has been on screen too long, so it is better to add a new picture. In this state, if double-click any picture in Image Queue, that picture will be allocated at selected time spot.
     
  3. If spot is somewhere between above two cases, Video Window will show previous picture with a slightly-transparent mask, implying it is better to keep previous picture on screen (i.e. not to add a picture). However, if you click Video Window, it will turn to case 2.

Below is an example to show different editor states in above 3 cases.

Different behaviors of video window depending on distance to previous picture

 

You can also jump to specific time by clicking a picture on Timeline Panel. With this method you select that picture and set current time to its start time in one click.

  • By double-clicking a picture on Timeline Panel, you can directly bring out the set animation dialog box for that picture.

 

3. Move forward / backward

3.1 Move without changing current time

If Time Window is in zoomed-in state, you can use the scroll bar at bottom of Time Panel to slide the window forward and backward. This operation does not change current time, but offers more precise control on the time spot to jump to. To jump to specific time you can use the method described above.

If you are using a device with touch panel, you can drag Time Window itself to slide it.

3.2 Move with changing current time

If you have selected a picture on timeline, you can click the left or right arrows at each side of Time Panel to move to previous or next picture. Upon moving to a picture you select that picture and set current time to its start time. This method is particularly useful to go through the whole slideshow and check positions of each picture.

Below is a video clip to show how to use it to check all pictures before publishing.


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Last update: 2018/10/19