Playing a time visualization

Complexity: Beginner Data Requirement: Use your own data

Simple playback of your time visualization can be achieved by clicking the Play button on the Time Slider window.

You can control the playback by setting playback properties on the Time Slider Options dialog box. Here, you can choose to play the time visualization in a specified duration or based on the time it will take to display each time stamp fully. You can also set the playback to stop, repeat, or reverse after the time visualization has been played once.

Also, you can choose to refresh the display of time-enabled data interactively when the Time Slider Control is moved. By default, the display is refreshed after you let go of the slider.

Displaying data for each time stamp when playing a time visualization

Using this option when playing a time visualization ensures that the data for each time stamp or time interval is drawn completely before the data for the next time stamp is displayed.

You can increase or decrease the speed of the sequential display of time stamps using the Speed slider control. The speed of the time visualization depends on the amount of data that needs to be drawn for each time stamp. When the slider for controlling the speed is set to the extreme right (faster), there is no time lag between the display of two adjacent time stamps. As soon as the data for one time stamp is displayed, the data for the next time stamp begins displaying. However, if the slider for controlling the speed is set to the extreme left (slower), there is a time lag or pause between the display of two adjacent time stamps. The time lag is relative and can be thought of as a pause between display of subsequent time stamps.

Steps:

1. Click the Options button on the Time Slider window to open the Time Slider Options dialog box and select the Playback tab.
2. Choose the option to Display data for each timestamp.
3. Move the slider to adjust the speed of the animation.

   Note:

   By default, the speed is set to be the fastest.

Playing in a specified duration

Using this option, the time visualization is played in the specified interval in seconds. By reducing the duration, the time visualization will play quicker, but all data for time stamps may not be displayed.

The duration specified to play is also used when exporting the time visualization to a video.

Steps:

1. Click the Options button on the Time Slider window to open the Time Slider Options dialog box and select the Playback tab.
2. Choose the option to Play in specified duration.
3. Specify the duration in seconds.

Post animation options

You can choose to specify the behavior of the time visualization after it has been played once. You can choose to stop, reverse, or repeat the time visualization after it has been played once.

Steps:

1. Click the Options button on the Time Slider window to open the Time Slider Options dialog box and select the Playback tab.
2. In the drop-down menu for After playing once, choose one of the following options:

   Stop	Clicking the Play button on the Time Slider window will play the time visualization once and stop at the end of the time slider's timeline.
   Reverse	Clicking the Play button on the Time Slider window will play the time visualization looping forward and reverse until you click the Pause button .
   Repeat	Clicking the Play button on the Time Slider window will play the time visualization once forward and keep repeating it until you click the Pause button .

Refreshing time-enabled data interactively

You can choose to refresh the display when moving the Time Slider Control interactively. Choosing this option will update the view or the time-enabled data as soon as the Time Slider Control position is changed. By default, the display changes only after you move the slider and let go.

Steps:

1. Click the Options button on the Time Slider window to open the Time Slider Options dialog box and select the Playback tab.
2. Check the option to Refresh the display when dragging the time slider interactively.

Tips for improving the playback performance

When playing or previewing your temporal data using the time slider, you can improve the playback performance by following some best practices listed below:

Steps:

1. You should follow the best practices for storing and managing temporal data for use in ArcGIS. Learn more about the best practices for storing temporal data.
2. If possible, you should use basemap layers for static background layers. Using basemap layers can enhance the display performance especially when you are visualizing temporal data that changes over time. Learn more about working with basemap layers.
3. When visualizing temporal data with a large number of features choose not to refresh the display when dragging the time slider interactively. You can uncheck the option to Refresh the display when dragging the time slider interactively on Playback tab of the Time Slider Options dialog box.