Filed under: Macworld, Software
Macworld Expo: Bee Docs Timeline 3D makes complex timelines easy
One of my favorite things about Macworld Expo is the "stealth" apps for the Mac that make appearances on the show floor, addressing a specialized need or a focused market that bigger companies overlook. Some might deride these programs as unitaskers, but the investment of a few bucks in a tool that does one thing and does it very well should be weighed against the time and effort that the single-purpose app will save you compared to doing the same thing in a more flexible environment.
Case in point: BeeDocs Timeline & Timeline 3D, a couple of unitaskers with style if ever I saw some. Timeline first takes event data, whether manually entered, or imported/subscribed from a variety of calendar formats and apps. Then it lets you add your art for backgrounds and specific events, and it creates a beautifully formatted 2D or 3D timeline ready for print or online output. Teachers, presentation pros and even lawyers can leverage fast and easy timeline production to enhance their content.
During the show, you can get Timeline for the "lowest-ever" pricing of $30. If you teach, train or demonstrate, and your content includes historical overviews or change-through-time data, you should give it a look. See our video interview in the 2nd half of the post for a quick peek at the software.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
erik said 8:01PM on 1-07-2009
hello, all. have to agree - i have this software and it's absolutely terrific. it works great as 'expected' (i.e., making a timeline), but also can be used as a substitute for keynote or *gasp* powerpoint (did i really say that word?). export as a quicktime movie and just pause as needed. simple, straight-forward and powerful. GREAT job, beedocs.
oh, and you, too, TUAW.
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Ben@nimbleslick.com said 12:30AM on 1-08-2009
Since you already own the software, I was wondering if you might be able to comment further on the online integration. I would love to be able to include an interactive timeline on a website for a client. Is that a possibility?
Thanks!
Mike said 9:12PM on 1-07-2009
While it doesn't have a GUI for creating events, I use the timeline tools from SIMILE (http://code.google.com/p/simile-widgets/). There are some kinks to work out for newbies, but it is an interactive timeline that runs in a browser. I'm using it for a court case now. I just use events in XML.
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Norman said 5:21PM on 1-17-2009
Isnt there a real app that works in the browser? just the widget? im looking for a timeline that can be embeeded into a webpage and doesnt have to be uploaded after every change.
Mike said 6:46PM on 1-17-2009
This doesn't have to be uploaded. When its source data changes, the timeline changes. It works in the browser and is rendered via CSS, Javascript, etc.
Kevin said 10:14PM on 1-07-2009
This is great software. We use it all the time for client presentations. It is the one item absolutely guaranteed to make jaws drop when you animate the 3D timeline.
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Norman said 7:25AM on 1-08-2009
The product is damn good and the guy is nice, i translated most of the app for him into german in exchange for a license for the 3d version of the app and it's totally brilliant i'm just doing a timeline on the life of Scott Nearing before jumping into the writing the paper about his life.
Like this, i'm never confused with all those events of the first world war aera and it looks totally fantastic.
It's much better than writing everything into a wordfile and then having to figure out where to type an important sentence because youre confused about "damn when was that event that i'm describing here, and where in the text is it, etc."
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Kendal said 10:59AM on 1-08-2009
OMG !!! This is perfect for my teaching science. And as soon as I show some of my history-teacher colleagues, they will be buying Macs, guaranteed!
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Strcrprstskrzkrk said 11:04AM on 1-08-2009
This is really impressive. However, it's a pity that you can't seem to "send" the 3D presentation to a second screen - as far as I can tell you can only present this by mirroring your laptop and your secondary display. Not ideal.
There's a workaround on the Beedocs website that involves exporting the presentation as an HD movie and then integrating that (very laboriously) into Keynote. Surely just easier to jump in and out of Keynote?
Or have I missed something obvious?
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Brooklynguy said 4:09PM on 1-08-2009
I purchased it, spent all afternoon working with it, and found it feature-poor, incredibly buggy, and unstable. Events wouldn't even order chronologically! (A few of them were always out of order.) The developer answered none of my emails. Wish I'd spent the $30 on food.
I love this idea and wish a dependable company like Apple or OmniGroup would build a reliable, feature rich app like this. I would pay up to $200 for that.
Maybe I'll build it myself.
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Brooklynguy said 7:49PM on 1-08-2009
UPDATE: The developer is answering my emails and helping me resolve my problems. Nice guy.