Timeline & Temporal Playback
The timeline bar at the bottom of the viewer controls time-based data playback. It gives every time-aware dataset its own labeled track, so you can see multiple datasets at once and navigate their temporal extents independently.
Timeline bar
The timeline bar sits at the bottom of the viewer. Click the collapse button on the right to hide it and reclaim screen space; click again to restore it.
| Control | Description |
|---|---|
| Play / Pause | Starts or stops time animation. |
| Reset to start | Jumps the playhead back to the beginning of the focused time range. |
| Loop toggle | When enabled, playback restarts from the beginning when it reaches the end. |
| Speed presets | Choose how fast time advances — expressed as real-world time per second of playback (for example, 1 min/s, 1 hr/s, 1 day/s). |
| Current timestamp | Shows the exact date and time at the playhead position. |
| Collapse button | Minimises the timeline bar to save screen space. |
The date picker is hidden for span-based layers where setting an exact start date does not apply. It remains visible for point-in-time and building dataset layers.
Public share links include a simplified timeline with playback, loop, speed, and scrub controls. Dataset tracks are hidden in the public viewer to keep the shared map focused, but the playhead still controls time-aware layers.
Stacked dataset tracks
Each time-aware dataset gets its own labeled lane stacked vertically below the main scrubber. Lane colours are assigned by activation order so you can quickly tell datasets apart at a glance.
The track for each dataset shows the span of time covered by its data. Hover over a track to see the layer name and the temporal extent in a tooltip.
Out-of-range markers
If a dataset has data outside the currently visible portion of the timeline, a small marker arrow appears at the left or right edge of its track. This lets you know data exists there even when the current view is zoomed in on a different period.
Snap to extent on activation
When you activate a time-aware dataset — either by toggling it on in the Layers panel or clicking its track in the timeline — the timeline automatically jumps to that dataset's temporal extent. This saves you from manually scrolling the timeline to find where data starts.
Playhead and window band
A single playhead marks the current simulation time shared across all datasets. Drag the playhead left or right to scrub through time.
Around the playhead, a band halo shows the currently active time window — the span of time that span-based layers use for their temporal filter. The halo is visual only; resize the window using the window width presets below the tracks.
Window width presets: 1 h / 1 d / 1 w / 1 m / 1 y — click a preset to snap the active window to that span centred on the playhead.
The old draggable Time Window Slider has been replaced by the band halo around the playhead. The window width presets work the same way as before.
Building dataset tracks
Building datasets use single-instant semantics: the attribute data they carry is not time-varying in the same way as CZML or filtered GeoJSON layers. The timeline shows their track as a single marker under the playhead rather than a span bar.
Building dataset colouring is not affected by the window filter that controls which span-based features are shown. The buildings remain visible regardless of the active window width.
Temporal filtering for vector layers
Vector layers (GeoJSON, CSV, Shapefile, and similar) can be filtered by a date/time attribute field. Features outside the active time window are hidden from the map.
Configuring a temporal field
- Open the layer in the Layers panel and expand its settings.
- Go to the Temporal section.
- Select which attribute field contains the time or date data. Auto-detected temporal fields appear at the top with a confidence percentage and an Auto-detected badge.
- Choose the date format: ISO 8601, Unix seconds, or Unix milliseconds.
- The detected date range and feature count are shown after selection.
- Click Clear to disable temporal filtering for the layer.
The timeline is most useful with datasets that have a date or timestamp field — for example, construction phases, historical events, or sensor readings. Enable temporal filtering on the layer first, then use the playhead to step through time.
Live streams
When a live CZML stream is active, a pulsing LIVE badge appears on the timeline bar. The playhead follows real-time data and cannot be dragged to a past position.
A Realtime toggle in the timeline bar enables automatic refresh of wind data every 15 minutes.
Animate through time
Click Play to advance the playhead automatically. The speed presets control how fast time moves:
| Preset example | Meaning |
|---|---|
| 1 min/s | One minute of simulation time passes per second of real time |
| 1 hr/s | One hour of simulation time passes per second of real time |
| 1 day/s | One day of simulation time passes per second of real time |
Use Loop to repeat playback continuously — useful for presentations or unattended displays.
When a scenario snapshot is saved while playback is active, the scenario remembers the playback state and selected speed. Public share links restore those settings, so recipients see the same time animation you prepared.
Temporal filtering requires the layer to have an attribute field with date/time values. Layers without temporal data are not affected by timeline playback.