The Timeline allows you to organize and analyze your drone surveys over time. You can sort drone surveys into the proper sequential order and easily toggle between the Timesteps. 

The Timeline enables the use of tools like cut and fill maps, compare profile options, and allows you to create designs for the future. This article shows you how to efficiently use the Timeline and how it can make your project management for earthwork or mining projects easier. 

You can toggle the Timeline to show or hide it via the calendar icon that is found in the View tab or in the status bar. 

Overview

• Timeline Feature Descriptions
• Timeline Order Sequence and Organization
• How to Set Up the Timeline
  • Option 1: Add Timesteps with Terrain Creator
  • Option 2: Manually Add Timesteps and Load Datasets
• Why the Timeline is Useful
• Timeline Functions in Virtual Surveyor Plans
• Tips and Tricks

Timeline Feature Descriptions

The Timeline is organized by Timesteps. Each Timestep is designed to contain your drone datasets that were flown at different dates. A Timestep contains data such as line drawings, topo surfaces, profile lines, cut/fill maps, etc. 

The Timeline has the following features:

	Feature	Description
		Open the Timestep options.
	Add Timestep	Adds a new Timestep in the Timeline. Type in a name or a date and press Enter to create a new Timestep.
	Set Active	Sets the selected Timestep to the current view. Alternatively, left-click on the Timestep name to set it as active. The Active Timestep is shown in bold lettering.
	Rename Timestep	Rename the Timestep. After entering a new name or date press Enter to complete.
	Move Forward	Move the Timestep forward in the Timeline.
	Move Backward	Move the Timestep backward in the Timeline.
		Manually move a Timestep anywhere forward or backward on the Timeline via click-and-drag.
	Delete Timestep	Erases the Timestep from the project along with all of the data in that Timestep.

Timeline Order Sequence and Organization

The Timeline should be organized with the most recent Timesteps at the top. Having the proper chronology of Timesteps is essential to ensure that any work done (like cut and fill maps) are presented properly. 

For example, the project below shows what material we want to cut away (red and orange), not what needs to be filled in (blue). We need to ensure that the most recent dataset of 1 March 2019 is shown at the top of the Timeline sequence.

How to Set Up the Timeline

The Timeline is integrated into both Terrain Creator and Virtual Surveyor apps so that photogrammetry can seamlessly transfer from Terrain Creator to Virtual Surveyor as a new Timestep. The fastest method is to use Terrain Creator and transfer the photogrammetry to Virtual Surveyor. You have two options for setting up and creating Timesteps on the Timeline: 

Option 1: Add Timesteps with Terrain Creator

Use our photogrammetry app, Terrain Creator, to move your processed drone datasets to the Virtual Surveyor app and begin your work on a new Timeline: 

1. After processing your drone data in the Terrain Creator app, click Open in Virtual Surveyor.
2. When the Virtual Surveyor app loads, your drone dataset appears as a new Timestep in the Timeline, automatically named with the flight date.
   

Add your dataset in a new Timestep to an existing project. In the example below, we can use the same processed drone dataset and add it as an additional Timestep in an already existing project: 

1. In the Terrain Creator app, click To Existing while the Virtual Surveyor app is running with a project already open to transfer the recently processed drone dataset.
2. Switch to the Virtual Surveyor app to see the drone dataset added at the top of the Timeline list as the most recent Timestep. The Timestep is automatically named with the drone's flight date.
   
3. Repeat these steps as many times as necessary to create a new Timestep with each drone dataset that was flown on a separate date. The image below shows four Timesteps that were added from Terrain Creator, and one manually created Timestep called 'EMPTY SITE'.
   

Option 2: Manually Add Timesteps and Load Datasets

Create a Project and load drone datasets to the Timeline yourself.

1. Open an existing or create a new Project.
2. Open the Timeline view and click on Add Timestep.
3. Type in the drone flight date as the Timestep name and press Enter.
   
4. Select the new Timestep and load the next drone dataset with Choose files or by using the drag-and-drop function from Windows' File Explorer.
   
5. Repeat the same steps for each successive Timestep.
   
6. Create as many Timesteps as there are drone surveys and import each data set into the dedicated Timestep.
   1. You can also create Design and Baseline Timesteps for more advanced projects.
      

Why the Timeline is Useful

• Monitor a job site over time through timelapse. When your project contains multiple Timesteps, you can switch from one drone survey to another by selecting each Timestep in the Timeline list (a manager can view the full Timeline in the free Valley version).
  

• Monitor earthworks over time. Use the Cut/Fill tool to create Cut/Fill maps between timesteps. Watch the video to get more details about the workflow.
  

• Assess what earthwork needs to be done by comparing drone survey to Design surfaces via imported CAD design surfaces (either DXF or XML files). Import that CAD file into a Timestep to use it as a reference for the Cut/Fill map.
  

• Compare Profiles over time using Timesteps with sequentially flown drone datasets to analyze the removal or addition of project site material.
  

Timeline Functions per Virtual Surveyor Plan

The complete Timeline functionality is only available in the Mountain and Peak plans. Valley/Ridge users have viewing privileges for the Timeline features, but ultimately only have one Timestep.

• Valley and Ridge plans - the Timeline is a view only feature where you survey today with a snapshot of a drone dataset for a single moment in time. 
  • Includes a single Timestep that you can rename and store data in. 
  • With the Valley/Ridge plan, you can view a project with multiple Timesteps that were created in the Mountain or Peak plans.
• Mountain plan - compare projects over time by creating multiple snapshots of drone datasets and sequentially organize them using Timesteps.
  • Create cut/fill maps and monitor/assess earthwork projects and progress.
  • Create additional timesteps with drone datasets and compare profiles over time.
• Peak plan - design the future, then use multiple snapshots of drone datasets through a sequence of Timesteps to see the design being built in phases, over time.
  • Draw designs for a haul road, retention pond, coastal rock wall, etc., and observe the build progress through sequentially flown drone datasets within the Timeline.
  • Able to do everything a Mountain plan user can do on the Timeline.

Valley/Ridge Timeline	Mountain/Peak Timeline

Tips and Tricks

• You can move drawings, created surfaces, and other work from one Timestep to another using cut/copy and paste.
• Use the pin option in the Project View to make drawings, profile lines, and topographies available for all the Timesteps. 
• Any cleaning of the terrain (terrain modification or removal of objects from the terrain) only applies to the selected Timestep.