Choosing the time step interval on the time slider

The time step interval of the Time Slider control is the duration after which the map, globe, or scene will be refreshed to display the data valid at that time. The time step interval is represented by ticks on the timeline along which the Time Slider control can be moved. When visualizing the time-enabled layers interactively, the Time Slider control snaps to its specified time step interval or the ticks on the timeline. When playing a time visualization, the time-enabled layers are updated at the specified time step interval.

For example, if you want to visualize the rainfall data on a daily basis, you can specify a time step interval of one day. As shown in the illustration below, the rainfall data will be updated on a daily basis.

However, if the time step interval is changed to two days, the same rainfall data, as shown in the illustration below, will be displayed for every second day.

The time step interval of the Time Slider control is calculated based on the time step interval of the time-enabled layers in your map, globe, or scene. The default time step interval of the Time Slider control is set to the minimum time step interval of all the time-enabled layers in your map, globe, or scene.

When visualizing a single time-enabled layer, the default time step interval of the Time Slider control will be set to the time step interval of the time-enabled layer. However, if you have two time-enabled layers, the default time step interval will be set to the minimum time step interval of the time-enabled layers. For example, if you have two time-enabled layers, one with a time step interval of two years and the other with a time step interval of three years, the time step interval of the Time Slider control will be set to two years. Likewise, if the two time-enabled layers have time step intervals of two days and one month, respectively, the time step interval of the Time Slider control will be set to two days.

If you want to visualize your data at a different time step interval, you can change the default time step interval of the Time Slider control on the Time Slider Options dialog box.

Caution:

If you choose a time step interval such that the last time step does not fall at the same time as the end time of the time slider, the End time value of the time slider is adjusted so that all time steps are available for visualizing your data. For example, if you have 10 days of data, from January 1 to January 10, choosing a time step interval of 1 day will not impact the end time of the time slider because the 10th time step will fall exactly on January 10. However, if you choose a time step of 2 days, the time steps will fall on January 1, 3, 5, 7, and 9. However, since there is data for January 10 also, a time step is provided on January 11 as well. Therefore, in this case, the End time value of the time slider is reported as January 11. This concept works best when you specify a time window when visualizing your data.

Learn more about setting a time window for visualizing your data

Learn more about setting the start and end time of the time slider

1. Open the Time Slider window by clicking the Time Slider button on the Tools toolbar.
2. Click the Options button to open the Time Slider Options dialog box, and click the Time Display tab.
3. Set the desired values for Time step interval and units.

The time step interval of the Time Slider control is set. When interactively visualizing or playing the time slider, the time-enabled layers in the map, globe, or scene are now updated based on this time step interval.

Tip:

• You should specify a time step interval based on the time step interval of the time-enabled layers in the map, globe, or scene. For example, if you have two time-enabled layers, one with a time step interval of one month and the other with a time step of one year, you should set the time step of the Time Slider control to one month. In this case, when you visualize data, the monthly time-enabled layer will display at every time step on the timeline. However, the yearly data will display every 12 months.
• The default time step interval is calculated the first time you open up the Time Slider window after enabling time on layers. The default time step interval is not recalculated every time you close and reopen the Time Slider window.
• You can click the Restore Default button to restore the time step interval of the Time Slider control to the default time step interval, which is the minimum time step interval of all the time-enabled layers in the map, globe, or scene.
• You can also choose to visualize your time-enabled data within a time window. With a time window set, you can visualize time-enabled data within a window of time that progresses based on the time step interval.

  Learn more about setting a time window