Find in Timeline - Flash, Enlarge, Add Pointer, just do something more obvious.

[Anonymous]

Building an assembly from the bottom up results in a very long timeline. There are many suggestions on how to better navigate the timeline. Saving each component out to a separate may help in the assembly timeline, but this just moves the timeline navigation issue to a bunch of different files.

When Find in Timeline is activated, the event may not even appear in the current timeline screen. If things are working right, the event timeline is scrolled to show the event and wonderfully subtle hash marks are delicately placed over the event thumbnail. The little blue background is only a marginal improvement. (Other times you don't even get either. But that's another issue.)

So, with an event highlighted, I now 18 inches of 0.01" wide icons scattered across the bottom of screen and I have to find three little slash marks. With color swatches turned on, finding the little slashes in this cluttered band turns into a game of Where's Waldo (but not as much fun).

So, enough whining? What's my suggestions?

Please consider making the active timeline event more obvious. One or more of the following might help.

1. Center the active (or selected) event on the screen so that it can be found in a consistent location.
2. Show the mouse-over popup above the selected event. This would not require adding any graphics elements.
3. Flash or enlarge the active (or selected) event icon.
4. If suggestion 2 is not viable, place a larger maker over the active (or selected) event.
5. Show user-added labels in the timeline. These would help users build visual queues along the timeline to help keep track of the relative location.

Another option might be to use a "browser" structure for the timeline, maybe in a separate window. This format would show the event names and allow for expanding and collapsing timeline sections.

Eugene

aka Lost in time-line

Disclaimer: As of 2017-01-01, the above user has accrued less than 200 hours with the modeling environment and is still adjusting to the Fusion-way. Respectful suggestions and pointers for structuring bottom-up assemblies and timeline management are appreciated.