<p align="center"> <a href="https://tilia-app.com/"> <img src="docs/img/logo.png" alt="drawing" width="100" align="center" > </a> </p> TiLiA (TimeLine Annotator) is a GUI for producing and displaying complex annotations with video and audio files. It is a full-featured but easy-to-use set of tools for researchers and enthusiasts to better analyze their media of interest without needing to rely on textual representations (like music scores). It is written in Python, using the PyQt library for its GUI.

TiLiA allows users to annotate media files primarily through timelines of various types. Each one provides different tools and enables specific annotations and visualizations. Currently, there are six types of timelines, but many more are planned.

Here are some examples TiLiA visualizations:

Formal analysis of the Piano Sonata in C Major, K.284:

How to use

Instructions can be found at the website.

Current features

6 kinds of timelines
- AudioWave: visualize audio files through bars that represent changes in amplitude
- Beat: beat and measure markers with support to numbering
- Harmony: Roman numeral and chord symbol labels using a specialized font, including proper display of inversion numerals, quality symbols and applied chords
- Hierarchy: nested and leveled units organized in arbitrally complex hierarchical structures
- Marker: simple, labeled markers to indicate discrete events
- PDF: visualize PDF files synced to playback
- Score: visualize music scores in custom, to-scale notation or conventional engraving
Controlling playback by clicking on timeline units
Multiple attributes linked to each timeline unit
Local audio and video support
YouTube stream support
Customizable metadata can be attached to files
Creation of multiple timelines
Timeline edition during playback
Toggling of timeline visibility
Export of audio segments based on analysis
Import timeline data from CSV files

Planned features

There are many more features that we would like to implement than can be listed here, including:

New kinds of timelines
Range: displays units with an extension but not tied to hierarchical structures
TiLiA explorer: allows filtered searches through timeline components across multiple TiLiA files
Font and GUI color customization
Video segments export
Automatic beat detection for audio

Online platform

The TiLiA desktop app is supported by an online platform that allows .tla files to be stored, visualized, shared and queried.

Download

Visit TiLiA's download page for the latest release.

Build from source

Prerequisites

Before you start, you will need:

Python 3.11 or later. You can get it at the Python website.
pip to install dependencies.
Git to clone the TiLiA repository. You can get it at the Git website.

How to build

Go to the desired directory and clone TiLiA with:

git clone https://github.com/TimeLineAnnotator/desktop.git tilia-desktop

Change directory to the cloned repository:

cd tilia-desktop

Note: We recommend using a virtual environment for the next steps.

Install the dependencies using pip:

pip install -e .

Install PyInstaller with:

pip install pyinstaller

Run PyInstaller using the settings in tilia.spec:

pyinstaller tilia.spec

The executable will be created in the 'dist' folder inside the project directory.

Run TiLiA CLI

Clone repository and install dependencies

You can follow the instructions in the previous sections to clone the repository and install dependencies.

Run TiLiA

Use this command to run TiLiA in CLI mode:

python -m tilia.main --user-interface cli

How to contribute

See Contributing.

License

TiLiA is licensed under the GNU General Public License (version 3). The complete license can be found here.

Acknowledgments

The TiLiA interface was greatly influenced by Brent Yorgason's Audio Timeliner. We thank the author for the development and free distribution of his software.

Desktop

Install / Use

README