Time Dynamics — ZEUS Manual

Step Configuration and Controls

The “Time Dynamics” panel consists of several blocks (years, months, days, hours, minutes, seconds). For each block, you can:

Set the step: In the text field, specify the value by which the time will shift with each click on the “forward” or “backward” arrows.
Mouse wheel: A handy feature — if you hover your mouse cursor over an arrow button, you can change the time simply by scrolling the mouse wheel.
Slider: A slider is located nearby for smoother and more flexible manual time adjustment. Note: If the selected dial contains a return chart (e.g., Solar Return, Lunar Return, or Phase Lunar Return), the dynamics tool allows you to scroll time not by standard calendar units, but by entire return periods (from one return to the next).

The panel interface provides several buttons with useful functions (tooltips appear when hovering over them):

Restore original data — returns the dial’s time to its initial settings, resetting all your manual shifts.
Set current date and time — switches the chart to the “here and now.”
Start automatic animation — the program will automatically shift the chart time (the aggregate step of all panel elements will be continuously added to the current time).
Change animation direction — toggles the time scroll between the future (forward) and the past (backward).
Synchronize dials — allows you to affect the time not only of the active dial but also simultaneously the 2nd, 3rd, or 4th dials (useful when working with multi-level predictive charts).
Real-time clock — ties the chart time to the actual clock running on your computer.

Right-clicking on the “Time Dynamics” panel opens a menu with additional settings:

Presets: Allows you to quickly select a pre-configured time period template.
Load to Event Pool: The current time you just “dialed in” (e.g., the exact moment of an event you found) can be instantly sent to the Event Pool for saving.
Automatically switch dial to the outermost active one: An exceptionally useful checkbox. When activated, the program understands that you want to scroll the time of the outer (predictive) dial (e.g., transits or directions), saving you from manually switching focus to that dial before shifting the time.
Delay (ms): A setting for automatic animation. By entering a value in milliseconds, you can slow down the chart’s redraw speed during scrolling, allowing you to closely monitor the movement of planets on the screen.