# Make an animated timeline or roadmap for your video

> In Tella, choose Add clip → New Tella Motion clip, or select a recorded clip, and ask the Tella Agent for a timeline with your dates and milestones. Tella Motion draws the line, then brings in each marker, date and label one after another. On a recorded clip, the timeline plays as an overlay or b-roll timed to what you say. You can keep asking for changes, like a new date, an extra milestone or another color.

Page: https://www.tella.com/motion/animated-timeline · Part of Tella Motion (https://www.tella.com/help/editing/tella-motion)

## How do I make an animated timeline or roadmap graphic for a video?

In Tella, choose [Add clip → New Tella Motion clip](https://www.tella.com/help/editing/tella-motion#add-a-tella-motion-clip), or select a recorded clip, and ask the [Tella Agent](https://www.tella.com/agent) for a timeline with your dates and milestones. [Tella Motion](https://www.tella.com/help/editing/tella-motion) draws the line, then brings in each marker, date and label one after another. On a recorded clip, the timeline plays as an overlay or b-roll timed to what you say. You can keep asking for changes, like a new date, an extra milestone or another color.

## Prompt to start from

```text
Make an 8-second Tella Motion clip with a horizontal timeline for Brindlewick: 2019 Founded, 2021 First 100 customers, 2023 Opened Lisbon office, 2025 Launched Brindlewick Flow. Draw the line left to right in white on a navy background, then bring in each dot, year and label 0.4 seconds apart. Make the last dot amber #F59E0B.
```

## More prompts

### Product roadmap

```text
When I walk through the Quillmark roadmap, show a Tella Motion timeline as b-roll with three stages: Now (offline mode), Next (team folders), Later (public API). Bring in each stage as I name it, with a rounded card under its marker. Set the Later card to 50% opacity.
```

### Project milestones

```text
Add a Tella Motion overlay on the right side while I recap the Harborlight launch: a vertical timeline with Kickoff in March, Beta in June, Launch in September. Draw the line top to bottom, then fade in each milestone with its month in bold. Use green #16A34A for finished milestones and gray for upcoming ones.
```

## How to do it in Tella

1. Open your video and find the Tella Agent chat on the right. Press Shift + S if the sidebar is hidden.
2. Choose Add clip → New Tella Motion clip, or select a recorded clip to add the timeline as an overlay or b-roll.
3. List each milestone with its date and label, and say horizontal or vertical, plus colors and timing.
4. Play it back and ask for changes to labels, order or pacing.

## Good to know

- Available to everyone: through the Tella Agent on a paid plan or the 7-day trial, or through Claude or ChatGPT on any plan.
- A new Tella Motion clip is a blank 10-second clip added at the end of your video. It has no transcript, so to time milestones to your words, ask for an overlay or b-roll on a recorded clip instead.

## Questions people ask

### Can I make the timeline from a roadmap document?

Yes. In the Tella Agent message box, click the + button, choose Attach… and add the document, or paste the milestones into your message. Then ask the Tella Agent to build a timeline from it.

### Can each milestone appear when I mention it?

Yes. Ask the Tella Agent for the timeline as a Tella Motion overlay or b-roll on a recorded clip, and it's timed to what you say. To point at an exact part, select words in the transcript and click Add to chat.

### Can Claude or ChatGPT build the timeline instead?

Yes. Connect [Claude](https://claude.ai/directory/tella) or [ChatGPT](https://chatgpt.com/plugins/plugin_asdk_app_6a7026f78434819186579d93d20ab38b?open_in_app) to Tella's [MCP server](https://www.tella.com/mcp), and it can build Tella Motion clips, overlays and b-roll with the same commands the Tella Agent uses. Ask it to add a timeline to your Tella video.

## Related

- [Explainer diagrams that build as you explain](https://www.tella.com/motion/animated-explainer-diagrams.md): Flowcharts and diagrams that build as you explain.
- [A checklist that ticks off each step as you say it](https://www.tella.com/motion/animated-checklist.md): Check off each step as you talk through it.
- [Show viewers how far along they are](https://www.tella.com/motion/animated-progress-bar.md): A bar that fills as your lesson plays
- [Create motion graphics with Tella Motion](https://www.tella.com/help/editing/tella-motion)
- [Add motion graphics over your recording](https://www.tella.com/help/editing/tella-motion#add-motion-graphics-over-your-recording)
- [Connect Tella's MCP server](https://www.tella.com/help/integrations/mcp-server)
- [All of Tella's AI features](https://www.tella.com/ai.md)