Importing to 3D Topicscape Pro from MindManager, FreeMind and Personal Brain (and exporting to FreeMind)MindManager importHere at 3D-Scape we use MindManager regularly. Some of us have used it for more than ten years from back in the days when it was called Mind Man.
Topicscape does not replace MindManager, but it does complement it well. If you like to organize your information and files using a mindmap as a framework, or if you use mindmaps in project planning and management, then you will know that there sometimes (often?) comes a time when a map becomes just too large to be viewed and used usefully.
Breaking it up into smaller maps is one solution, but isn't this just when it is most important to have an overview?
When they reach this stage, you can import your MindManager 5, 6 or 7 .mmap file to Topicscape, where it will be shown as a 3D landscape. You can even re-join those split up mindmaps again, this time to form a large 3D one. Being able to fly and zoom around the scene makes the large map usable again.
If the mindmap had files or web pages linked to it, these will appear in Topicscape as occurrences, inside topics. And in Topicscape, each topic can hold many more files, notes or web pages.
Curved connecting lines are changed into loose associations in Topicscape. These let you tunnel through from one topic area to another, though you can change it to a parent-child relationship later of you wish. Topicscape allows a topic to have more than one parent so if, like us, you sometimes use the curved connecting lines because you can't show multiple parents, you can change the association to the one you prefer.
The images on the left show a roughly equivalent mindmap and Topicscape. As Topicscape permits associations that MindManager doesn't, we had to duplicate some entries in the upper image and these are shown in the same color.
When you import a MindManager mindmap, you have the option of making it into a new Topicscape, or grafting it onto an existing one.
Import MindManager files into Topicscape as follows: File | Import | Other products | MindManager5-7 (in the drop-down list) | choose New Topicscape or floating topic in this Topicscape, then navigate to the .mmap file using the File Name box, press OK, and decide where the Topicscape is to be saved and what it is to be called. Then you will soon be looking at your mindmap in 3D. FreeMind import and exportSome of us prefer FreeMind, with its unbeatable price. We make quick maps with it, and, as they grow large, we turn them into Topicscapes. Topicscape permits the full flexibility of a round trip so a Topicscape can be exported to a FreeMind map as well - and back again. As with MindManager, FreeMind maps can be imported to make a new Topicscape or added as a new part of an existing one.
FreeMind can store some useful information called attributes. Topicscape uses these to store additional data that can't be shown in a 2D mindmap, and reads this when the FreeMind map is read back in, to recreate the original structure, colors and other elements, so that a FreeMind-Topicscape-FreeMind round trip (or vice versa) usually comes close to reproducing information perfectly. Please note that this only works with FreeMind 0.9.0 v.8 Beta and later. Version 0.8.0 stored less information and Topicscape is not compatible with its internal file format. Although 0.9.0 is a Beta version, we have been using it without problems for a year now. This is the link to learn more about importing FreeMind files into Topicscape, as well as exporting them again. Personal Brain importSome of our early Beta Users were Personal Brain 3 users, so we had to give them a way of importing their information into 3D Topicscape, and we did, though it was a little cumbersome. When Personal Brain 4 came out recently we decided to tidy things up, so now 3D Topicscape Pro can read .pba files (exported by Personal Brain) directly and build you a 3D landscape of the information from the Brain, including the structure, all files and notes. The transformation is amazing and the view you will have allows relationships and duplications that were never spotted before to be seen clearly. Above all, you will see so much more at one time, and landscapes allow you to recognize where you are, and the zooming and flying continually bring new perspectives. Import Personal Brain files into Topicscape as follows: (The quick version) First open the Brain and export with File | Export | XML for BrainEKP. You should wait a few minutes after the export appears to have finished before closing Personal Brain: We have noticed that some work to put all of the results into one .pba file continues after the progress message in the top right of the window suggests that the export has finished. Close the Brain and open 3D Topicscape. Then in the File menu | Import | Other products | Personal Brain (in the drop-down list) | choose New Topicscape or floating topic in this Topicscape, then navigate to the .pba file using the File Name box, press OK, and decide where the Topicscape is to be saved and what it is to be called. Then you will soon have a completely new, 3D perspective on your work. (The detailed version) Until this makes its way into the full Topicscape Pro Help, click here for the detailed instructions for importing Personal Brain data to 3D Topicscape Pro. Other imports and exportsThere are other import and export options for text and XML formats including OPML, OML, HTML and structured text. |
