Timeline overview

Use the TimelineGeneric term within Unity that refers to all features, windows, editors, and components related to creating, modifying, or reusing cut-scenes, cinematics, and game-play sequences. More info
See in Glossary window to create cut-scenes, cinematics, and game-play sequences by visually arranging tracks and clips linked to GameObjectsThe fundamental object in Unity scenes, which can represent characters, props, scenery, cameras, waypoints, and more. A GameObject’s functionality is defined by the Components attached to it. More info
See in Glossary in your SceneA Scene contains the environments and menus of your game. Think of each unique Scene file as a unique level. In each Scene, you place your environments, obstacles, and decorations, essentially designing and building your game in pieces. More info
See in Glossary.

For each cut-scene, cinematic, or game-play sequence, the Timeline window saves the following:

• Timeline Asset: Stores the tracks, clips, and recorded animations without links to the specific GameObjects being animated. The Timeline Asset is saved to the Project.

• Timeline instance: Stores links to the specific GameObjects being animated or affected by the Timeline AssetAny media or data that can be used in your game or Project. An asset may come from a file created outside of Unity, such as a 3D model, an audio file or an image. You can also create some asset types in Unity, such as an Animator Controller, an Audio Mixer or a Render Texture. More info
  See in Glossary. These links, referred to as bindings, are saved to the Scene.

Timeline Asset

The Timeline window saves track and clip definitions as a Timeline Asset. If you record key animations while creating your cinematic, cut-scene, or game-play sequence, the Timeline window saves the recorded clips as children of the Timeline Asset.

Timeline instance

To animate a GameObject in your Scene with a Timeline Asset, you must create a Timeline instance. A Timeline instance associates a Timeline Asset with the GameObject in the Scene, through a Playable Director component.

When you select a GameObject in a Scene that has a Playable Director component, the Timeline instance appears in the Timeline window. The bindings appear in the Timeline window and in the Playable Director component (Inspector window).

The Timeline window provides an automated method of creating a Timeline instance while creating a Timeline Asset.

Reusing Timeline Assets

Because Timeline Assets and Timeline instances are separate, you can reuse the same Timeline Asset with many Timeline instances.

For example, you could create a Timeline Asset named VictoryTL with the animation, music, and particle effects that play when the main game character (Player) wins. To reuse the VictoryTL Timeline Asset to animate another game character (Enemy) in the same Scene, you can create another Timeline instance for the secondary game character.

Because you are reusing the Timeline Asset, any modification to the Timeline Asset in the Timeline window results in changes to all Timeline instances.

For example, in the previous example, if you delete the Audio track while modifying the Player Timeline instance, the Timeline window removes the track from the VictoryTL Timeline Asset. The Timeline window also removes the Audio track from all instances of the VictoryTL Timeline Asset, including the Enemy Timeline instance.

• 2019–08–20 Page published