Tips

• Alt+click on a Timeline Editor Object's arrow, will collapse/expand all objects.
• When you collapse an object, you will still have a visual indication of where your timebars are, while saving up on space.

• Double clicking on a Timeline Editor Object, will also select the object in the Step Hierarchy.
• Ctrl+a to select all timebars when the Timeline Editor is in focus.
• Holding the Shift button, then scrolling the mouse wheel with the timeline window in focus will scale it.
• Holding the Ctrl button while scrolling will "zoom" in and out - up to the maximum length of the timeline.
• Press K to create a timebar while recording. This allows you to create multiple timebars while you record, for example to create multiple translation timebars on the same object.
• Press Shift + < to select all time bars before the current time
• Press Shift + > to select all time bars after the current time

What does it do?

Timeline Editor is used to edit 3D contents for each step, this includes creating timeline animations. 

 

Record (Record timeline)	Skip to the start	Rewind/ skip to the previous	Play	Pause	Fast forward	Skip to the end or next

• Playhead: This is the red vertical line in the timeline that allows the playback of the animation that has been created. Dragging the playhead left and right across the seconds allows you to view your animation in the Scene. The position of the playhead will also determine the time at which recorded animations end.

• Timebar: Animations for individual objects are represented in the timeline by the animation timebar. You can delete, copy, edit, reverse or duplicate the animation of an object by right-clicking the timebar.

• Loop point/Marker: This line sets the point at which the animation in the current step will loop and begin playing back from the beginning. The loop point can be dragged into position or placed instantly by right-clicking on the seconds display of the timeline.

Adding animation time bars

Timebars represent an animated aspect of an object in the current step. Click on the "Timebar" to access available options (Pic 1). Right-click on a specific timebar to access available options (Pic 2):

Keyframe types (actions)

• Actions - 2 are available in the Actions channel:
  
  Actions are shown as keyframes, and can be edited by double clicking them:
  
  

  • Move To Step
    Automatically move to another step once the keyframe is reached.
  • Content Placement
    Content placement action can be used to automatically trigger re-alignment with a user defined AR tracker that was set up in the project. This allows an author to help the end user trigger the right AR tracker at the right time. For example on objects that are very large, but require high accuracy on specific areas.
    
    An example:
    
• Actions - 2 are available as an Object Specific action:
  
  
  • Visibility toggle

  • Callout Toggle
    
    

Time bar types

Set Object Color

Allows you to add a color time bar to the animation. This draws attention to the object.

You can set the color of the object with the target color. The animation will ping-pong between the original diffuse color of the object and the defined color.

Fade Object In/Out

Allows you to add a fade in or fade out timebar to the animation.This also draws attention to the object.

Add Highlight Sphere

Allows you to  add a highlight sphere time bar to the animation. This also draws attention to the object. In the properties of this time bar, you can set the highlight color, the diameter of the highlight sphere and the relative offset, relative to the x,y,z origin of the object.

Animation Playback

Allows you to play back an imported animation. Animations can be imported trough the fbx format.

Video playback

Allows you to play back a video during a specific time. Use a Video Panel as the object.

Audio playback

Allows you to play back audio during a specific time. Use an Audio Source as the object.

Other time bar options

Translate, Rotate, Rotate Around Pivot, Scale.

Editing animation time bar properties

To edit a specific timebar properties, (i.e. Name, Start Time, End Time and Easing), double-click it.

Note: If you wish to see how your 3D steps will look on your device, you can "scrub" through the animation (This allows the author to quickly see the entirety of the animation), you can also use the play button or  simulate timeline animations.