🔊Audio Track

Synchronize Timeflow to a soundtrack

Provides an audio source for Timeflow to synchronize to. Most often a single audio track is used for each scene, however multiple audio tracks may be added to play simultaneously.

Audio playback is handled using Unity's built-in Audio Source component and works with the mixer and all other audio settings.

To add an Audio Track, select from the main menu:

Tools > Timeflow > Add Behavior > Audio Track

Once an audio clip is assigned, its waveform is shown in the Timeflow view.

Be aware that audio playback is device dependent and while it shouldn't pose any issues generally, on some devices with lower performance audio may fail or lose sync with Timeflow.

It is strongly advised to test audio playback and synchronization on target devices early on.

Audio Track Editor

Select the object to view its settings in the Inspector.

When a new Audio Track is created, it will be necessary to assign the Audio Clip asset. Select an audio file in the Project view and drag and drop it into the Audio Clip field. This can also be set on the Audio Source component.

Audio Track does not support custom Update Settings since it isn't related to audio.

For common features, please refer to Menu Bar.

Playback Controls

Use the playback buttons to preview the audio. This does not play the Timeflow view and is only for listening purposes.

Set Timeflow Length

Sets the total duration Timeflow to match the audio clip length.

Use this to quickly match the Timeflow duration to the soundtrack audio.

Mute

Audio may be muted to make it inaudible in both edit mode and at runtime.

This directly sets Mute on the Audio Source. When muted, Timeflow continues to play normally however is no longer synched to the audio. Once the audio is unmuted, synchronization is reestablished.

To mute audio in the Unity editor only (without affecting audio playback or synchronization) use the mute button toggle in the Game View.

Audio Source

References the Audio Source component, usually on the same game object.

Audio Clip

Displays the assigned Audio Clip. This is the same as the field shown in Audio Source and is displayed in the Audio Track inspector as a shortcut. To assign an audio clip, select an audio file and drag and drop it into the Audio Clip field.

Synchronization Mode

Select one of the following methods of synchronizing audio with Timeflow playback.

No Synchronization

No attempt is made to synchronize audio other than starting playback at the start time. In a perfect world, playing audio and animation starting at the same time would remain in sync, however in the real world drift can occur causing noticeable loss of synchronization over time.

No Synchronization may be the only option if other synchronization modes fail due to device issues.

Synchronize Timeflow

This is the default option and forces Timeflow to match audio playback.

Synchronization works by getting the playhead time from the audio and matching Timeflow to it. If it slides out of sync beyond the specified tolerance, time is recalibrated to match. Under normal conditions these are unnoticeable micro changes in time.

Only 1 Audio Track may be synchronized with each Timeflow instance.

Synchronize to Audio Track

Use this mode to synchronize additional audio tracks to the primary one. Since Timeflow can only be synchronized to 1 audio track, this offers a way to synchronize additional tracks to the primary.

Sync Tolerance

Defines the time in seconds sync can be out of step before recalibrating. The larger the time value, the more allowance there is for synchronization to slip, however too low of a setting can cause skipping animation playback.

If the default tolerance setting doesn't work, it may require some experimentation.

Avoid Skipping and Stuttering Animation

If the sync tolerance is set too low, it may trigger continuous skipping in the animation playback as Timeflow keeps adjusting time to match the audio. This is where specific devices may cause issues if the reported audio time is inaccurate. This has been seen on some older Android devices with low quality audio hardware.

Use Global Time Scale

When enabled, this changes the audio speed to match the global Time Scale. This also factors in the Local Time Scale value.

If this setting is disabled and time scale has a value other than 1, the audio will lose sync with Timeflow as it continues to play at normal speed and pitch, while animation plays faster or slower according to the time scale.

For more information also see Time Scale in the Unity documentation.

Local Time Scale

This multiplies the audio playback speed to slow or speed it up. This can be used with or without Global Time Scale enabled.

As an example, if global time scale is set to 2 causing the entire scene to play at double the speed, you can set the Local Time Scale to 0.5 to counteract it and have the audio playback at normal speed.

Show in Timeflow

Determines whether the audio track channel is displayed in the Timeflow view. This is only a display setting and has no effect on audio behavior. This option can be turned off if you don't need the visual audio reference.

Draw Waveform

If enabled, the audio waveform is drawn in the Timeflow view.

Displaying the waveform can be helpful for aligning animations to audio. If not in use, it may be hidden by unchecking Draw Waveform, or by clicking the curve toggle icon while holding Shift.