🚀Quick Start

A guide to start using Timeflow immediately

Open the Timeflow window from the main menu:

▶️ Tools > Timeflow > Open Timeflow Window

Or use the keyboard shortcut Control + Alt + Shift + T

Drag and dock the window in a place that feels natural for you. Be sure there is adequate room to view the contents of the window without crowding the controls.

Recommended Layout

Window layouts are of course personal preference, however consider the following layout for optimal workflow. This setup flows from left to right with project resources on the left and final output on the right. It reduces the distance objects need to be dragged in the UI, such as when adding objects to the hierarchy or inspector.

A layout similar to that shown above is used throughout this documentation.

The recommended layout shown above is included in the examples. Select "Load Layout from File..." form the top right corner of the Unity window using the built-in Layout Manager. Locate and load the file:

Assets/AxonGenesis/Timeflow/Settings/TimeflowLayout

Scene Setup

After opening a new or existing scene, click the button Add Timeflow to this scene to create a new Timeflow instance. This button is displayed when no active Timeflow instance is loaded.

If a Timeflow component already exists in the scene but is disabled (unchecked) in the inspector, then this button may appear. Re-enable the Timeflow component to activate the view.

This adds a new game object named ‘Timeflow’ which manages the settings and view.

Note that the 3rd party tool Hierarchy Designer is used in these screenshots to help provide visual context, but is not required.

Select the Timeflow game object to view its settings in the Inspector. These features are covered in more detail in the Timeflow Editor documentation.

Shows the inspector for a newly created instance of Timeflow

Making Timeflow the scene root

It is suggested to make Timeflow the root of the scene for organizational purposes, though is not a requirement. The Timeflow game object may also be renamed as desired and any additional components such as a scene controller may be added to the same object.

TIP: In the Hierarchy view, right click on the Timeflow object and select ‘Set as Default Parent’, so that new game objects are made children of Timeflow automatically.

Animated objects may be located anywhere in the scene hierarchy or remain unparented. However, note that objects not located in a Timeflow hierarchy are automatically managed by the primary instance.

In more advanced setups using multiple Timeflow instances, it is recommended to organize related objects as children or descendants of the Timeflow instance they belong to, to avoid potential confusion at runtime.

Adding Objects

An object is displayed in Timeflow only after it has been added to the view. Individual or multiple objects may be added by selecting them in the Hierarchy view and clicking ‘Add Selected’.

Click 'Show Selected Only' to only show the currently selected object(s), otherwise 'Add Selected' appends the selected objects to the current list displayed.

The object view is designed to be dynamic and flexible, displaying only the objects you want to see at any given time. There are various ways this can be set up to aid in workflow, such as viewing the active selection or saving sets of objects in a named view.

In this example, the Main Camera has been added to the view.

Use the keyboard shortcut Alt + ~ to display selected objects. Or use Alt + Shift + ~ to append the selected object to the display.

For more information see the Object Panel documentation.

Transform Override

Timeflow includes a custom editor that overrides the built-in Transform inspector to provide additional features and workflow enhancements.

To add an object to the view, click the + Animate button.

To begin animating an object, click the keyframe icon to set a new keyframe at the current time.

For more depth documentation, please see Transform Editor Override

Timeflow Objects

Each object added to Timeflow is automatically assigned a TimeflowObject component. This component provides the basis of timing and is required by all Timeflow behaviors.

Removing Objects The TimeflowObject component may be removed, but only after all other behaviors have been removed first, due to script dependencies. To quickly strip an object of all Timeflow components (restoring it to its original state and preserving other components), right click the selected object or use the menu command: GameObject/Timeflow/Destroy/All Timeflow Behaviors (Selected Objects)

Tracks

Each TimeflowObject defines a track channel, displayed as colored boxes on the same row as the object. Track sections define areas in the timeline to control the active state, which may optionally be used to show and hide objects.

This screenshot displays multiple objects and channels, demonstrating tracks of different lengths and how it affects channels.

Tracks default to the full length of the Timeflow instance with the track mode "On", meaning the object's active or visibility state remains on and is unaffected by the track. Tracks can have single or multiple ranges and work similar to keyframes, with editing capabilities to select, drag, copy, paste, disable, and lock track sections.

By default, new tracks are auto full length and cannot be dragged. However, the auto full length mode can be turned off to allow all track editing features. Explicitly dragging the in or out handle of a track also turns off the Auto track length mode.

Animating Objects

Once an object has been added to the view, behaviors can be added by right-clicking the object in the object display list on the left. This displays a drop down menu with additional options for the selected object(s).

Use the context menu to add new behaviors and channels to objects in the view.

The menu automatically lists all read/write properties for each component and material on the selected object. Additional behaviors are also listed in the menu with their own property selections, when applicable.

Note that where you right-click in the window changes the context menu accordingly, so be sure to click on the intended object or area for related menu options to be displayed.

Channels are displayed in rows under the object and can be selected by clicking on the channel name.

Select Add Animation / Channel to create a new keyframe channel for the selected property. This adds the Keyframer component to the object (if one doesn't already exist) and displays the new channel under the object.

View the Keyframer component in the Inspector for additional settings and to inspect channels.

Note also that when a channel is selected in the Timeflow view, it and its containing behavior are highlighted with a box matching the track color. This option may be configured in Preferences

The Keyframer component can have any number of channels, whereas other behaviors such as Tween have just one channel per instance. There are no restrictions on the number of behaviors and channels that can be added to Timeflow.

Animatable Data Types

Timeflow supports all common numeric data types, strings, as well as object and component references. Property mappings can easily be reassigned without loosing keyframe data, as well as converting from one data type to another when linking channels or performing custom functions.

Timeflow can also create data-only channels which may be used for additional calculations using Channel Links.

Adding Keyframes

To add a keyframe, click on the diamond shape between the left and right arrows next to the channel name. This adds a keyframe at the current time. The current time can be changed by dragging the playhead (the orange time slider along the time ruler).

Playing and Previewing

At any point you may preview animation by pressing the play button, or press Spacebar on the keyboard while the Timeflow view has focus to toggle playing. Note that this does not require entering play mode in the Unity editor and animation can be fully previewed in edit mode.

Use the keyboard shortcut Spacebar to start or stop Timeflow playback. Edits can be made during playback, though the default Timeflow Preferences prohibit creating keyframes while playing (which may be enabled if preferred).

Keyframes may also be created in the time and graph view by holding Control while clicking in the channel or track area.

For automatic keyframe recording, see Auto Keyframing

Graph View

To toggle between the Track View (as shown above) and Graph View (shown below), press the graph icon button at the bottom left of the timeline. The graph view only shows keyframes for the currently selected channel(s) and for any channels with the graph mode switch enabled. See the Switches and Graph View documentation for further information.

Use the keyboard shortcut G to toggle between the Graph and Track View. The Timeflow window must have focus for this to work.

Use the F key to fit the view vertically and use Shift + F to frame the selected keyframes.

Use Control + A to select all.