Timeline is Unity's cinematic editing tool. It can be used to create gameplay sequences, audio sequences, and other cinematic content.

For more information on Timeline refer to Unity's Timeline documentation.

For instructions on how to create a Timeline Asset and Timeline instance, refer to Timeline Usage.

Note:

As of Unity 2019.3, Timeline is now shipped through the Unity Package Manager. Should you wish to uninstall the Timeline package, please ensure to add the AK_DISABLE_TIMELINE Scripting Define Symbol to all of your platform's Player Settings.

Wwise Timeline Tracks

The Wwise Unity Integration adds two new Timeline tracks, the AkTimelineEventTrack and the AkTimelineRtpcTrack, and two deprecated Timeline tracks, the AkEventTrack and the AkRTPCTrack.

The AkTimelineEventTrack is used to post Wwise Events, and the AkTimelineRtpcTrack is used to set Game Parameter values. Both types of tracks can be added to a Timeline using the "Add" dropdown button or by right-clicking on the track header section of the Timeline window.

Adding AK tracks to Timeline

Note:

The AkEventTrack and AkRTPCTrack tracks and their associated playables are only included to provide backward compatibility and should no longer be used.

Deprecated AkEventTrack

Ak Track Object Bindings

AkTimelineEventTracks and AkTimelineRtpcTracks have object bindings which can be set to any Game Object. The track binding, when explicitly set, specifies the target Game Object. If the track binding is not set (set to None), the track will target the Game Object that owns the Timeline (this is the Game Object that has a PlayableDirector component, which is used to trigger the Timeline). Events will be posted and RTPCs will modify this target GameObject.

Note:

To reduce allocations at runtime, be sure to add an AkGameObj to any GameObject that will post events or have its RTPCs modified.

Wwise Timeline Playable Clips

The AkTimelineEventTrack and AkTimelineRtpcTrack tracks each hold corresponding clips: the AkTimelineEventPlayable clip and the AkTimelineRtpcPlayable clip, respectively. These can be added to a track using the track's menu or by right-clicking on the track.

Adding AK clips to AK tracks

Timeline Clip Properties

All clips in Timeline have timing properties that are displayed in the top portion of the inspector. For more information on these properties, refer to Clip Properties.

AkTimelineEventPlayable Clip Properties

The following properties are accessible from the inspector of an AkTimelineEventPlayable clip:

AkTimelineEventPlayable Clip Properties

• Event: The Wwise Event that will be triggered by this clip.
• Blend In Curve: The AkCurveInterpolation value used when posting the Event. This value only takes effect when the clip's Ease In Duration is greater than zero.
• Blend Out Curve: The AkCurveInterpolation value used when stopping the Event. This value only takes effect when the clip's Ease Out Duration is greater than zero.
• Use Wwise Event Duration: If checked, the Event will be triggered for its entire duration and will not be explicitly stopped via API calls, and the two following parameters will not be available.
• Stop Event At End Of Clip: If checked, the Event will stop at the end of the clip with the stop API function being called at the appropriate time for the Blend Out Curve to take effect. If unchecked, the Blend Out Curve has no effect, and the Event will play until its duration elapses.
• Loop: If checked and the clip's duration is longer than the Event's duration, the Event will be re-triggered every time it finishes playing before the end of the clip.

AkTimelineRtpcPlayable Clip Properties

The following properties are accessible from the inspector of an AkTimelineRtpcPlayable clip:

AkTimelineRtpcPlayable Clip Properties

• RTPC: The Wwise Game Parameter that will be set on the GameObject associated with this track.
• Set Globally: If this is checked, the RTPC will be set globally for all objects.
• Animated Value: Value The value that will be animated by this clip.

AkTimelineRtpcPlayable Clip Curve

In order to begin animating the value of the RTPC sent to the track target, the following steps should be taken:

1. Create the clip at the appropriate time with an appropriate duration.
2. Arm the track for recording.
3. Place the Timeline Playhead within the clip's region.
4. In the Inspector for the clip, right-clicking on the Value, will bring up a context menu that will allow adding, removing and modification of Keys.
5. With the first key added, double-clicking on the clip will bring up the Animation Window which allows for more precise editing of the curve and its keys.

Note:

For more information on modifying animation curves in Timeline, refer to Record basic animation.

Arm for recording and display curve buttons

AkTimelineRtpcPlayable with recording armed and curve displayed

Known Issues & Limitations

Currently scrubbing is supported in Edit mode and Play mode in the Unity Editor. However, play back will not be available across assembly reloads.

Wwise Project Setup

To ensure that Event lengths are properly represented in the AkTimelineEventTracks, the Wwise project needs to be set up to estimate the duration of its audio Events and XML metadata must be generated. To enable these project-wide settings, go to the Project Settings' SoundBanks tab. Enable the Estimated duration check box within the Metadata Options group box and enable the Generate XML Metadata check box within the SoundBank Settings group box, as seen below.

Required Project Settings for AkTimelineEventTracks