Overview
The Play Timeline Animation and Stop Timeline Animation actions control animation sequences that you create in Scene Editor’s Timeline editor. Unlike Play Object Animation (which triggers pre-baked model animations), Timeline animations are authored in Scene Editor and can combine movements, visibility changes, timing, and other effects across multiple objects and properties.Play Timeline Animation
When to Use
- Custom animation sequences: play an animation you created in the Timeline editor
- Synchronized multi-object animations: coordinate movements across several objects
- Visual effects: animate material color and opacity to change colors or fade objects, or rotate multiple objects together
- Scripted demonstrations: show step-by-step visual walkthroughs
Parameters
Key Behavior
- Authored in Timeline: Design the timeline in Scene Editor and save it with the scene before selecting it in Creator.
- Completion: With Play Once, enable Wait Until Complete when later actions depend on the timeline finishing. When unchecked, later actions can continue while the timeline plays.
- Looping: A looping timeline does not finish on its own. The browser Trainee App ignores Wait Until Complete for Loop and allows later actions to continue while the animation runs. The editor warns when Loop and Wait are combined; leave Wait unchecked for continuous background animation.
Stop Timeline Animation
Stop Timeline Animation stops the selected timeline and restores affected objects to their recorded state from before playback, including position, rotation, scale, and visibility. You can also use it after a Play Once animation finishes to restore the objects before the trainee practices the task.When to Use
- End a looping animation: stop the timeline and restore its objects when exiting a step
- Prepare for practice: restore objects after a demonstration finishes
- Select which timelines to reset: stop and reset a specific timeline or all timelines
Parameters
Key Behavior
- Restore the recorded state: Objects return to the position, rotation, scale, and visibility recorded before that timeline started.
- Completed animations can be reset: A Play Once timeline can still be restored after playback finishes.
- Choose the scope: Select one timeline to stop and reset it, or select All Timeline Animations to apply the action to all timelines with recorded playback state.
- Nothing to restore: If the selected timeline has not been played, or has already been stopped and reset, the action has no effect.
Practical Examples
Animated Tutorial Walkthrough
Scenario: A step demonstrates an assembly sequence: move component A, rotate it, move component B into place, then change both components’ material colors to draw attention to the result.1
In the Timeline editor, create a timeline called
assembly_demo:- 0–2s: move component_a to position
- 2–3s: rotate component_a
- 3–4s: move component_b into place
- 4–5s: change both components’ colors using authored material color tracks
2
In your training state’s
onEntry:- Play Timeline Animation: Timeline:
assembly_demo, Play Mode: Play Once, Wait Until Complete: enabled - Stop Timeline Animation: Timeline:
assembly_demo - Show Text: display instructions for the trainee to perform the assembly
3
The demonstration finishes, its objects return to their recorded state from before playback, and the trainee receives instructions to perform the task.
Looping Environment Animation
Scenario: A factory state has a continuously running conveyor belt animation.1
Create a timeline called
conveyor_loop that animates the belt continuously.2
In the FactoryFloor state’s
onEntry:- Play Timeline Animation: Timeline:
conveyor_loop, Play Mode: Loop, Wait Until Complete: disabled
3
In the
onExit:- Stop Timeline Animation: Timeline:
conveyor_loop
4
The conveyor loops throughout the step. On exit, playback stops and the affected objects return to their recorded state from before the timeline started.
Half-Speed Demonstration
Scenario: Play a process demonstration at half its normal speed so the trainee can follow the movement in detail.1
In the training step’s On Entry actions, add Play Timeline Animation:
- Timeline:
process_demo, selected from the loaded scene - Play Mode: Play Once
- Speed:
0.5 - Wait Until Complete: checked
2
The timeline plays at half speed. The next action starts after it finishes. To use normal playback speed, set Speed to
1.0.Stop One of Two Timelines
Scenario: Stop a background timeline when the trainee begins an object-focused task, while another timeline continues playing on different objects.1
Suppose two timelines are running on different objects:
background_loop and object_focus. Leave Wait Until Complete unchecked on their Play Timeline Animation actions so one can start while the other is playing.2
In the Actions list of the transition that begins the object-focused task, add:
- Stop Timeline Animation: Timeline:
background_loop
3
The background animation stops and its objects return to their recorded state from before playback. The object focus animation continues.
To overlap a timeline with an object’s embedded animation, add Play Timeline Animation followed by Play Object Animation, with Wait Until Complete unchecked on both. For example, a timeline can move and rotate a valve while an embedded animation spins a separate fan. Keep the animations on different objects to avoid competing changes, and test their playback together in Preview.
Timeline Selection Troubleshooting
- No timelines available: Load a scene that contains saved timeline animations. If you created or changed the timeline in Scene Editor, save it with the scene and load the updated scene in Creator.
- Timeline not found in current scene: Confirm that the intended scene is loaded, then select an available timeline by name in the Timeline dropdown.