The Composition Must be Perfect: Composing a Scene (Game Dev Day 53)
Once the previsualization and components are present and prepared, it is time to put it all together into the actual cutscene.
Each track on the timeline is important and is critical to making this cutscene look right. I’ll cover each track from top to bottom.
First off, the top track is the two separate camera angles used. These are the Cinemachine cameras.
The second track is the animation that is playing in the scene, where the Player Character reaches towards the sleeping guard’s leg and takes the keycard. This is accomplished by dragging the animation onto the animation track.
Track 3 and 6 are almost identical, so I will cover them together. They each tell one of the two cameras when and where to pan (Track 3 pans the first camera, Track 6 pans the second). This can easily be done by recording and keyframing each camera’s transform location. Unity will transition smoothly between the locked points.
Track 4 handles the keycard’s disappearance from the scene. It disabled the keycard after a certain timestamp, which I lined up with the animation to make it appear that the player is physically taking the card. This is known as an activation track. The gameobject you want to appear (or disappear) must be dragged into the track so the Timeline knows what to add or remove. You can choose the timing by sliding the track’s duration around.
Finally, Track 5 handles the fade in from black at the start of the scene. This is accomplished by using a solid black square gameobject and having it become transparent over the course of about half a second.
All these component go together to create a simple but visually solid cutscene showing an important moment in the game; the player gaining a security guard’s keycard.
