Creating a Timeline

Unity Engine
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1

Hi,

For an app i’m currently developing i need to build a timeline somewhat like facebook. I’m using the latest version of NGUI in my project. The timeline contains 5 standard blocks but with different texts in the labels. I’m thinking of creating prefabs of those 5 items and instantiating them and adding them to a scrollview.
Now i’m concerned about drawcalls and such because there could exist a large number of items in the timeline. So i thought about rendering only the items on the screen and turning the rest off as the user is scrolling. But i’m not really sure if this is the best solution or approach.

Has anyone done some sort of thing like this? And if so can you help me out with some tips and tricks?

2

Well, if possible, minimize your materials as much as possible. I use EZGUI, it has a feature which will clip, or will not render any object outside the defined space. I imagine NGUI has a similar option.

So, I would say you need to minimize materials and yes, not render any object which is not needed to be seen.

Is this a game? Or a social app? Can you give me any insight to the purpose of the overall app?

3

Hi renman3000 thx for your reply!
I can’t say anything about the App at the moment, but it’s not social or whatsoever. The only thing the users sees is his own timeline events. I never thought about clipping :slight_smile: I know NGUI uses Soft Clipping because I always use them with Scroll Views. So basically I should be ready to go with the Timeline :slight_smile:

4

Ok,
Since it is not a social app, people are not randomly uploading tons of images I presume. I further presume the amount of materials is a fixed number, something you can control. As such, your main issue is atlas’ing and getting the number of materials down to as low a number as possible. Then, I imagine the clipping would help, but, maybe someone can correct me if I am wrong, but I am under the impression that any renderer, off screen has minimal effect on the engine.