Animating Assembly Models
and Exporting Video
Exploded Assembly Presentation
• The Exploded Assembly Presentation can be
animated to show how the components and
subassemblies fit together.
• Components move following tweaks and trails
that have been created.
• Exploded Assembly animations can also be
saved as an external AVI file.
Animating
• To animate the
presentation, select
the Animate tool from
the panel bar. The
animation dialog box
will appear.
• Steps the animation
forward one tweak at
a time.
• Steps the animation
forward one interval
at a time. Click the
button to move
forward one interval.
• Steps the animation
in reverse one interval
at a time. Click the
button to move back
one interval.
• Steps the animation
in reverse one tweak
at a time.
• Plays the animation
forward for the
specified number of
repetitions. Before each
repetition, the view is
set back to its starting
position.
• Plays the animation for
the specified number of
repetitions. Each
repetition plays start to
finish, then in reverse.
• Plays the animation in
reverse for the
specified number of
repetitions. Before
each repetition, the
view is set back to its
ending position.
• Pauses the animation
playback.
• Records the specified
animation to a file so that
you can play it back
later.
• Minimize during record:
minimizes the dialog box
while the animation is
being recorded. Select
the box to minimize the
dialog box. Clear the
check box to leave the
dialog box active.
• The Interval is the
number of steps a
component will take to
travel along the path.
The larger the interval
number, the slower the
object will travel;
conversely, the smaller
the number, the faster the
object will travel.
• The Repetitions field
specifies the number of
times the animation will
play.
• The More button
expands the Animation
dialog box. In the
expanded dialog box,
you can re-sequence
or group the tweaks in
the animation.
Look at the Animation Sequence
• The first animation
is the Gasket:1
followed by Bolt:5.
• The order can be
changed and
sequences can be
grouped together.
• Moves the selected
tweak up one place in
the list.
• Moves the selected
tweak down one
place in the list.
• Hold down the shift key to
select multiple items.
• Groups the selected
tweaks to keep them
together as you change
the sequence.
• Ungroups the selected
tweaks so that they can
be moved individually in
the list.
Exporting Video from a Presentation File
•
Click on the red
circle on the left side
of the animation
dialog box.
•
A save dialog box
will appear
prompting you for
the file name and
location in which to
save the AVI movie.
•
Select the location
and enter a file
name.
•
Next, a dialog box
appears prompting
you to use the video
compression.
•
Click OK and use the
default Cinepak
Codec.
•
Your instructor may
request that you use a
different codec.
•
This will return you to the
original dialog box.
•
Click on the motion that
you want to record.
•
When you click on the
motion button, it will
begin recording. The
dialog box will minimize
while the animation is
exporting. It will reappear
when it is finished.
•
When the dialog box
reappears, you need
to click on Reset.
•
This finishes writing
the file.
•
If this is not done,
the movie may not
play correctly.
Tips and Hints
• The size of the screen will be the native size of
the AVI movie. You might want to make the
window smaller to make the movie file size
smaller.
• You may want to turn off the 3D axis indicator by
selecting the Tools menu, Application options,
and deselecting the Show 3D indicator checkbox
on the upper right side.
Tips and Hints
•
You may want to change the background of
the AVI movie to match or compliment the
background in a PowerPoint presentation.
This can be done to a limited degree.
•
Go to Tools menu, Application options, and
click on the Colors tab to select a different
Color Scheme.