Animations / Videos

With the help of animations, you can simulate an inspection of your planning and then save it as a video file.

Overview

Animations

To create an animation, proceed as follows. Navigate to the Presentation tab and then click on the Animation button.

Overview

  1. Name of the currently selected animation
  2. Create a new animation
  3. Delete the selected animation
  4. Add or create a new animation path
  5. Timeline, shows the duration of the current animation
  6. Play and stop the animation
  7. Closing the animation view

By default, the name of the animation is displayed at the top left(Animation 1); to create an additional animation, you can click on New at the front.
The following options are available to you:

  • Blank animation
  • Circle animation
    Here you can draw a circle around the center of a single object to put it in focus
  • Duplicate animation

To remove an animation, click on the Delete button.

Creating an animation path

To add a new animation path to the animation, click on the Add position button. An orange arrow symbol will then appear at your cursor. You can now define the point at which your animation should start. To do this, click on a point in your planning in the view at the top where you would like to start. You can then align the orange arrow by moving the mouse. This specifies the viewing direction in which the animation camera should look. When you are happy with the alignment, click the mouse in the desired direction.
Once you have defined the viewing direction, a blue line appears at your mouse cursor. This indicates the path that the animation camera will follow. Move the mouse to the point in your drawing where you want the camera to move. You can then define the target viewing direction again, where the camera should point.
You can now repeat these steps for setting the viewing direction and defining the path until you have gone through your drawing completely. When you have finished creating the animation path, press the [ESC] key to end the drawing process. Your animation path could then look like this:
To view the animation you have created in your drawing, click on the play button at the top of the animation menu.

Editing an animation path

To edit the path of your animation, click once on the blue path. The individual points of the path that you have previously defined will then be highlighted. If you click on one of the points, you can move it by holding down the mouse button and thus change its position. You will also see the orange arrow at the selected point; by clicking on its tip, you can also change the viewing direction afterwards. It is also possible to change the properties of the selected point by clicking on Properties in the toolbar on the right.
The following options are available to you:

  • Name
    Here you can change the name of the previously selected point
  • Speed
    Specifies the speed from point to point. This is done in meters per second and can be freely defined. So you can let the animation run faster or slower at certain points.
  • Pause
    Here you can specify whether to wait for a certain time at the selected point. This is done in milliseconds (1000ms = 1s)
  • Viewing height
    Indicates the height at which the camera is positioned
  • Target height
    Specifies the height at which the camera is looking.
  • Fixed direction
    Here you can click on the checkbox to specify whether the viewing direction should be fixed.

These properties are always to be considered from point to point. After that you have to select the next point and you can make the corresponding settings there.

Rendering an animation

To render an animation go to the top of the Register at Presentation and click the Video button there.

The following window will then open, where you can select the following:

  • Animations
    At this point you select the animation path to be rendered.
    In this example, animation 1
  • Frames per second
    Here you can specify how many frames per second the subsequent video should run at. On the one hand, this influences the time required for rendering and, on the other, how smoothly the video runs at the end. The following frame rates are recommended for a smooth video: 25, 30 or 60 frames per second. The higher the frame rate, the higher the number of individual frames.
  • Start with image
    Here you can specify which image the animation should start with. This is useful if, for example, the animation should break off, so that you can restart at this point later.
  • Size
    Here you can set the resolution of the video, whether HD, Full HD, 4K etc.
  • Renderer
    Here you have the choice between OpenGL and OSPRay as renderer

When selecting the renderer, the OpenGL renderer is recommended as it is many times faster than the OSPRay renderer.
Once all settings have been made, click on the green play button in the render window above to start rendering.