Chapter 33: Animating with MotionManager
The highest-quality images come through the PhotoWorks renderer. Using PhotoWorks takes
much more time than the other options because each individual frame must be rendered just like a
normal PhotoWorks rendering. PhotoWorks itself is beyond the scope of this book.Planning an animation
It is often useful to plan any animation that is more involved than just a couple of moves on the
screen. You can do this a couple of different ways. The easiest way is to write out a list of moves or
positions you want display, with the approximate time of each position or action.You might also use the storyboard technique professional video houses use. You create a series of
images to represent the state of the animation at specific points in time. You can use static screen
captures or hand sketches to do this, depending on the complexity of the geometry and animation.Using the Animation Wizard
The easiest animations are those you can create with the Animation Wizard. The Animation
Wizard accommodates two types. The first is where a part or assembly is simply rotated on the
screen, and the second uses an existing exploded view from an assembly. You can combine, reor-
der, reverse, copy, or move both types of animation sequences within a larger animation.Creating a rotating animation
To create a rotating animation, first click the Animation1 tab at the bottom-left corner of the
graphics window. This opens the MotionManager. Remember that you can select or deselect the
MotionManager in the list of toolbars. (Choose Tools ➪ Customize or View ➪ Toolbars or right-
click on any toolbar.)Click the Animation Wizard icon on the toolbar on top of the MotionManager. Figure 33.3 shows
the dialog box that appears and gives you the options to rotate model, collapse, explode, import
from Basic Motion, or import from Motion Analysis. All options are grayed out in this case, except
rotate model. The model loaded does not have an exploded view, or Basic Motion or Motion
Analysis data.
After you select the appropriate type of animation and click Next, you select an axis of rotation, the
number of rotations, and the direction. An important thing to note here is that the X, Y, and Z axes
do not refer to axes of the part; they refer to axes on the screen. Rotating about the X axis is like
holding down the right-arrow key on the keyboard. The sample animation that appears in the cor-
ner of the Animation Wizard, shown in Figure 33.4, shows what you can expect. It will change
direction if you change the option.