SolidWorks 2010 Bible

Part VII: Working with Specialized Functionality

To copy both sets of motion, the top opening and the head sliding out, drag a window around the

key points to select them all, and then Ctrl+drag them to the 6-second mark. Notice that this creates

the situation shown in Figure 33.17. If you play the animation at this point, it is not at all what you

want. It simply stacks the same motion on top of the original motion. You want it to be reversed.

FIGURE 33.17

Copying motion of parts

With the newly copied key points still selected, right-click one of them and select Reverse Path.

Notice that this now shows symmetrical key points.

Adjusting the speed of actions

The animation is getting close to complete, but now you notice that it would be better if the second

half of the animation went by faster than the first half. To do this, move the key points on the right

side of a change bar toward the left. You might want to move both key points for the top part closing

so that it starts closer to the time when the scope head is back inside the holder. You could even

make some of the motion overlap, so the top starts closing before the scope head is fully inside.

Again, if you see a strange effect like the scope head not going all the way back to where it belongs,

trying clicking the Calculate button again. Calculate essentially rebuilds the animation after changes.

To make the motion a little smoother, right-click in empty space inside the timeline area, and

choose Select All; then right-click one of the key points and select Interpolation Mode. Click the

Ease in/Ease out option. Click Calculate again to watch the smoother animation.