SolidWorks 2010 Bible

Chapter 33: Animating with MotionManager

longtime users are used to. Also remember that the workflow for copying a particular key is to

select, then Ctrl+drag, not just Ctrl+drag. If you Ctrl+drag without the initial select, you may be

copying other key points that were also selected at the time. The select operation serves two func-

tions: first to deselect anything else, and second to select only the key point you are interested in.

Note
When creating an animation, you have to be very careful about making changes to anything because those
changes may be incorporated into the animation. If you just want to rotate the model to look at something,
switch back to the Model tab near the lower-left corner of the SolidWorks window. The first tab always hides
the MotionManager and you don’t have to worry about changes to the views or positions of parts being
recorded. n

Once you have the time bar moved to the 10-second mark, zoom in on the grippers using what-

ever method you use to zoom: Shift+Z, middle mouse button (MMB) scroll, Zoom to Area, Zoom

to Selection, or Zoom In/Out. When you are satisfied with the zoom, rotate the view slightly with

the mouse, arrow keys, or any of the available toolbar tools. You may also want to pan the view

slightly to get it positioned correctly. You need to be careful to make all the changes while the time

bar is in a single location, or you may wind up with some very chopped-up view changes in the

animation. The idea is to get a good partial side view of the grippers, such as that shown in Figure

33.9. Play the animation to see what you have created.

FIGURE 33.9

The timeline at the 10-second mark