Animate and Record Results

Animation Options

The animation options on the Analysis Explorer allow you to start and stop the animation and adjust basic settings.


Option		Description
Play/Stop Animation		Animate the selected result.
Animation Speed		Change the speed of the animation.

Animation Toolbar

Use the animation toolbar to play, record, and configure the animation.

Animation Settings: Click to open the Animation Settings.
Play and Record/Stop Recording: Click the button to begin recording the results; the icon changes to red to indicate that it is recording. Click the icon again to stop recording.
Start Animation/Pause Animation: Click the button to start or pause the animation. Use the arrow buttons to jump the first or last frame in the animation.
Move to First/Previous/Next/Last Step: These buttons allow you to step through the animation frame-by-frame. If you hold down the Previous or Next button, it will auto-repeat. If you want to skip frames, use the Increment By feature in the Animation Settings; hold Ctrl to temporarily override this behavior.
Slider: Drag the slider on the toolbar to view a particular point during the analysis; use the arrow keys to move frame-by-frame through the animation.
Current Step: Displays the current time or frame. You can also enter a value to go to the nearest time/frame.
Make Current Frame the New Design Position: Click to use the current position of the mechanism as the model's starting point for the next run. This option is only avaiable for motion analysis.
Plot Manager: Open the Plot Manager to browse and plot motion results data, create cross plots (data vs. data), define pages in different layouts, and save the plots you've defined as a template for reuse. This option is only avaiable for motion analysis.
Display Linear Modes Table: Open the Linear Modes table to view the results of a linear analysis in complex number form with natural frequencies and damping ratio. This option is only avaiable for linear motion analysis.

Note: The animation toolbar has Previous and Next buttons with an auto-repeat feature, allowing you to step through the animation frame-by-frame by holding down the button. In addition, the Animation Settings include an option to Reverse Playback.

Animation Settings

Modify the animation settings from the animation toolbar.

Playback: Select whether to play the animation on a continuous Loop, Once, or Bounce (between forwards and backwards). Select the check box to Reverse Playback.
Display: Set the units for the slider to either Time or Frame.
Increment By: Increase the value in the counter to skip frames during playback. The reset button restores the default value of 1.
Speed: Drag the slider to change the speed of the animation.
Range: Select the Range checkbox to define and starting and ending frame for the animation. This allows you to limit the playback range to just a portion of the animation, making it easier to study behaviors in more detail. You can use the Ctrl key while clicking on the Start or End icons to jump to Range Start and Range End, respectively.
Note: For motion models, you can fit plots for the selected range by using the Ctrl key while double-clicking. Also, the paths of tracers will be trimmed to honor the specified range.
Scale Factor: Enter a custom value to change the scale of the animation. Generally the scale of a displacement is too small to see clearly, so auto scaling is enabled by default.
Recording Settings: The default Auto setting gives you an estimate of the duration of the recording at 30 frames per second. If your video plays back faster than you want, select Custom Duration to change the length of the video; this will adjust the frame rate to try to achieve the specified duration. The Custom Duration has a minimum value of 1 second, and maximum value of 30 seconds.

Animation Shortcuts


To	Do this
Play and pause	If the Play button is active, press the Spacebar.
Go to the first/last frame	Press the Home or End key.
Go to the next/previous frame	Press the Page Up or Page Down key.
Increment the slider	Use the arrow keys to move frame-by-frame through the animation, or position the cursor over the slider and use the scroll wheel.
Exit tool	Right-click and mouse through the check mark to exit, or double-right-click.