Animation PropertyManager

The Animation PropertyManager enables you to animate a plot and save the animation as an .avi file.

To access this PropertyManager:

Right-click the plot icon in the Simulation study tree, and click Animate.

Basics

Play Starts the animation from the current frame.
Pause Stops the animation at the current frame.
Stop Resets the animation to the starting frame.
Frames Defines the number of frames to use in animation. Linear interpolation is used to determine frames. Not used for transient thermal, nonlinear, or drop test analyses.
Speed Controls the speed of the animation. Drag the slider to the right for faster animation or to the left for slower animation.
Forward Only Select to play the animation forward one time.
Loop Select to play the animation in a continuous looping pattern. It plays from start to end, then start to end again, and continues to repeat.
Reciprocate Select to play the animation in a continuous reciprocating pattern. It plays from start to end, then end to start, and continues to repeat.

Save as AVI File

Option Specifies the compressor to use.
Browse Click to specify a name and location of the animation file.
View with Media Player Select to view the animation using the Microsoft® Media Player©.

Animating Plots

Animated plots represent snapshots of plotted data versus time or frequency. If results are available for one step (linear static, frequency, buckling, and steady state thermal analyses), results are linearly interpolated for several frames. Multiple steps are available for transient thermal, nonlinear, dynamic, and drop test studies.

Animated plots from static studies with large displacement solution are linearly interpolated between the initial and final solution steps. To view accurate animations of result plots that capture the whole solution history, it is recommended to use Nonlinear analysis.

To animate a plot:

  1. In the Simulation study tree, double-click a plot to activate it.
  2. Right-click the plot and click Animate.
  3. In the PropertyManager, under Basics:
    1. Click Play to start the animation.
    2. View the animation in the graphics area.
    3. Click Stop to end the animation.
  4. Click .
    To save an animation as an .avi file, click Save As AVI File before you click Play .