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Animate Tab

Animate commands let you animate your scenes.

Note: The timeline is active in Animation mode only. If you are in View mode, click Switch to Animation Mode in the upper-left corner of the viewport or click Animation on the Home ribbon tab. By default, the Timeline pane is docked at the bottom of the Composer window.

See Also
Creating Animations by Animating Actors Individually
About Scenarios
Using the Timeline
Icon Command Name Description
Load Root Scenario Applies a previously saved scenario (.smgSce) file to the entire assembly (except for its root node).
Save Root Scenario Saves the entire assembly animation (all keys in the timeline) as a scenario (.smgSce) file.
Reload Scenario References Reloads child scenarios. When a scenario changes, it is sometimes necessary to reload the scenario to get the changes.
Export Scenarios Saves the animations of the selected actors as a .smgSce file. For example, you can apply the animation of one actor to another actor by exporting a scenario, editing the scenario file to change actor IDs, and then applying the scenario to another actor (in the Assembly tree, right-click the actor and click Scenario > Apply Scenario to Node).
Clear Tracks and Remove All Child Scenarios Deletes all animations.
Copy Path from Actor Copies the animation path (location keys) from an actor to the selected actors. Select one or more actors, click Copy Path from Actor , and then select the actor whose path you are copying.
Create Path from Line (Linear Speed)

Creates animation paths (location keys) for the selected actors or camera based on a polyline or line detected on geometry. Animation speed is constant; actors complete short segments more quickly than long segments.

Create Path from Line (Linear Time) Creates animation paths (location keys) for the selected actors or camera based on a polyline or line detected on geometry. Animation speed is based on line segment lengths; actors complete each segment in the same amount of time.
Create Camera Key Creates a camera key at the current timebar location with camera location and target you select.

Note: This command automatically selects the active camera. When a camera is selected, camera paths are displayed in the viewport.

Tip: To create camera keys from the current camera orientation and zoom (instead of specifying camera location and target), use Set Camera Keys.

Smooth Camera Path Selects the camera and sets Path to Smooth. For details, see Camera Properties.
Linear Camera Path Selects the camera and sets Path to Linear. For details, see Camera Properties.
Custom Camera Path Selects the camera and sets Path to Custom. For details, see Camera Properties.
Delete Unused Keys Removes redundant keys from the selected actors, which can improve performance. If no actors are selected, the application clears unused keys for all actors. For example, if an actor has multiple property keys setting its color to blue, this command deletes redundant keys. This command is particularly useful if you use auto-key mode.
Delete All Keys Removes all animation keys.
Delete Keys of Selected Actors

Removes all animation keys on the selected actors.

Delete Camera Keys Removes all camera keys for all cameras.
Delete Digger Keys Removes all Digger keys.
Play/Pause Plays or pauses the animation.
Tip: If the animation plays beyond your last key, there might be keys for hidden actors. Press Ctrl+T to show all actors and then delete unwanted keys.
Pause Pauses the animation. Click Play/Pause to resume the animation.
Stop Stops the animation.
Loop Play Mode Plays the animation continuously.
Camera Play Mode Shows the animation from the camera's viewpoint. To show the animation using a fixed viewpoint, turn off this mode. All navigation tools (zoom, pan, and so on) are available when Camera Play Mode is off.
Digger Play Mode Shows Digger movement during animation. To ignore Digger keys, disable this mode.
Display Time Settings Lets you set frame-rate, animation duration, and time scaling. For details, see Time Settings.
Show/Hide Timeline Shows or hide the timeline pane.
Display Animation Properties Displays the Document Properties - Animation page.


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