Camera-Based Animations

You can create camera-based animations in a motion study by changing camera views or other properties.

You can change the following camera properties:
  • Position
  • Field of view
  • Roll
  • Target point position
  • Depth of field (effect is visible in a rendered animation only)
    You can also view the animation through different cameras at different times.

You can create simple animations in which a camera moves toward the model. You can add movements or create more elaborate animations.

Camera-based Animations

You can use these methods to create a camera-based animation:

Key points

Use key points to animate the camera properties such as position, depth of field, and lighting.

Camera sled

Attach a sketch entity to the camera, and define a motion path for the camera sled.

Camera Views

A camera view is a view similar to the standard view for drawings (front, top, right etc.). You can define the movement of a camera over time by creating a sequence of camera views.

You can move the camera about a model to define an animation as follows:
  • By adding key points that change the view orientation
  • By setting the view orientation through a camera, and then moving the camera through key points
You can:
  • Specify one or more cameras to use to define a camera view.
  • Rotate, pan, and zoom the model to define the animation.
  • Define the animation with a sequence of camera view orientations through time.

To select a camera view to display the animation through a particular camera:

  1. Add a camera to the animation.
  2. Right-click the camera in the MotionManager design tree, and select Camera View.

Using a Camera Versus not Using a Camera

You can use camera-based techniques to create an animation in which the view changes by moving camera or using view orientation to specify model motion:
  • When you use a camera for animation, you set the view through the camera, and create key points that move the camera about the model. The combination of setting the view to be through the camera and moving the camera produces an animation whereby the camera moves about the model.
  • When you do not use a camera for animation, you must define key points at each view orientation for the model. When you add key points to set the view to different positions, you can create an animation in which the view orientation moves the model.