Creating Form-z Animations

1. Complete a form-z model.

2. Set your "key frame" views.

Key frames are views that you set in your model that you will later turn into an animation. By setting two or more perspective views as key frames the computer then will calculate the animation between each view you created

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Note in the top view image above the three views. Each view is represented by a camera icon. Each of these icons is a box with a lens, and each is pointing toward the center of the model. You will begin creating the animation by setting views in edit cone of vision. You will then use the views in sequence to create the animation.

The green lines in the above image represent the camera movement. The computer will calculate the movement between the views that you set in edit cone of vision. (The actual movement is the parabola curve shape connecting the three views.) In animation the views that you create a called "key frames". Setting the keyframes are central in the creation of a well composed animation.

Before you begin your animation think of a sequence you would like to follow in your model. Ask yourself what are the central views that I would like to see, or what spaces would be interesting to move thorough.

The following animation corresponds to the above views or keyframes.

NOTE: You must be in the same view type when creating an animation. For example if you are creating an animation in perspective you must make all of your "key frame" views for that animation perspective. You can not switch from a perspective view to an axonometric view in a single animation.

a. Under the pull down menu select view and choose perspective. (You may select any 3-dimensional view other than perspective as well.)

b. Under the pull down menu select view and choose Edit Cone of Vision.

c. Set views to correspond to "key frames" in your animation.

Help on setting views in "Edit Cone of Vision..."

3. Under the pull down menu "Palettes" select "Views".

4. Click in the Views palette to create checkmarks next to the views you wish to have in your animation.

NOTE: You must select the views in the order you wish have the keyframes ordered. For example, start by selecting your first or starting view in the animation and then move in order to your final view in the animation.

5. With the views preselected, select the "View" pull down menu and choose "Animation from Keyframes..."

6. Make the following changes in the View Parameters.

• Set Camera View to "Custom"
• Deselect the Lock icon. (No check in the box.)
• Set the aspect Ration to 16:9 (The aspect ratio is the ration between the with and height of the animation screen. A 4:3 ratio would correspond to a TV screen, a 16:9 ratio is like a movie screen.)
• Select the Lock icon. (Check in the box.)
• Set Width of the animation to 320 pixels, and the height to 180 pixels. (This is a small animation window, but it is necessary to keep rendering time down and reasonable download times on the World Wide Web.)
• Set the duration of your animation. The current setting above is 10 seconds. (Remember the longer the time for an animation the larger file and longer rendering times you create.)
• Set the Frames Per Second. (If you will be presenting the animation on the web set the Frames Persecond to 15.) Higher frame rates create higher quality animations but also much larger file sizes.
• Select the OK button.

7. Notice that an Animation view has been added to the View palette.

8. You can access the View Parameter in the future by double clicking the Animation in the Views palette.

9. Use the Animation palette to test your animation in wire frame. Under the Palettes pull down menu select Animation.

• The Right Triangle button starts the animation.
• The Red Circle Button Stops the animation.
• The red arrows along the time line illustrates frame that is playing in the animation. (You can click on and move the red arrows along the time line and the animation will change.
• The blue arrows are your key frames. You can adjust the blue keyframe markers in the time line. By moving the keyframe markers you may move from one keyframe quicker or slower.

10. Under the Display pull down menu select "Generate Animation..."

11. Make the following selections in the Generate Animation window as illustrated above.

• Set the Display Type of your animation. (You can choose anything from WireFrame to Renderzone.) The style you select here will be what the computer uses to render you model in the animation.
• By selecting the option button you can select special features associated with the display type selected. (You may wish to turn on shadows.)
• You can choose to use Motion Blur and the Blur Filter. These features help create more realistic animations by adding blur to the rendering as you move throughout the space. (Use these options with care as they add to the computer animation rendering time significantly.)
• Select "QuckTime Movie" under format.
• Set the compression to "Quicktime". '
• Select the Options butting for the Compression and select the Sorenson Video Compression.
• Select the New File... button to set the location of where you wish to save your animation file. (Make sure that you select your zip disk if you are working the the Tupper 202 computer lab.)

12. Select Generate from the Generate Animation window. (The computer will now create the animation and save it in the location you specified in the Generate Animation window above.)

13. After you create your animation the computer is stuck in the view you created for the animation. To exit from the animation view select a view from your View palette.

14. Under the pull down menu Display choose "Image Options."

15. Select "Use Window Size."

16. Select "OK". (You should now see your model in the large window.)