Animations

You can create 3D preview animations and adjust the settings before you create a motion path animation. Preview animations are created with the controls on the Animation panel found on the ribbon and the 3D navigation tools. Once a 3D navigation tool is active, the controls on the Animation panel are enabled to start recording an animation. The following commands can be used to create an animation.

• 3DCORBIT
• 3DDISTANCE
• 3DFLY
• 3DFORBIT
• 3DORBIT
• 3DPAN
• 3DSWIVEL
• 3DWALK
• 3DZOOM

Motion Path Animations

Motion path animations, such as 3D animated walk-throughs of a model, allow you to visually demonstrate a model to both a technical and non-technical audience. You can record and play back a navigation to communicate your design intent dynamically.

Camera Motion Path

You control the camera motion, and therefore the animation, by linking the camera and its target to a point or a path. To create an animation using motion paths, you link the camera and its target to either a point or a path. If you want the camera to remain still, link it to a point. If you want the camera to move along a path, link it to a path.

If you want the target to remain still, link it to a point. If you want the target to move, link it to a path. You cannot link both the camera and the target to a point. Use the same path when you want the animation view to follow in line with the camera’s path. You do this by setting the target’s path to None in the Motion Path Animation dialog box. This is the default setting.

To link a camera or target to a path, you must create the path object before you create the motion path animation. A path can be a line, arc, elliptical arc, circle, polyline, 3D polyline, or spline. You determine the format of the animation file of a motion path animation by specifying settings in the Motion Path Animation dialog box.

Several settings control the animation’s frame rate, duration, resolution, visual style, and file format. You can preview the animation before you record it and then save it in the desired format.