Preview Area

The Preview Area in the Advanced Motion Lab contains tools that let you preview your animation. It lets you see any changes you make to the timing and velocity of objects.

The Preview Area has three parts:

• The Animation Preview Area displays a wireframe preview of your scene. Any changes you make in the Time Mapping Curve Editor or the Sequencer are updated to this area.
• The Preview VCR Controls let you play the animation like a movie. You can stop, play, move forward one key frame, or back one. The far right button renders the scene.
  
  
• The Preview Display Controls let you zoom in/out of the preview, switch between Camera View and Director View, pan the preview, and reset the preview.
  
  

Once you start the animation, it will run continuously until you press the Stop button. Running the preview also moves the Current Time Bar in the Sequencer area and the cross-hairs in the Time Mapping Editor. In addition, the counter at the bottom of the Time Mapping Editor displays the current time of the animation as it plays.

To preview an animation:

1. Click the Play button in the Preview Area Controls. The animation starts running. It will continue playing until you press the Stop button.
   
   
2. Click the Stop button to stop the preview.
   
   
3. Click the First Frame button to go to the first frame in the preview.
   
   
4. Click the Last Frame button to go to the last frame in the preview.
   
   
5. Click the Previous Frame button to go to the previous frame in the preview.
   
   
6. Click the Next Frame button to go to the next frame in the preview.
   
   
7. Click the Animation Setup button (first button on VCR Controls) to open the Animation Setup dialog.
   
   
8. Click on the Render View button (last button on VCR Controls) to render the current frame in your preview.
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The controls along the left side of the Preview Area control several options for your animation preview.

To switch between Camera View and Director's View in the preview:

• Click the Swap Views button next to the Preview Area. When you first open the Advanced Motion Lab, the Preview Area displays the current camera view. In Director's View you'll be able to see the camera in the scene.
• Click the button again to switch back to Camera View.
  
  

Changing views in the Preview Area doesn't affect the view in the Working window.

To change the view in the Preview Area to orbit around your scene, click+drag the preview in the direction you want to move the view of your scene.

To zoom in and out of the preview, click the + and - buttons next to the Preview Area. The view of the scene enlarges or gets smaller depending on the button clicked.

To reset the view in the preview area, click the Reset button next to the Preview Area. The view returns to the view displayed when you first entered the Advanced Motion Lab.

To pan the Preview Area, drag the cursor over the Pan button next to the Preview Area.

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