Animator FeatureManager Design Tree

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The Animator FeatureManager design tree includes the SolidWorks Animator toolbar, Orientation and Camera Views settings, the Lights and Cameras folder, and the same component entities that appear on the SolidWorks FeatureManager design tree.

SolidWorks Animator Toolbar

The following tools control the animation functions.

Tool	Function
	Play from start
	Play
	Stop
	Display animation mode: Normal Loop Reciprocate
	Save to a .avi file
	Animation Wizard
	Zoom In. Enlarge the size of the timeline to permit more precise positioning of key points and the timebar.
	Zoom Out. Reduce the size of the timeline to show a larger interval of time in the window.

Orientation and Camera Views

Orientation and Camera Views lets you rotate, zoom, or pan the entire model during an animation. If you want the orientation or camera view to change, you must add key points to the animation at the desired points in time. You also use this tool to set the view to be through a camera that you have added to the model.

Right-click Orientation and Camera Views to set these options:

Disable Playback of View Keys. Select to prevent the model view from changing during playback or while you are editing the animation. Selecting this option also disables view key creation.

The Orientation and Camera Views icon, text, and view keys are grayed out:
Orientation and Camera Views

View key is a view of the model at a particular point in time (camera view or model view). View keys appear to the right of Orientation and Camera Views.

For example, during playback, you can re-orient the model. If there are view keys and you do not disable playback of them, the model rotates, zooms, or pans as defined by the view keys.

	Disable Playback of View Keys is not selected. During playback, when you re-orient the model at a view key using zoom or rotate, the model jumps back to its original view key position in the animation when you finish re-orienting the model.

	Disable Playback of View Keys is selected. During playback, when you re-orient the model using zoom or rotate, the animation continues from the re-oriented view key position in the animation when you finish re-orienting the model.

Disable View Key Creation. Select to lock Orientation and Camera Views (icon changes to ). Changes you make to the model using rotate, zoom, or pan are not written as key frames to the animation.

For example, when you define component motion in key frames, you might need to rotate or zoom the model to access the component. To move only that component, lock the view (select Disable View Key Creation) so the rotate, zoom, or pan movements to the model are not written as a key frame to the animation.

Disable View Key Creation is not selected. When the timeline is on a view key, if you re-orient the model, those changes are captured in that view key in the animation.

In this example, the original animation is a single rotation. You rotate and zoom the model while on a view key, and the orientation changes are captured in the animation.

Disable View Key Creation is selected. When the timeline is on a view key, changes to the model orientation do not affect the view key. The original animation at that view key is unchanged.

In this example, you rotate and zoom the model, but the orientation changes are not captured in the animation.

When you rotate and zoom, the pointer icon appears as a visual cue that the orientation changes are not being made to the animation.

Lights and Cameras

Lights and Cameras lists and controls lights and cameras you added to the animation. Right-click this folder and select these options:

Show lights. Toggles the visibility of all lights in the graphics area.
Show cameras. Toggles the visibility of all cameras in the graphics area.

Inside the folder, right-click the items to set parameters:

For lights:

On or Off. Toggle the lights on or off.
Properties. Set the light properties in the PropertyManager.
Show lights. Toggles the visibility of all lights in the graphics area.

For cameras:

Properties. Set the camera properties in the PropertyManager.
Camera View. Displays the model using the selected camera. You can have multiple cameras in the animation.
Show cameras. Toggles the visibility of all cameras in the graphics area.

Component Entities

Use the component entities listed in the Animator FeatureManager design tree to:

Display animation component attributes such as:

Move. Indicates that you can move the component.
Explode. Indicates that the component was repositioned in the graphics area.
Color. Indicates that the color of the component was modified.

Access animation component display options. When you right-click the component, select visual attributes such as:
Hide
Change Transparency
Component Display, including SolidWorks View modes such as Wireframe , Shaded with Edges , and so on.
Appearance, which includes Color and Texture , Appearance Callouts, and Materials

To select a component, you can use the SolidWorks FeatureManager design tree, the Animator FeatureManager design tree, or the graphics area.

Return SolidWorks Help Index

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