Form: Video File, Time History Video File Creation
Use the File menu > Create Video > Create Multi-Step Animation Video command to create videos in SAP2000 showing the movement of the structure after a time history analysis has been run. The videos are saved as .avi files. They can be played back using the media player that comes with Windows.
Note: For best results make sure that all SAP2000 windows are showing undeformed views before attempting to create a time history video.
Be sure to define any load cases or time history functions needed and define and perform a time history analysis case before completing the following steps.
Click the File menu > Create Video > Create Multi-step Animation Video command to access the Video File form. Specify the storage location and file name for the video file in the Save In drop-down list and File name edit box, respectively.
Click the Save button to access the Multi-step Video File Creation form.
AVI File Name edit box: Displays the name of the .avi file. Click the Browse button to change the path and filename for saving the video file.
Plot Type: Choose to plot the time history Analysis Results or the Multi-Step Load. The availability of the Multi-Step Load option depends on the program version and the load cases specified in the model (e.g., wave).
Analysis Case Data:
Case Name: Select the named Time History case for which the video is being create.
Start Time, End Time, Time Increment: Use the default or define start and end times and time increments. The time increment controls how many different pictures (frames) of the deformed shape of the structure are created. For example, a time increment of 0.1 means a picture (frame) of the deformed shape is created for every one-tenth second of the time history.
Display Options:
Wire Frame: Choose this option to display the undeformed shape as a reference.
Cubic Curve: Choose this option if frame objects are to be drawn using cubic curves between joints. Uncheck this check box if frame objects are to be drawn as straight lines between joints.
Absolute Displacements: Choose this option to add the ground displacements to the structure’s relative displacements when using ground acceleration
Magnification Factor: This option controls the scaling of the vector components. The default factor is 10.
AVI Options:
Frames per Second: The Frames per Second item controls how fast the time history is played back. To record the time history file in real time animation, make sure that the number of frames per second is equal to one over the time increment. The default for Frame Speed is 10.
Note: To view the animation in real time, the value for frames per second should be the same as 1/Time Increment. A larger value will speed up the animation and a smaller value will slow it down.
Frame Size (pixel): Use the default or define the frame size in pixels. Note that the more pixels the larger the resulting .avi file. Also, the output device used to display the .avi helps to determine the quality of the video (i.e., regardless of the pixel count, the display can not be better than the output device allows). The default for Frame Size is 640x480.
Click the OK button. A Creating AVI File form will appear and the animation will be saved as an AVI file that can be played back using the Windows Media Player.
Example: Use of this command is demonstrated in Problem Q.