Animating Environmental Effects

Many environmental effects like rainbows and fog are not permanent features of a sky. They appear for a brief time and then fade way. You can simulate this action by changing the properties of the environmental effects at different points along the Timeline.

Environmental effects controls are located on the Atmosphere tab of the Sky Lab dialog. You can also animate the various settings for an effect. For example, the radius of moon rings can increase or decrease during the course of your animation.

To animate environmental effects:

1. Click the triangle icon in the Animation controls and make sure Auto-Key is enabled.
   
   
2. Move the Current Time Indicator to the point in the Timeline where you want the sky to change.
3. If it's not already visible, display the Sky & Fog palette by clicking the text item on the menu bar.
   
   
4. Click the Sky Lab button. The Sky Lab dialog appears.
   
   
5. Click the Atmosphere tab.
   
   
6. Change the properties of an effect: Fog, Haze, Rainbow, Blend with Sun, Volumetric World, and/or Color Perspective.
7. Move the Current Time Indicator to a different point on the Timeline.
8. Change the properties of the effect again.
9. Continue moving the Current Time Indicator and changing the effect's properties until you have the desired effect.
10. Click on the OK icon to close the dialog.

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