Creating Animations Using Key Points

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You can create animations by defining camera properties at key points in the key frame. You can also define lighting properties at key points.

If you set the time 00:00:00 key frame to be through the camera, the entire animation is viewed through the camera unless you add other key points to change the view orientation.

Camera Controls

You can control camera movement while looking through the camera:

Back and forth along the target path
Up, down, left, and right in the view plane
Change the pitch and yaw
Roll it about the target line

Camera movements use standard views. Mouse and keyboard combinations such as the following also control the camera view:

Keyboard/Mouse Action	Camera Action	Pointer
Middle mouse button	Rotate

Ctrl+ Middle mouse button	Pan

Shift+ Middle mouse button	Zoom in/out

Alt+ Middle mouse button	Roll about the target line

Ctrl+Alt+ Middle mouse button	Turn the camera about its position

You can also drag the camera controls in the graphics area, or specify properties in the Camera PropertyManager:

Camera Position. Attach to the sketch entity on the camera sled. You can change the camera position along the X, Y, and Z axes.
Target Point. Attach the target point to another sketch entity on the camera sled, or to a sketch entity on the target objects that the camera sees.
Field of view. Manipulate the area that the camera sees. Control the perspective from a wide view (where the target appears distant), to a narrow view (where the target fills the frame).

When you add a camera, the screen spits into viewports, enabling you to simultaneously attach and manipulate the camera on the left viewport, and preview the results on the right viewport.

To create animations by defining key points:

Open the model and click the Animation1 tab.
Right-click Lights and Cameras in the SolidWorks FeatureManager design tree and select Add Camera.

The graphics area splits into two viewports with the camera view on the right.

The timeline is set at 00:00:00. Make sure Lock camera position except when editing is selected in the PropertyManager to prevent capture of unwanted model movements.

Select Show numeric controls to give you pinpoint control of the target point and camera position.

Click to accept the default camera position and settings.
Right-click Orientation and Camera Views and clear Disable View Key Creation. Select Camera1 from the View pop-up menu to view the model through the camera.
Drag the timeline to the first intermediate time. In this example, we use 5 seconds.
Expand Lights and Cameras in the Animator FeatureManager design tree. Right-click Camera1 and select Properties to edit the camera position.
Use the PropertyManager settings or the camera in the left viewport of the graphics area to re-position the camera to an intermediate position. In this example, you move the camera a little closer, more centered on the hole, and down to the left.
Click .

The changebar in the Camera1 key frame turns beige, which indicates the animation is viewed through Camera1 from time 00:00:00 to 00:00:05.

Drag the timeline to the next intermediate time and repeat steps 6 through 9. In this example, you use 10 seconds.
Drag the timeline to the end time and repeat steps 6 through 9 to complete the walk-through animation. In this example you use 15 seconds.

The animation would resemble this example.

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