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Animating Terrains
Terrain objects are animated by changing their properties in the Terrain Editor.
This section assumes that you're familiar with the concepts and procedures involved in creating terrains. Refer to "Elevation Tools" for more on creating and editing terrains.
By changing the shape of your landscape at different point on the Timeline you can simulate geological events like earthquakes or erosion.
There are several techniques you can use to control how the shape of your terrain changes. You can use the grayscale paintbrush to totally change the geometry of the terrain by adding new peaks and valley, or you can use the Filtering tools to add small changes in elevation to the terrain.
Terrain animations are created using the Animation controls that appear at the bottom of the Terrain Editor.
The Timeline in the Terrain Editor is the same as the one in the Working window. All the key events recorded for object transformations and material changes are displayed in the Timeline. The Animation controls in the Terrain Editor can perform all the same functions as the those in the Working window. Refer to "Creating Animations" for more on using the animation controls.
Animating Terrain Geometry
There are two ways of changing the geometry of a terrain object: by painting directly on the 2D Preview or by applying an elevation effect. When you paint on the canvas you create large changes in the terrain like the creation of new mountains or valleys.
When you apply an effect you create smaller more subtle changes like a mountain eroding over time.
You can also use this technique to record how a terrain object was formed. By adjusting the Current Time as you add elements to the terrain, you'll have a complete record of all your steps.
To animate terrain geometry:
2 Click the E icon that appears next to the terrain object's bounding box. The Terrain Editor appears.
3 Click the triangle icon in the Animation controls and make sure Auto-Key is enabled.
4 Move the Current Time Indicator to the point in the Timeline where you want the terrain to change.
5 Paint new areas in the terrain using the Grayscale paintbrush.
Apply one of the effects in the Elevation tab.
6 Move the Current Time Indicator to a different point on the Timeline.
7 Change the shape of the terrain again using an effect or the paintbrush.
8 Continue moving the Current Time Indicator and changing the terrain's shape until you achieve the desired effect.
9 Click the OK icon to exit the editor.
Animating Terrain Filtering
By animating the shape of a terrain object's filtering graph you can create some very specific geometry effects.
For example, you can make specific areas of your terrain sink to simulate the damage caused by an earthquake. To create this effect you would darken only areas you want to sink in the Filtering graph. Likewise, you create the effect of ridges forming by lightening specific areas of the graph.
You can also use the Filtering graph to gradually raise or lower the entire terrain over the course of your animation.
To animate terrain filtering:
2 Click the E icon that appears next to the terrain's bounding box. The Terrain Editor appears.
4 Click the triangle icon in the Animation controls and make sure Auto-Key is enabled.
5 Move the Current Time Indicator to the point in the timeline where you want the terrain to change.
6 Adjust the shape of the Filtering graph.
7 Move the Current Time Indicator to a different point on the timeline.
8 Change the shape of the graph again.
9 Continue moving the Current Time Indicator and changing the terrain's graph until you have the desired effect.
10 Click the OK icon to exit the editor.
Animating Terrain Clipping
The setting of the Terrain Clipping bracket can also be animated. As areas of the terrain are clipped, they're removed from the terrain object in the scene. Your terrain will look like it's breaking up, or like portions it are falling into the sea.
To animate terrain clipping:
2 Click the E icon that appears next to the terrain's bounding box. The Terrain Editor appears.
3 Click the triangle icon in the Animation controls and make sure Auto-Key is enabled.
4 Move the Current Time Indicator to the point in the Timeline where you want the terrain to change.
5 Adjust the width of the clipping bracket.
6 Move the Current Time Indicator to a different point on the timeline.
7 Change the width of the bracket again.
8 Continue moving the Current Time Indicator and changing the width of the bracket until you achieve the desired effect.
9 Click the OK icon to exit the editor.
Previewing Terrain Animations
Any change you make to a terrain's properties appear in the 3D Terrain Preview. When you play a terrain animation, the same preview area shows you the transition of the terrain from one key event to the other.
To preview a material animation:
 Corel Corporation http://www.corel.com Voice: (800) 772-6735 Fax: (716) 447-7366 www.corel.com/support |