21. Camera animation

Here, let us suppose we are starting from an already completed scene. That is, all the objects are modeled, they have their own textures, and the lights are set.

Prepare the scene

Þ Step 1: Open the Viewer q Do it: Use the Menu Render/Viewer GL Viewer (or QuickDraw Viewer for Macintosh). The window viewer is opened and the scene appears shaded. q See the detailed explanations in the chapter: User Manual/View/Viewer

Þ Step 2: Create a camera q Open the model file: Home q Do it: 1. Open the Home file. 2. Use the “Render & Animation” Palette to create a camera. The camera is put in the scene. q See the detailed explanations in the chapter: User Manual/Rendering/The Cameras/Creating and positioning a camera

Þ Step 3: Camera settings q Open the model file: Home q Do it: 1. Open Render/Render setup. 2. In the camera window, select camera0. 3. In the viewer, we will no longer see the working scene, but instead will see the view through the camera. 4. Pick the Stretch tool; the control points (white) appears on the camera. Resize, modify the distance and the falloff of the camera. In the viewer, you will see the scene through the camera and when you will change the camera parameters, you will see the results interactively q See the detailed explanations in the chapter: User Manual/Rendering/The cameras/Creating and positioning a camera and Setup of the cameras

Camera animation (1rst method)

Þ Step 1: Moving the camera q Open the model file: Home q Do it: 1. Use the “Render & Animation” Palette. 2. The camera is the current object. 3. Open the Keyframer: the camera is set to the first frame (picture 0). 4. Close the Keyframer. 5. Move the camera into the scene. 6. Verify in the viewer if the sight is correct. 7. If not, adjust the camera. 8. Open the Keyframer and save the camera position in (for example) frame 10. 9. Close the Keyframer. 10. Move again the camera into the scene. 11. Verify in the viewer if the sight is correct. 12. If not, adjust the camera. 13. Open the Keyframer and save the camera position in frame 20. 14. Close the Keyframer. 15. Perform again the previous operations until you have all the key frames that you want. q See the detailed explanations in the chapter: User Manual/Rendering/The cameras/Creating and positioning a camera

Þ Step 2: Visualize the camera path q Open the model file: Home q Do it: 1. Use the “Render & Animation” Palette. 2. In the Keyframer, after recording at least two key frames, press the Enter key to play the animation between the first and the last picture (here: 0 to 20). You can also see the entire animation step by step by pressing the + and – keys. q See the detailed explanations in the chapter: User Manual/Animation

Camera animation (2nd method)

Þ Step 1: Moving the camera (path) q Open the model file: Home q Do it: Use the “Render & Animation” Palette. The camera is the current object. In the “Render & Animation” Palette, click on the Animation Path icon. If you already have a curve drawn in your scene, you can select it as the desired path. If not, click on the object: you are now in the curves tool. Draw the curve you want and leave the tool. The (selected or drawn) curve is assigned as the animation path of the current camera. The curve is drawn with 50 points (default). Each point correspond to a frame (picture). You can change the value by pressing the Tab key and setting the number you want. You can choose a target object to be followed by the camera lens during the animation (Eye icon): This is the center of gravity of the object that will be watched by the camera. q See the detailed explanations in the chapter: User Manual/Animation

Þ Step 2: Visualize the camera path q Open the model file: Home01 q Do it: Use the “Render & Animation” Palette. The camera is the current object. In the “Assign a Path” tool, you can see the previous or the next frame by pressing the + and – keys. This can use these keys to see the entire animation, step by step. You can also leave the Assign a Path tool and click on the Play Animation icon: all of the frames will be played automatically q See the detailed explanations in the chapter: User Manual/Animation/Play animation

Record the animation

Þ Step 1: q Open the model file: Home01 q Do it: You can save the animated file in the catalog or using the menu, like any other Amapi 3D file. q See the detailed explanations in the chapter: User Manual/Animation

Record a movie

Þ Step 1: Movie parameters setting q Open the model file: Home01 q Do it: Select the Animation/Setup Animation menu. Set the image size (pixels): 320 x 240. The frame rate (frame/seconds) value: 12. The Compression factor: 100. Validate. q See the detailed explanations in the chapter: User Manual/Animation

Þ Step 2: Create the movie file q Open the model file: Home01 q Do it: Select the Animation/Play on file menu. The file manager will ask for the movie name. Enter the name you want (i.e. Home). Validate. Then, a rendering window will appear and will display the pictures while calculating. The animated file will be recorded as an .AVI file (for Windows) or a QuickTime movie file (for Macintosh). q See the detailed explanations in the chapter: User Manual/Animation