Animations

Animations are based off sketches. The buttons are found in the file-menu. After creating a sketch, an animation can be created while the sketch is active, pairing the two. A sketch can have more than one animation.

Animation player

	Edit: go to Animation Editor.
	Go to first: jumps to the first keyframe.
	Go to previous: jumps to the previous timestamp or the beginning of the animation.
	Play/Pause: starts/stops the animation.
	Go to next: jumps to the next timestamp or the end of the animation.
	Go to last: jumps to the last keyframe.
	Animation timeline/slider: drag to move the animation to the specified points.
	Timestamp: drop-down- menu: select a timestamp to jump to.
	Speed drop-down menu: select the playback speed.
	Zoom in: zooms in on the timeline.
	Zoom out: zooms out on the timeline.
	Zoom to fit: fits so the whole timeline is visible.

Animation editor

	Player: goes back to animation player.
	Add magic keyframe: creates a keyframe of all currently placed objects which are selected in the animation editor hierarchy with their current settings.
	Magic keyframe delay: Automatic delay which will be added between magic keyframes. The user can enter values like e.g. 2.5 s, 5 s, 10 s, 1 min etc.
	Play/Pause: starts/stops the animation.
	Expand/Collapse: brings up extended animation tools or closes them.
	Add keyframe: adds a keyframe for the selected animation parameter.
	Remove keyframe: removes the selected keyframe.
	Remove parameter: removes the selected parameter row.
	Transition curve view: shows the transition curves (lines and splines) between values. Drag them to change its form.
	Zoom in: zooms in on the timeline, centring on the currently selected position marked by the red line.
	Zoom out: zooms out on the timeline.
	Add timestamp: when the user drags and drops this button onto the timeline, a new timestamp gets created and an input box pops up to define the name of the new timestamp. If the user drags a timestamp, this symbol transforms to a litterbin and timestamps dragged into it will disappear.
	Zoom to fit: fits so the whole timeline is visible.

Timeline view

	Project tree: Contains all items, parameters etc. involved in this animation.
	Parameters: All parameters of the item selected in the project tree at the current position of the timeline. Can be edited by clicking the parameter value.
	Timeline: The red line is the time slider and indicates where the animation is at currently; it can be dragged to change its position. Blue dots are keyframes of the parameter shown to its left in the project tree; they can be dragged to change the position in the timeline.

Saving the Animation

(licence for Sketching is needed)

In order to save any work on animations, a licence is needed. An exception are the animation data of 4D System which can be loaded and saved without a licence. Animations can be saved in .upvf files.

Creating an animation example

Create a Sketch and place any sketch-object (e.g. a Liebherr crane from the sketch catalogue). Create an animation in the same menu while the sketch is active.

Select the sketch object and create a first animation keyframe by pressing the “magic keyframe” button (see picture below, button marked in red).

Move the crane to the destinated position and press the “magic keyframe” button once more.

The animation can now be played in Player- or Edit-mode.