Before you start creating animation, take a few minutes to review the terminology used in the animation processes. These terms represent key animation concepts and components.
Animation Path - Smart Review provides the following types of animation paths:
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A Display Set animation path shows you the traversed area of a display set. Display Set animation paths are graphic objects that can be set to show, shade, dim, as well as material assignment and movement. A Display Set animation path consists of a series of placed animation points, which are represented by tipped cones. When you select a Display Set animation path in the Main view and open the Properties dialog box, information including the display set name associated to the path, the number of animation points, and the position corresponding to where you clicked in the path is listed.
The Display Set animation path has three basic aspects:
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Simple Physical Aspect - The "lines" between the points.
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Detailed Physical Aspect - The points between the line (currently represented as short cones at the display set move reference point offset).
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Reference Geometry Aspect - The rotational reference geometry showing the rotational direction at the start, and at the changes along the path (currently represented as long cones at the display set rotate reference point offset).
You can view the properties of a Display Set animation path. Click Select Filter > Elements and click on a Display Set animation point in the path. Right-click to open a shortcut menu and select Properties. You can see the date and time corresponding to the point.
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A Key Frame animation path represents saved views in a Save and Recall Views view group. The points in a Key Frame animation path are each saved view making up the view group.
For a ScheduleReview animation, only the Start and Finish dates are shown and the animation cannot be changed in the Sequencer.Animation Player - Provides controls for playing back your animation project and recording animations to either a static image or an AVI file.
Animation Point - Represents user-defined key points that define a Key Frame and Display Set animation path.
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For a Display Set animation path, animation points capture all state changes at a specified instance in time. Possible state changes include the discrete spatial (X/Y/Z) location, display set position, visibility, shading, brightness, and material assignment. A Display Set animation must contain at least two points. Smart Review inserts transitional or interpolated points between each animation point. The number of interpolated points defines the smoothness of path objects from one animation point to the next. You can modify the position of a selected animation point as well as delete selected points. You can change any state or time of an existing point to change the animation path. Use the Element selection filter, and then click on an animation point. Right-click on the point and select Properties to see information such as the display set name and the time associated to the point.
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Key Frame animation points correspond to each saved frame in a view group.To see the frames, open the Save and Recall Views dialog box and select the view group defined for the animation. The point numbers are always contiguous and increment as time moves forward.
A ScheduleReview animation only has Start and Finish dates with no animation points. A ScheduleReview animation is read only in the Animation Sequencer.Animation Project - Represents all animations created and available in the current playback or time block.
To define the animations that are available as well as their playback options, use
the Animation > Playback/Capture Settings dialog box. In the Common page of the Animation Playback/Capture Settings dialog box, you must select the types of animations to include in the playback, the
start and end dates of the playback, and the playback speed. All animations you created
for the selected types are shown in the playback time block.Animation Sequencer - Provides the tools you need to display and synchronize all animation types, change
start times for Key Frame and Display Set animations, and adjust the animation playback
speed. You can run the Animation Sequencer with the Animation Player to see the locations
and timing of display set objects as they are moved in your model. Because all animation types in Smart Review are based on time, you can create, play, and modify animations to show progression
of a construction site development.
Although it is not intended to be a simulator, the animation sequencer enables you to arrange Display Set and Key Frame animations to reflect the schedules required in your project. For example, you can see where an object is located at any point in time, and change it as required.
Capture - Records display set property settings, position, motion, and time information to create an animation. The resulting display set animations can be saved to an output format such as an AVI file for distribution.
Display Set - Display sets are user-defined collections of graphic objects. Smart Review does not limit the number of display sets you can create. However, your hardware capability can limit your number of display sets. A display set definition can contain one or more criteria, allowing you to place objects in display sets based on object attributes, model attributes, highlighted objects, or other display sets. After a display set is defined, it can be manipulated independent of the model. For instance, you can review different material assignments on a single structure rather than the entire facility, or wireframe the HVAC data in a shaded model of a plant.