How to Animate With MicroStation

The object can be scaled, mirrored or repositioned to create the animation.

Animation with MicroStation V8 and V8XM is a straightforward procedure that uses the technique of keyframing. The position and scale of objects are specified at key locations (keyframes). MicroStation then automatically divides the distance between the locations into frames and moves the object the relative distance for each frame. You can change the size and rotation of the object at each keyframe if you want to see the object grow, shrink or turn. The velocity of the animation can be set to constant, accelerate, decelerate or a combination.

Instructions

1. Open the "Animation Settings" toolbox from the Tools/Visualization/Animation menu to make the first keyframe. Click the "Create KeyFrame" tool. Select the object and click "Create." Enter the name and description of the object.

2. Repeat Step 1 to create the second keyframe. You can scale, mirror or rotate the object first to make a more dynamic animation. Enter the name and description of the second object.

3. Double-click the first keyframe in the "Animation Keyframes" box to open the "Script Keyframe" dialog to create the animation script. Set the frame number to "0" and the interpolation to "Linear." Select the velocity as "Constant" and click "OK." Double-click the second keyframe in the "Animation Keyframes" box. Set the frame number to the desired number of frames higher than "0," the interpolation to "Linear" and select the velocity as either "Constant, Accelerate, Decelerate or Accelerate/Decelerate."

4. Click "Play" in the "Animation Producer" dialog box to preview the script. To create a smoother preview, turn on the graphics acceleration by clicking the "Change View Display Mode" tool which will open the "Set View Display Mode" box.

References

• "Animating with MicroStation," Jerry Flynn