About Animation
Use Design Animation to define and coordinate the components of an animation sequence and to play back an animation. To enter Design Animation, open an assembly and click Applications > Animation. The Animation tab opens and the timeline appears above the graphics window. Every animation must have at least one servo motor or one key frame sequence in order to move rigid bodies in the animation. You can create 3 types of animations:
Explode—A key frame sequence of steps to explode or unexplode an assembly.
Snapshot—A key frame sequence of snapshots created when you drag components in the assembly.
Playback—Import of a playback file from Mechanism Dynamics.
You can perform the following operations on your animation using the feature buttons or directly on the timeline:
Visualize your assembly's operation. If you have the concept, but have not defined the mechanics, you can drag rigid bodies to different positions and take snapshots to create an animation.
Create an assembly or disassembly sequence animation of your model.
Create a maintenance sequence, a short animation of steps to take to instruct a user in how to repair or build a product.
Animate the transition between the Unexploded and Exploded states of an assembly.
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Models created in Mechanism Design will transfer to Design Animation.
Every animation must have at least one servo motor or one key frame sequence in order to move rigid bodies in the animation.
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