Rendering Movies

• • Check the CAMERA'S VIEW

Environmental backgrounds can only be viewed by the "Camera" view

• Turn off the QUAD view [numeric period key]

• Tap the numeric [1] key to choose CAMERA view

Notice your TIMELINE a the bottom of the scene screen. You're given 72 frames (seconds @ 24fps) as a default, and you start in frame 0. LET's FIX THAT to give us 150 frames @ 30fps:

FIX the FRAMERATE & ADD MORE FRAMES

• Click VIEW - PREFERENCES

  • Change the FPS (frames per second) to 30

  • Click on "Limit Playback"

• Click SETTINGS - SCENE

  • Name the scene "Saucer Attack" if it still needs it

  • Set the LENGTH of your scene to 150 - that'll give you 5 seconds of animation time

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ON YOUR MARKS

• Click the numeric [8] keypad to view your set from the top.

• Choose the MOVE tool, and move your saucer BACK until it's right off the visible "stage"

• Tap the [F] key to fill the screen and see the saucer again

• Keep moving it back off the stage and hit [F] again

GET SET

View from QUAD VIEW [.] and you can see your saucer moving offscreen from the camera view.

• Keep moving it from the TOP VIEW window - note you DO NOT have to actually click on the SAUCER object to move it, neither do you HAVE to keep hitting the [F] key to keep moving it. You can simply monitor it's progress in the CAMERA window

• Be sure you're still in FRAME 0 in the timeline

• You can click the REWIND button to make sure

GO!

The KEYFRAME GENERATOR

• Click the "Keyframe Generator" on the lower left of the tool panel. This is kind of like a RECORD button - but it records KEYFRAMES - specific frames that hold specific locations of your objects

• FIRST KEYFRAME - Use the MOVE tool to "nail down" a keyframe in frame 0 for your saucer - just click the move tool anywhere in the TOP window

• Now hit the FAST FORWARD button to take you to the LAST frame in your scene

• LAST KEYFRAME - Use the MOVE tool to drag the saucer back in front of the camera, and even let it travel past the camera in a straight line

PLAYBACK

• Click the PLAY button - if yo've done everything properly, you should see your saucer travel in a straight line toward and past the camera

SCRUBBING

"Scrubbing" a movie is playing it forward or backward using a controller

• Use the ARROW KEYS on your keyboard to scrub the movie one frame at a time

• IF you have the latest version of Anim8or, you have a "Scrubbing Handle" that you can drag with your mouse at the top of your timeline

So far your scene has only TWO keyframes

• A starting keyframe

• An ending keyframe

You can click in the timeline on EITHER the first or last frame, and adjust the location of the saucer in those keyframes. As long as the keyframe generator is on, ANIM8OR will record your work

ANIMATE your CAMERA

Now it's time to add a PAN to your camera so that it "tracks" the saucer's flight

Keep the KEYFRAME generator ON, "Rewind" to the starting frame and use the TOP view for these steps:

• In Frame 1, ROTATE the camera so that it has the saucer in frame to the right side

• FAST FORWARD to frame 149 and ROTATE the camera to put the saucer at the right side of the frame again

• Try playing your movie, and you'll see the camera move, but too quickly for the saucer to stay in view

• Scrub to the middle of the movie (frame 75) and ROTATE the camera to give it a third keyframe. Now play your movie and see how it looks.

RULES OF KEYFRAMES

• Keep the NUMBER of keyframes you use to a minimum

• Line up your keyframes