Animate Object

As all the old links seem to be broken, I thought that I'd do a quick tutorial on animation.

There are two main ways to animate using SketchUp...using layers and page visibility and using Face Me components.

In the first example...using layers...you begin by modelling ALL the instances of the object that will be required in the animation. This example is of 12 cubes arranged like the hours on a clock, with an extra cube in the centre which stands still...representing those parts of the model that you don't want to animate. So that is what I modelled...13 cubes.

The next step is to add a layer for every instance of the animation...so I added 12...one for every hour. The centre cube is left on Layer0, but the cube in the 1 o' clock position is moved to Layer 1, the next to Layer 2 etc.

When you have all the cubes on separate layers you switch off all the layers except Layer1 (and Layer 0 which is never switched off)...then you create Page 1. Next you switch on Layer 2 and switch off Layer 1 and create Page 2...and so on right around the clock.

When you have done this you will see that as you click on the page representing any given hour, the cube associated with that hour will be the only one visible apart from the red cube in the middle.

To create an animation, go to the tourguide settings and set the page transition to 0 (or switch it off altogether to speed things up even more) and also set the page delay to 0, then run the animation.

In the attached example, you will get a clearer idea of what is happening if you open the layers palette and stretch it long enough to see all the layers before starting the animation.

page animation.skp

Face Me animation can be used for longer, smoother animations but it is not as controllable as the page animation.Basically all you do is create a 3D component and give it a Face Me property as if it was a 2D component. Then you edit it and move its axes to a centre of rotation that will give you the movement you need.

The first example is of a car turning out of a driveway onto the road. If you double click the car as if to edit it you will see that I have moved the axes about 20 metres away, so that it will make a quarter turn onto the roadway.

In this kind of animation, your viewpoints for page 1 and page 2 are dictated by the position of the object. You will need to experiment a bit. You can zoom in and out or move vertically up and down, but the viewpoint is otherwise fixed by the requirements of the animation.

If you wish to animate an existing component you may have to explode it and then remake it, because you do not seem to be able to add the Face Me property to an existing component..only on creation...I may be wrong.

mind_that_car.skp

Quoting alan fraser:

If you wish to animate an existing component you may have to explode it and then remake it, because you do not seem to be able to add the Face Me property to an existing component..only on creation...I may be wrong.

Thanks Alan,

just to say: You can add "face me" property to an existing component. Just right click and select "Entity Info", there, on the "Definition" tab, you can find the "Always face the camera" option. You may need to reveal it by pressing the upper-right arrow in the Edit Info dialog if it is in the hidden mode. You must have forgotten that.

Cheers

The second example using Face Me has the car apparently driving straight down a road. Actually it isn't...if you look carefully you will see it wander towards the middle of the road then back again. It's actually following a very shallow curve. If you click on this car you will see that the axes are a VERY long way off...far enough to give the shallow curve necessary.

Getting your position right for a Face Me animation can be quite tricky but you do usually only need 2 pages and just the one instance of the component, so can be a much smaller file if the components are complicated ones such as a vehicle.

In contrast to the Pages animation, where the transitions are set to zero, you need to set a transition time that will create a realistic movement.

follow_that_car.skp

Hej Alan Thanks for your great tutorial, in some way I will try it in the vizualization of my architectural works.

Med bästa hälsningar

olle bergman

architect SAR/MSA

hi. thanx for ur help . but i have a question.

[regarding page animation.skp] we should copy the first cube and then past for each position?

we should make 12 layers first and then pages? or layers and pages together?

hi Alan

i really sorry that i have too much questions. i really confiues, because i try but i can't make it.

i wanna explain the way that i do, plese tell me my mistake.

first i make the cubes. then tourguide on an make them 0. then layers. and finally pages? is it the way? or i'm wrong.

Yes, you just make the one cube then clone it. I simply made one then did a circular array to make the circle. Then you put each one on its own layer. Then you arrange things how you want them to be for page 1...by hiding all but Layer 1 and Layer 0...and make your first page. Then hide layer 1 and unhide layer 2 and make Page 2...and so on.

It would be a bad idea to make the layers and pages together. You will get into a terrible mess and it will take quite some time to edit and then update every page. Get the first one right...then all the others are easy.

than u i wii try

i wanna know when i i wanna make the pages befor that i should select the object it dosen't need.

plese lookk at this and tell me waht should i do to make it animate?

animate.skp

Maryam,

I'm sorry, but I really can't make the process any clearer without simply repeating what I have already written. Follow the instructions EXACTLY...for instance I don't mention anything about making layers and pages at the same time, but I DO state quite clearly that you need to put each instance on its own layer...which you haven't done...they are all still on Layer 0.

Study the model carefully to see the relationship between which part of the animation is showing....on which page....with which layer visible.

animate2.skp

thanx alan. thanx alot for ur help. i'm doing my best to learn the way that u said, but unfortunatley i couldn't say exatly what my question is. i wanna know during the proccess do we need select the specific cubs or not? did u select the cubs in making each layer?or not?

I'm not sure I understand what you mean. That seems to be more a basic question about moving objects from one layer to another (which is covered by the Help files), not about animation. Naturally you have to select an object when moving it from one layer to another....how else are you going to do it?

Having taken quite some considerable time to produce the examples, I was kind of hoping that this thread might be useful for several years to come...especially if some of the others guys pitch in with examples of their own. Could I ask you, please, not to bung this thread up any further with basic questions, but ask them on one of the MANY threads you have started on this issue within the last 24 hours.

Quoting alan fraser:

...

If you wish to animate an existing component you may have to explode it and then remake it, because you do not seem to be able to add the Face Me property to an existing component..only on creation...I may be wrong.

Thanks Alan,

just to say: You can add "face me" property to an existing component. Just right click and select "Entity Info", there, on the "Definition" tab, you can find the "Always face the camera" option. You may need to reveal it by pressing the upper-right arrow in the Edit Info dialog if it is in the hidden mode. You must have forgotten that.

Cheers

Cheers Farukahmet, :O) I figured it would probably be there if you dug deep enough.

Maryam, SU is not an object animation program. While it is possible to do it, by using the tricks above, this style of animation is not what SU is primarily built for. If you are looking just to animate objects, there are plenty of other programs out there for it.

If you want to continue trying it in SU, then I'd suggest giving it up for now until you get a basic understanding of how to use SU first. Watch the video tutorials, then try out modeling on your own. Once you get the hang of doing the basics - drawing, modeling, creating pages, creating and managing layers, creating and managing groups/components, using the Outliner - then you'll more easily understand the trick Alan has posted above.

Of course, you can learn all of those things above, then start modeling the objects you want to animate, and export them to a program that has better control over animating objects.

Otherwise, you are just going to get frustrated and confused, and keep posting thread after thread on how to do something more advanced when you haven't understood the basics yet.

Take a breath, slow down. The program is really easy to get the hang of.

Hej Alan

I would like to thank you for the excelent tips about animation. Just been playing around with it, and attached are my first litle work, its not architecture, just fun.

Thanks Alan and thanks SketchUp

mvh

/olle

animation-play-1.skp

That police chopper should be following that red car! Did you see how fast it was going!

Fun project Olle!

These were fun to watch. Great job and thanks for sharing. Being that it's April Fools day, allow me to be a smart alec:

First, I watched Alan's first animation and I figured the 'martini lady' must have been driving after having a few too many!

Then I saw Olle's animation--Curiously, in the page called "Pay" the silver car pulls up to a woman in a white miniskirt....What exactly is the guy in the silver car paying for, anyway? Did you take one animated page out or did I miss something?

OK seriously these were great. thanks again for sharing.

Wow, Olle. Den där er sant framstående.

Hej Alan

Tack så mycket!

Besides your very good tips and all your works, it´s seem that you also handle the nordic language.

/olle

Alan's Swedish is truly outstanding ;-)

Anssi

How can i get the window to slide

thanks

ram

Hej Agrazdi

About door animation, I found some useful tips by Burkhard "SchiebetuerAnleitung"

Door Animation

Vielen Dank Burkhard für die schöne trix.

mvh

/olle

Jeg snakker bare litt norsk. ;O)

http://www.translation-guide.com/free_online_translators.php?from=English&to=Swedish

Great primer on animation. Thanks. A couple questions, however;

1.Is there a way to set the Page Delay faster then 0, but slower than 1? Things just fly too fast at 0. Or can pages be added between with no change that just "Stall" for a moment?

Hej Bstott

About Page Delay, there are som pages added between, just to "stall" for a moment in my posted file.

If I hawe a presentation as an architect I don´t need that, but its very useful in the use as a slideshow

mvh

/olle

Thanks Olle. I figured there was some way around it.

Bill

Thank you Alan, very helpful.

It takes a lot of the 'mystery' out.....

Vasthi

Thanks a lot Alan. A great quick tutorial!