Scenes and animations
The Scenes and Animations palette allows us to create the Views, Scenes, Schedule Scenes and Animations.
The View saves information only about the current camera position (viewpoint).
The Scene saves additional information about the element’s visibility, transparency, color, render type and camera position.
The Schedule scene saves the same information as the regular scene. Still, it will also present information about executed elements, for the selected date, from the previously created schedule animation and their color taken from the coloring system defined in the chosen schedule.
On the left side of the palette’s window is a list of all the created views, scenes and animations. When we select any view, scene or animation from the list, we’ll see a preview of the 3D BIM model on the right side of the palette. We can organize a list of views, scenes and animations in proper folders. The folder structure could be created as we want or imported from another version of a certain Bexel Manager Project.
Creating a viewpoint
Select the Scenes and Animations palette → Click on the arrow next to the New button and select the View… command → The Add Animation Viewpoint window opens → Define the view name in the Name section and description if needed → Finish the procedure by clicking the OK button
A list of existing views is shown on the left side of the palette. A 3D model appears on the right side of the palette. By double-clicking on desired View, the 3D model elements appear in the main 3D viewport with the same viewpoint the selected View has.
Creating a scene
Select the Scenes and Animations tab → Click on the arrow next to the New button and select the Scene… command → The Add Animation Scene window opens → Define the scene name in the Name section and description if needed → Finish the procedure by clicking the OK button
Creating a schedule scene
Select the Schedule Editor tab and choose the desired schedule → Activate the Schedule view → Go to the Schedule Animation tab and click on the Update Animation button → Play the animation until the desired date, or choose a specific date from the calendar → Go to the Scenes and Animations tab → Click on the arrow next to the New button and select the Schedule Scene… command → The Add Animation Scene window opens → Define the scene name in the Name section and description if needed → Finish the procedure by clicking the OK button
If we change the color of some elements after the creation of the View and before creating the Scene, when we open the scene by double click on it, the 3D model in the main viewport and in the palette’s window will look the same, with the changed color of elements. When we open the created View, the palette’s window displays the original look of the elements, where the color changes are not saved. The main 3D viewport shows the model from the same angle as in the View, but the color of elements stays changed because the View saves only the camera position. The scene saves and displays all the changes in the main 3D viewport.
In the case where we make multiple scenes and where we change the appearance of certain elements, for example, the facade color, it is recommended to make the scene with the original colors first. After that, we can create the scenes with individual changes. Otherwise, we can use the Reset to Default (Selection) tool → Select the elements → In the context menu, select the Change Color command → Select the Reset to Default (Selection) option.
Creating animations
We use the Scene and Animations palette also to create animation. The left part of the palette contains a list of the views, scenes and animations. When we create a new animation, the frames list will be displayed on the right side of the palette, and initially, it will be empty. A timeline with the standard Play command is on the bottom. When creating the animation, we orbit around a 3D model or desired model elements, creating Key Frames. To create smooth animation, we should pay attention to orbit around desired elements gradually. Corners between frames should not be too large because it changes the camera path drastically. The software automatically merges the created frames into animation. The Animation is an attractive project presentation, but we can also use it for the Schedule development later.
Creating a new animation
Select the Scenes and Animations tab → Click on the arrow next to the New button and select the Animation… command → The New Animation window opens → Define the animation name in the Name section and description if needed → In the Time Information section, define the Frame Rate, Frame Count and Duration → Finish the procedure by clicking the OK button
New Animation window
- We have to specify the Name of the animation. Animation description in the Description field is not necessary to specify.
- The Frame Rate shows how many images 1 second of animation has. Frame Rate is the ratio between the Frame Count and the Duration
- The Frame Count specifies the number of frames, and the Duration parameter specifies the length of the animation. The Frame Count and the Duration parameters depend on each other. For example, an animation that lasts 60 seconds (the Duration parameter) has 1800 frames (Frame Count parameter) if Frame Rate is set to 30.
- Scale Frame Count and Scale Duration options → The Scale Frame Count is checked when we change the value of the Frame Rate parameter, and the Frame Count is adjusted. The value of the Duration parameter will not be changed. Also, if the Scale Duration is checked, the Duration parameter will be abused according to the Frame Rate parameter changes.
- Scale Frame Rate → If this option is checked, the Frame Rate will also be adjusted when we change the Frame Count or Duration.
- We check the Animate Render State option when we want to save changes of the Render State tool between individual frames. For example, the model elements are visible in frame one, and we activate the Wireframe render state option in frame two. In frame three, the elements are completely visible again. The animation with changing the model render type of frames and transition from frame to frame is smooth and nicely connected.
Create frame
Click on the arrow next to the Key Frame button → Select the New Key Frame… option → Enter the desired name in the Name field → In the Frame field, set the position of the frame in the animation timeline
Edit frame
Select the frame from the list → Right-Click → Select the Edit Key Frame(s)… option
Delete frame
Select the frame from the list → Right-Click → Select the Delete Key Frame(s) option
Update frame
Select the frame from the list → Right-Click → Click the Update Key Frame(s)… command → Choose one of three options: Camera Position, Camera Position and Render State, Render State Only
Move frame
If we move the small squares on the timeline, illustrating the frames, we change the frame’s position. If we want to change the animation speed, we change the distance between frames. The smaller the distance between two frames is, the faster the animation in this segment will be.
Copy frame
Select the frame from the list → Right-Click → In the menu, choose the Duplicate Key Frame… command
When inserting a new frame between, e.g. Frames 1 and 2, mark Frame 1 and select the Duplicate option. This way, we copied Frame 1, and the new frame is inserted between Frames 1 and 2. This new frame can be edited.
Extract key frames to viewpoints or scenes
Select the frame from the list → Right-Click → Select the Extract Key Frames to Viewpoints… or Extract Key Frames to Scenes… option
The Show Camera Path command shows the camera path in the animation with a red line.
Export animation
When we are satisfied with the animation, we can export it using the Export command. We can export the entire animation or just a specific part where we can precisely set from which frame we will export the animation. We use the Export custom frames tool to export a certain part of created animation. We can export the animation in two ways:
- As an image – JPG, PNG, BMP, and GIF format files. User must pay attention to the fact that the number of exported images will equal the values of the Frame Count parameter. With a Frame Count of 600, the animation export will contain 600 images. Using the JPG or PNG file format for this export type is recommended.
- As a video – AVI file format, also, here we can export only a certain number of frames or entire animations. We can choose different codecs that can impact video quality and video file size.
