Dynamic Text display

davethomaspilot · 19 Nov 2021, 14:58

Wow, I gotta say Animator looks awesome!

Just starting with it and have a quick question.

When I've done animations without the plug-in, I usually want a different set of text labels displayed for each scene. Maybe "brain dead", but I do this by having a unique layer for each scene. Then I make the layer visible that has the text I want to show for that scene.

Is there a better way to do this with the Animator plug-in? I see where the layer visibility can be turned on and off, but I think I'll still need lots of layers just for the different sets of labels I want to become visible.

Can object visibility (hidden or not) be captured somehow like layer visibility?

Also, can you provide a URL for a donation? I see it when I download the plug-in, but I always want to install and try it out before donating. Animator DEMANDS a donation!

fredo6 · 19 Nov 2021, 17:32

Animator offers the possibility to hide / show layers at will. You have also the Apparition movement to make things appear and disappear progressively (it is based on sections).

However, if this is to play an animation of existing scenes already prepared, It would be simpler to use the native Animation feature of Sketchup.

Animator is free currently, and you do not need to donate before you have use it and have got an experience to appreciate it or not. There is a donation menu in the Animator menu.

davethomaspilot · 19 Nov 2021, 22:45

When I said "DEMANDS A DONATION!", I meant that it is so good that I'd feel too guilty to not make a donation. Sorry, I see how that could be misinterpreted that the plugin could not be used unless a donation was made.

Where can I learn more about apparations?

davethomaspilot · 19 Nov 2021, 23:19

Ok, found what I need to know for apparations.

So, I knew having a unique layer for each set of texts that should be displayed will work with animator. I just thought there might be a better way.

I do want to move objects, like an exploded view. Except I need to move objects along specified paths, not exploding from a central point.

I want to do an animation of how to assemble multiple pieces of an enclosure, with text at each step. So, I will have a separate layer that I unhide for each step, unless there's a better way.

Thanks!