Scene animation with Animator

Rich O Brien

@ntxdave said in Scene animation with Animator:

some of the issues I am having are more related to some things I am doing in native SketchUp

That maybe true. You just need to persevere. I would hold the belief you need a good foundation on using SketchUp to really getting the most from Animator.

If you knowledge level in SketchUp is low that is easy fix. Model, model and model.

ntxdave

@Rich-O-Brien said in Scene animation with Animator:

@ntxdave said in Scene animation with Animator:

If you knowledge level in SketchUp is low that is easy fix. Model, model and model.

OK, I think I am learning and I keep working on learning more things. Now back to this subject. I am sharing the animator animation that has led me to all of this. This is the model that inspired me to get more involved with Animator. I hope you see it as a step forward. I know it is pretty basic but it where I want to start. Now I want to see if I can figure out a way to add two text scenes. One at the beginning that gives some insight to what the model/animation is all about and the second text scene will be to give some information about the model/animation.

Here is the file for you to download/view to get some insight about where I am headed.

Learning Animator Animation.skp

Yes, I know I could have saved the movements as a clip but did not do it yet. I also thought there should have been an animator file but did not see it to download.

ntxdave

OK, as part of my “learning” experience, I have been trying to figure out a way to add a new scene that would have the “introduction” or “conclusion” text (and possibly some other things to animate) and cannot get things to work. In the file i shared/posted before the items that are animated were created in a front scene scene. I tried putting way far away on a front view and the new stuff (again way far away) in a top view. I also used tags/layers for each of them so that you should only see what is visible tied to the scene (hope this makes sense) but when I try to transition to the new scene you see the stuff that is supposed to be hidden. I have tried bit of the camera options (current view and scene view) and the results are pretty much the same. When you go from one view/scene to the other you see the stuff that is supposed to be hidden (although from the new view).

I hope this explanation makes sense and someone can give me a way to solve this, if there really is a way to resolve it. I have tried bit of “many” ways to figure this out.

fredo6

Again, text drawing would be better managed in a video editor rather than Animator.

If your text is a solid, just treat it like that. Insert Movement (Move, Rotation) in the timeline. Use special effect Visibility to make it appear and disappear (via its tag).

Cameras are independent from object movements.

ntxdave

@fredo6 said in Scene animation with Animator:

Again, text drawing would be better managed in a video editor rather than Animator.

That is what I have been thinking but I have not found software to use. I was thinking I might have some text or other objects I might want to animate as part of the “introduction” or “conclusion” though.

If your text is a solid, just treat it like that. Insert Movement (Move, Rotation) in the timeline. Use special effect Visibility to make it appear and disappear (via its tag).

That is what I have been trying.

Cameras are independent from object movements.

Yes, I understand. However, what I was trying to achieve (or would like to) is to get basically the same result as if when you are looking at your model and clicking on each scene tab but with animations added.

Again, hope that clarifies what I was trying to achieve.

ntxdave

BTW: Just curious if anyone looked at the file I posted before and has any suggestions.

ntxdave

Hope someone can tell me what I am doing wrong.

SketchUp file I used for the movie:
Camera and Animations.skp

Here is the movie that was produced by Animator. Camera and Animations.mp4

So if you download the SketchUp file and then click on each of the scene tabs and compare that to what was generated by Animator, I have the following comments/questions:

On each of the scenes, there should be text that tells which scene you are viewing.
On each of the scenes, there should be an object (one that I wanted to add a motion to later)
The text on each of the scenes is controlled by a tag/layer which Animator seems to be ignoring.
The object (that I wanted to animate) on each of the scenes is also controlled by a tag/layer which Animator seems to be ignoring
I used the tag/layer visibility controller for all of the movie. However, I have to admit that I added that feature as the last item. Should I have done that before taking the pictures?
You will notice that for each of the scenes I used the camera option to use the scene. I have also tried doing the whole thing with the current view option for capturing the camera. But I got the same results when trying that way.

Again, am I doing something wrong?

What I would like for Animator to do is give me the same results as if you click on the scene tabs one at a time and the transition in Animator would be the same as it happens in native SketchUp. @fredo6 is that possible? If so, this would give me (I think) the capability I have been trying to achieve.

ntxdave

OK, after some more “learning” and trying to understand, I think I have figured out what is going on and wonder if there is a way to resolve it.

I started the model in the example by creating a 3D box. I then added a color to each of the faces. The I started adding text and other objects as parts of scenes. If you look at it, I added the “face” name to the front, right, left and back of the 3D box. So, as an example, I created a scene named “Front” using the front face of the 3D box. I then added other items and assigned a tag/layer to the text and other objects. I then used this same approach for the other views.

Now when I add a camera in Animator, I used the name of the scene and all seemed to go well until I try move through the “scenes” itfinallt dawned on me is that when I go from one scene to another it is (I think) using the face side of the 3D box to control what is being shown. As an example, when it goes from, say front, to right, it is using the SketchUp camera setting to navigate between the scenes. Thus it rotates the 3D box to the camera view that I used to create the scene but no applying the tag/layer setting the matches the scene settings.

I hope this description makes sense. In other words, IMO, the script is using the SketchUp face view orientation instead of the scene settings. Again, I hope this makes sense.

ntxdave

OK, I think I am making some progress/learning. Here is my latest video. Visibility Test.mp4

I realize this is not very complicated but during the development process, I think I have learned some new things about how to do some things. Now I want to try to combine this with something in another scene so that I can have two scenes in a model that combines capabilities like this. At the rate I am going/earning though, this will probably not happen for a couple of days.

Rich O Brien

@ntxdave said in Scene animation with Animator:

this will probably not happen for a couple of days

But what you learn is permanent. That is why I advocate for people to stay the course and troubleshoot themselves.

Plus you get a dopamine hit every time you figure stuff out. Getting spoon fed answers has the opposite effect.

ntxdave

@Rich-O-Brien said in Scene animation with Animator:

@ntxdave said in Scene animation with Animator:

this will probably not happen for a couple of days

But what you learn is permanent. That is why I advocate for people to stay the course and troubleshoot themselves.

Plus you get a dopamine hit every time you figure stuff out. Getting spoon fed answers has the opposite effect.

Thanks @rich-o-brien Don’t give up on me

I am going to figure this stuff out. I think from what I learned today (by first looking at an old video and file that I did a few years ago) and the applying some of the same things (primarily the visibility feature). When I get back to this, I want to try the following:

Save what I have done so far as a clip
Create a second scene that has some similar features as the existing one (visibility and animation)
Possibily, but maybe not right away, camera positioning.

Again, thanks for the response and if I have offended @fredo6 in any way i apologize. I am going to figure this stuff out and learn how to take full advantage of the features/capabilities of Animator. IMO it is a great tool that has a lot of power that I hope I can use for some things I would like to and, hopefully, help others see.