Scene animation with Animator
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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.
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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.
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@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.
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BTW: Just curious if anyone looked at the file I posted before and has any suggestions.
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Hope someone can tell me what I am doing wrong.
SketchUp file I used for the movie:
Camera and Animations.skpHere 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:
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On each of the scenes, there should be text that tells which scene you are viewing.
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On each of the scenes, there should be an object (one that I wanted to add a motion to later)
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The text on each of the scenes is controlled by a tag/layer which Animator seems to be ignoring.
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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
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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?
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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.
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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.
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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.
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@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.
Download the free D'oh Book for SketchUp 📖
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@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 meI 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:
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Save what I have done so far as a clip
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Create a second scene that has some similar features as the existing one (visibility and animation)
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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.
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Again, more progress. As it turns out, I think the problem I was having in the past was not a problem with Animator but rather my lack of understanding of how to use the Visibility tool. Well, I think I have worked it out (still more to learn but definitely making progress). Here is my latest video that includes the use of scenes, camera positions/views, and animations in a scene. While there are some awkward movements, the bottom line is that I was able to accomplish what I was attempting to do. I was able to capture each scene and its movements into a clip. I am sharing the video to let you see that I am moving forward.
Now for a couple of final questions/comments:
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Is there some place where I can learn more about the visibility tool. In particular, when you look at the various options as I have pointed out in this image.
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I think with what I have finally learned, that my idea of an Animator video of an animated model with an introduction scene an animation scene, and a conclusion scene is completely possible.
As always, I would appreciate any comments and I really want to thank both @rich-o-brien and @fredo6 for their patience and the feedback they have given me up to this point.
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@ntxdave said in Scene animation with Animator:
Is there some place where I can learn more about the visibility tool
Not really. Just experiment. Most are default SketchUp features reimagined to be used in an animation scenario. Hover for tooltips.
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OK, will have to”mess around”.
I think Animator is a very strong tool but needs some documentation so that people would/could use it even more.
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@rich-o-brien and @fredo6 I would like to suggest that we set up a new thread category for Animator called Animator Tips and Tricks that hopefully would give Animator some more attention. If you look at the image below, I would then like to suggest that you also set up some subcategories as outlined in the image.
Hope you guys do not think I am crazy. As I learn more, I think that Animator has a lot of power, but people do not know how to take advantage of it .
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There are videos and there is already a Tip and Trick thread for Animator.
My plan is to rewrite the UI of Animator, but only once the Mac version of Sketchup is migrated to Qt and share the same code as on Windows. I will lkely use HTML dialogs to have a better positioning of the UI elements in the workspace (especially if you have multiple screens) and a more guided interface.
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@fredo6 said in Scene animation with Animator:
There are videos and there is already a Tip and Trick thread for Animator.
Yes, I know there are videos (and I have watched several) but as you can tell from this thread, there are times when I have problems finding answers about some tools. I did not find the Tip and Trick thread for Animator. Can you give me a link?
My plan is to rewrite the UI of Animator, but only once the Mac version of Sketchup is migrated to Qt and share the same code as on Windows. I will lkely use HTML dialogs to have a better positioning of the UI elements in the workspace (especially if you have multiple screens) and a more guided interface.
Looking forward to this.
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@ntxdave said in Scene animation with Animator:
Can you give me a link?
It is pinned to this suforum.
Animator Beta
General discussion about Animator for SketchUp
sketchucation (community.sketchucation.com)
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I am suddenly getting a message that my license expired on 23 Jan 2026 and I do not know how to update/get it working again. Right now I cannot use Animator.
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Are your extensions up to date?
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Yes. - according to the SketchUcation manager.
I just sent @fredo6 my email address so he can send me some license information
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OK guys, I think I have a model here that I think shows you can have something like I talked about before. Although there are some things I need to update (in particular the camera position/distance) on the Animation scene the model has 3 basic scenes. An Introduction scene (which is what I will use at the beginning of some future models), an Animation scene (which is the "main part of the model") where I will do the main features of presenting the model, and a Conclusion scene (which is where I will present some information like - in this case thank the donor of the plaques I modeled).
I hope this might at least get people to think about the wide range that Animator has and how it can be used (IMO) to present models.
Here is the "rough" model" 3 Scene Animator.skp
Once again, I appreciate any comments you might have.
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