Original Article Date: April 12, 2001
The second article in a series about animating in MicroStation V7, this tutorial uses the knowledge you learned in Animation in V7 Part 1 - Getting Started and walks you through the process of combining scripts. Note: The contents of this article is based upon MicroStation /J.
I'd like to thank Sean Forward for sharing his expert knowledge so that this article could be written! Way to go mate!This tute uses the knowledge you learned in Part 1 and explores an alternate method of animating the jet. In a nutshell, we're going to create two scripts:
To create the finished product, we'll combine the two scripts together and watch as the jet "spins-out" on your screen!To get started, download 66_Animate2.dgn and 66_Jet2.dgn. These files are the same as before with the exception of the 'centerline' which has been copied from 66_jet2.dgn into 66_animate2.dgn. This element will be used to define the path of movement for the jet.Go into animate2.dgn and open the Animation Producer (Utilities > Render > Animation) and the Animation Tool Frame (Tools > Visualization Tools > Animation Tools). You may also want to tear off the Animation Actors tool box at this time. Using the first tutorial as a guide, define the jet as an actor, we're now ready to move it along the centerline or path.From the Animation Actors tool box, select Define Actor Path and double click on the name of the actor.
The prompt will read "Identify Path - Define Path End" so simply select the end of the existing centerline. That is, end that's furthest away from the actor. You will then need to accept the path and the tool will respond by opening the following dialog:
Enter a value of 50 for the End Frame and adjust the Velocity as you wish. (The velocity settings defines the speed at which the actor will move along the selected path.) Click the OK button and notice that Animation Procuder displays the entry with the Type being a Path. (In the first lesson, when we defined the movement of the jet with the Script Actor tool, the type was set to Actor.)
Before continuing, you may want to test the script by clicking the >> button. If the animation appears correct, go ahead and save it by selecting File > Save Script As... and entering the name MOVE. You can now clear the script via File > Clear Script and move on to creating the second script.Using the knowledge you learned in the first tutorial, create a new script which tells the jet to rotate 10 degrees per frame. This can be done by entering 10*frame in the Y Rotation field of the Script Actor dialog. Save and name this script ROTATE.
The last step is to combine the two scripts together!Ensure that ROTATE is the current script in the Animation Producer. Select File > Include Script > MOVE.MSA and test by clicking the run button. That's really all there is too it! All you need to do now is save the final script to SPINOUT.msa and record your movie.
This method animation can be applied very easily in most situations. Take a peek at the animation Sean applied to this truck . It's made up of five separate actors that when combined together create a rather good effect.Similarily, Sean's jet movie is excellent! In this case he spliced together the animation created in MicroStation with a photograph of the night sky.For more information on how Sean did this, just drop him a line at: forwardthinking@optusnet.com.au He'd love to hear from you!AskInga Article #66