# NVIZ Reference Manual

CONTENTS

## Keyframe Animation Panel

The Keyframe Animation panel lets you create complex animations where you need precise camera control. Each keyframe that you set has nine channels, and each channel represents a part of the current view. For example, the Field of View (FOV) is a separate channel in each keyframe.

### OPTIONS

(Reverse Play)
  Plays the animation backwards.
(Reverse)
  Moves backward through the animation one frame at a time.
(Stop)
  Stops the animation.
(Forward)
  Moves forward through the animation one frame at a time.
(Play)
  Plays the animation.
Framerate
  Sets the framerate (frames per second) for the animation.
Keyframe Attributes
  The Keyframe Attributes scrollbar on the left moves through the nine channels of each keyframe. The bottom scrollbar moves through the user defined keyframes. A thick vertical blue line marks the current position (frame) in the animation. The key time appears below this line in black. A light blue rectangle indicates selected channels for each keyframe. The key time for each keyframe appears below in light blue.
  To change the current position (frame) in the animation, click or click and drag in the channels area. To change the position (time) of the selected keyframe, click and drag the key time. To select a keyframe(s) for deletion, middle-click the key time.
  Channels
    Each keyframe has nine channels that you can either turn on or off. The default for all channels is on. You need to set your channel options before adding a keyframe.
    FromX
      Records the X coordinate of the camera (if selected).
    FromY
      Records the Y coordinate of the camera (if selected).
    FromZ
      Records the Z coordinate of the camera (if selected).
    DirX
      Records the X coordinate of the center of view (if selected).
    DirY
      Records the Y coordinate of the center of view (if selected).
    DirZ
      Records the Z coordinate of the center of view (if selected).
    FOV
      Records the Field of View (if selected).
    TWIST
      Records the twist of the camera (if selected).
    cplane-0
      Records the current position of the cutting plane (if selected).
Add
  Adds a key frame at the current key time. The New Key Time automatically increments by 1 minute after each keyframe is added.
Delete
  Deletes all selected keyframes from the animation. You select keyframes from the Keyframe Attributes by middle-clicking on the key time. Deleted keyframes are not recoverable.
New Key Time
  Allows you to set a new key time. You enter key times as minutes, seconds, and frame number. Each time you add a keyframe, the key time automatically increments by 1 minute. To calculate the length of the animation (in frames), use this formula (minutes*60 + seconds)*frame rate + frame number.
Show
  Use the next three options to annotate the animation.
  Path
    Shows the path that the animation follows between key frames (if selected). This is useful for adjusting the tension if using a spline interpolation.
  Vect
    Draws all loaded vector files in the animation (if selected).
  Sites
    Draws all loaded sites files in the animation (if selected).
Interp.
  Sets the interpolation used between key frames.
  Linear
    Uses a linear interpolation between key frames.
  Spline
    Uses a spline interpolation between key frames at the selected tension.
  Tension
    Sets the tension of the spline interpolation.
File
  Save
    Saves the keyframes attributes to a user defined file.
  Load
    Loads a previously saved keyframe animation file.
Run and Save
  Runs the animation and saves each frame as an image. You must supply a file name prefix, frame start number, image type, and draw type. The image file name includes the file prefix, frame number and image type. For example, frame number 12 with a file prefix of FLY saved as a PPM would be named FLY0012.ppm. You can choose to render the animation off-screen (in memory). To render off-screen, you need to minimize the NVIZ viewer.
Close
  Closes the KeyFrame Animation panel.