ASCENT Blog

Animating with ShowMotion in AutoCAD Architecture 2012

By Lisa Kemp

Sometimes when working in the AutoCAD^® Architecture software I need to create animations to show a client how a building would look if they were moving around it. To do this I use ShowMotion, which enables me to capture movement and transitions between saved views, using an animation.

 

To create the animation, I need to create a series of shots and views that display the model at all of the required zoom levels and angles. I start ShowMotion by clicking the ShowMotion button in the Navigation Bar. The ShowMotion panel opens, displaying the available categories and shots in a series of thumbnails and a toolbar containing the ShowMotion commands. The view categories are displayed in the larger thumbnails, above the toolbar. When I hover the cursor over a view category, its associated views are displayed above it in small thumbnails. If I hover over a view it gets larger and the view category gets smaller.

To create a ShowMotion shot, I use preset or custom views, zoom, orbit, and visual styles to adjust the display of the model to the required view. Then I click the New Shot button in the ShowMotion panel to open the New View/Shot Properties dialog box. The new shot is then given a View name, View category, and View type as needed.

 
Then the Transition type and Transition duration are set in the New View/Shot Properties dialog box.

 
Then the Movement type, Duration, and Distance are set in the New View/Shot Properties dialog box.

 
Once all of the options have been selected in the New View/Shot Properties dialog box, I click the Preview button to test the animation. If it does not need to be modified, I click the OK button to close the dialog box and create the shot. If I’m creating a series of shots that would run in sequence, I’d use the same view category when creating the views. Then, when creating each shot, I’d start it at the end of the previous shot to create the sequence.

To play a ShowMotion animation, I hover the cursor over a view category and click the Play button.

 
If I need to edit an existing shot, I hover the cursor over it, right-click and select Properties. Then I modify the settings as needed and resave the shot. When I want to edit the order in which the shots are played, I right-click on a shot and select Move Left or Move Right.

Once I’ve created the ShowMotion animation, I can show it to the client in the office using the AutoCAD Architecture software or send it to them in DWG or DXF format so they can view it using the DWG TrueView™ software. This is also useful when you are learning to use the AutoCAD Architecture software, as it enables students to create animations that show how users will interact with their buildings. This can help them understand how their building is going to work and how they can communicate that information with their clients.

Creativity Using CAD part 2 - Array of Sunshine

By Elvis R. Sverko

 

A few weeks ago, I posted part 1 of Creativity Using CAD and talked about being innovative when creating models in CAD. Today, we’ll expand on that notion.

CAD can be an engineering tool as much as an artistic display. And when I say that it can be both, I mean that it is both at the same time. It can be used by engineers, architects, or other designers to do design work. But at the same time, when they use CAD, the models (or drawings) need to be presented in a way so that others can understand it, and maybe even appreciate it as if it were a piece of art (ie, when presenting the design to potential clients).

CAD is both very exacting and artistic. Just like math is both. And just like math, it is ‘very hard creative work’ according to Paul Lockhart ( “A Mathematician’s Lament” , Mathematical Association of America). Lockhart also adds that in order to excel and enjoy math, you need to ‘amuse yourself with your imagination’, and at times be ‘creatively frustrated’. That sounds just like CAD to me.

When being frustrated with CAD, is usually when you need to be creative with CAD. Take for instance when using AutoCAD and you are trying to evenly distribute objects along a path. If you’re not an AutoCAD expert, before AutoCAD 2012, you probably tried to use some math formulas to figure out locations and orientations of these arrayed objects. (Or you just guessed, which I hope you didn’t.)

But even if you were well versed in AutoCAD, if may take your imagination to realize which tools to use to accomplish this task. You first needed to create a block (if you didn’t have one already) that you wanted to array along the path, which you also had to create. Next, using the MEASURE tool, you selected the object representing the path. After you select this object, at the ‘Specify length of segment’ command, you type “B” for block and press Enter. You next enter the name of the block you wish to array along the path. Next, you have the option to align the block with the object. And finally, after entering the length of segment (ie, the distance between each block object along the path), the arrayed path is populated. Each object along the path is an individual object, and not associated. If any changes were needed, you had to delete them all and start over.

Users had a need, and used their creativity to make it happen. But let the sun shine now. Autodesk saw the need, and with AutoCAD 2012, they got creative and added the Path Array command! Now you can easily create associative arrays along a path, and modify them via the Array contextual tab, which allows you to modify the number of items along the path, the distance between them, the base point, and various other options to edit individual items in the array.

So, continue to use your imagination and creativity when you feel frustrated that there isn’t a simple solution to your task at hand. The days will get brighter. And the makers of the CAD software you use are listening and responding.

“You can’t use up creativity. The more you use, the more you have.” – Maya Angelou