To add interactivity to the presentations, I create keyframe animations within Autodesk® Showcase® 2013. For example, adding an animation to open and close a door in a building. The keyframe timeline is used to set various keyframes for each applied transform (move, rotate, or scale) and then the software automatically adds interpolation between those keyframes.
Before setting the keyframes for animation, I figure out where the Center of Interest (pivot point) of the object is located. Based on how I want the movement or rotation to occur on the object, I move the Center of Interest to the desired location. For example, the door needs to be rotated along its edge and not along its center. After selecting the object, I press <H> to display its Transform handles and then press <Insert> to change the transform handles to the pivot point handles. I then click on the desired location to place the center of interest and press <Insert> again to return to the Transform handles.
Center of Interest in the center Center of Interest moved to the edge
Once I place the Center of Interest, I open the Keyframe timeline by clicking
>Keyframe Animation in the Behaviors interface. This opens the Keyframe dialog box and also a Keyframe swatch is added in the Behaviors interface. In the Keyframe dialog box, use the timeline to set the different movements and positions of the selected objects as keyframes at different intervals. I usually save the default position of the selected objects as the first keyframe in the timeline.
Using the transform handles, in the viewport, I add a transform to the objects (e.g. rotate the door) and then save this position as a keyframe. In the Keyframe dialog box, click
to add a new keyframe in the timeline. I drag and move this new keyframe to the required location on the timeline. Alternatively, you can also enter a specific time interval in the Keyframe time edit box. The interpolation between the first and the newly added keyframe is automatically created by the software.
Add a transform to the objects
New keyframe for the transformed position
I then add other transforms to the selected objects and save those subsequent positions as corresponding keyframes in the timeline.
Finally, once all the keyframes are set, I play the animation using the playback controls that can be opened by clicking
in the Keyframe dialog box. I use the regular playback controls such as,
to play the animation and
to stop the animation. Other controls such as move to the start and move to the end of the animation can also be used.
While playing the animation, notice the movement of the gray bar over the timeline indicating the present position of the animation and also notice the corresponding movement of the animated objects in the viewport. I use the Loop Play Mode in the Keyframe dialog box, to play the animation continuously in a non-stop mode. This helps me in checking the transition of the animation from the end position to the start position and then I can modify or add more keyframes to make the transition smooth.
While presenting the animation, I generally close the Keyframe dialog box and also the Playback controls, but leave the animation playing in Loop mode. You can press <Esc> anytime to stop the animation. The playback controls can be opened again by right-clicking the keyframe swatch in the Bahavior interface and selecting KeyframeAnimation Controls.
Have fun creating animations and showcasing your presentations.
