Use configurations in Animator??

[tmalinski]

I have an assembly of a clamping fixture with 6 moving parts. I would like to see this in action as an animation. I created 2 configurations for each of the moving parts, one with parts open and one with parts closed. However, these moving parts must open and close sequentially in a specific order. Can I use animator to create an animation showing the correct sequence of moving parts using these configurations? Or is there a better way?

I tried dragging them using limit mates but several seem to drift on their own as I drag just one.

thanks
Tom


Tom Malinski
Sr Design Engineer
OKay Industries
New Britain CT

 

[MFDO]

Use Design Table to define intermediate positions.
Use Animator’s Screen Capture and click each configuration accordingly to capture the animation.

 

[smcadman]

Read the following thread because it might help you:

Running all the configurations with a macro

http://www.eng-tips.com/viewthread.cfm?qid=156192&page=1

SW07 SP2.0

Flores

 

[tmalinski]

smcadman, I followed the directions with the link and created a screen capture and AVI file, but when I run the AVI it's done in a blink of an eye. Although the macro that iterates the configurations runs very slow with a .01 pause time.

I tried speeding up the macro pause time but changes to the .01 value only made it slower. But the Screen capture still speeds through it in a fraction of a second.

Any thoughts??

Tom Malinski
Sr Design Engineer
OKay Industries
New Britain CT

 

[Theophilus]

Do you need continuous motion for your parts? How many frames/second do you need to adequately display the animation for your "audience"? (A nice frame rate is 30 frames/second, and as low as 24 fps. Less, and the animation will begin to look quite choppy.)

I tried doing this by using various configurations, but could never find a way to make things look right--or to properly control transitions from one config to another. So most of the time, I create a new assembly with the sole purpose of animation--that requires duplicated parts, quick hiding/showing of parts, and other tricks that would not be necessary within a "design" assembly. However, the payoff is a great animation with excellent controls over time/speed in the animation.



Jeff Mowry

http://www.industrialdesignhaus.com

Reason trumps all. And awe transcends reason.

 

[tmalinski]

I would like continuous motion, because this AVI is likely to be used for presentations as well as a usage guide for operators.
If I changed my coincident and distance mates to limit mates, I could drag each of them to position in the propper sequence within animator. However, some of them have a mind of their own when doin this and I can't control the unwanted movement of nearby components when I drag onother one.
I don't want to cry about this, but why is this so dificult? SW gives us a screen capture utility, an animator, and other motion controls! What I need seems pretty basic but I can not do it easily?
1) create configurations of working positions of assembly components
2) animate those positions with smooth transitions to demenstrate a working assembly
sorry for the rant...

In MFDO's reply he suggested a design table with intermediate positions. Would this be a design table that drives several configurations using distance mates? for example, to move .125" I would make 10 distance mates varying the distance equally to make up .125? then do the same for the next one? etc...then use the screen capture utility with the configuration iteration macro?

tom


Tom Malinski
Sr Design Engineer
OKay Industries
New Britain CT

 

[Theophilus]

Can you post a screen capture of the things you need to move (see FAQs on this)? I've run into the same frustrations, but found ways to get the results I needed with work-around solutions--particularly in constraining more complex ranges of motion with my limit-mate components. There are some things we can do to get creative with this stuff--constraining certain ranges of motion without stopping what you need to move.

Typical things I've found is moving something while it needs to pivot--cannot do this in a straightforward manner in Animator. (Example would be turning a caster on a cart while rolling on the floor--cannot control this in Animator without some hacks--but with the right methods, this can be controlled--hence the special assembly for the purpose of animation.) I can help as time allows with more detail on what you specifically need (pictures or description of what's going on).

One thing I never accomplished was realistic movement of chain with respect to gravity--I think I'd need to get into animating with Animator and Cosmos to really manage that well.



Jeff Mowry

http://www.industrialdesignhaus.com

Reason trumps all. And awe transcends reason.

 

[tmalinski]

Here are 6 assembly screen shots. they are in the order that the fixture works
0 fixture full open
1 front clamp closed
2 top slide extended
3 top clamp closed
4 back clamp closed
5 center slide retracted

most of these are simple in and out, but the top slide and top clamp work together, as well as the center slide and all the upper and lower links connected to them

This is probably a bit much for you to spend time on, but any thought on how I can animate these are appreciated.

[URL=http://server5.pictiger.com/img/789322/other/01-front-clamp-closed.php] [URL=http://server5.pictiger.com/img/789323/other/02-top-slide-extended.php] [URL=http://server5.pictiger.com/img/789324/other/03-top-clamp-closed.php][URL=http://server5.pictiger.com/img/789325/other/04-back-clamp-closed.php][URL=http://server5.pictiger.com/img/789326/other/05-blades-closed-slide-retracted.php]

[URL=http://www.pictiger.com]Picture Gallery with PicTiger

Tom Malinski
Sr Design Engineer
OKay Industries
New Britain CT

 

[Theophilus]

After just a quick look, I'd recommend clustering moving masses into their own sub-assemblies. (This probably means redoing your assembly, but it will probably be quicker than trying to make your "working" design assembly do what you need for animation.)

So your clustered sub-assemblies will work as parts.

Each axis of movement will require its own subassembly, constrained with a limit mate to keep things from moving around. Once you've moved a part along its axis of movement, quickly show the next part (starting in the same place your first part finished) and quickly hide the first part. The effect will not show up in the animation, since you show the next part before the first part is hidden. But this allows you to change motion axes without trouble in the animation--only the part you specify to move will move, and it's constrained with the limit mate.

Do this wherever the change of motion axis is required, and, judging by the snapshots you posted, everything will work out perfectly. It looks like your ranges of motion can be broken into simple linear or rotational steps, so I think you'll be able to make this fly with no problems.



Jeff Mowry

http://www.industrialdesignhaus.com

Reason trumps all. And awe transcends reason.

 

[tmalinski]

thanks Jeff, I think I understand. I'll give it a go.
I guess I should do a pack and go and then modify and create new subassemblies just for the animation. Or, I could also eliminate all the other mates to non moving parts by creating step or parasolid files and combining the bodies into one prior to mating the components for animation. I'd rather not add a bunch of stuff to my actual job folder...
again, thanks for your help
Tom

Tom Malinski
Sr Design Engineer
OKay Industries
New Britain CT

 

[Theophilus]

Definitely--sounds like a good approach. I don't mix the animation stuff with the working stuff, but save it into a different directory. Use whatever method is simplest to get your subassemblies and new part files--exporting to parasolid might be a good way to go on this one.

Good luck in getting the final animation. I render mine through PhotoWorks when I need realism, but that takes a long time at 24-30 fps. Otherwise, saving to an AVI file as a sort of screen capture (non-rendered) shouldn't take too long at that fps rate, judging by the steps you need.

To keep things straight, I often name my similar subassemblies differently and write out a quick step-by-step action list--sort of like a verbal story-board sequence--just to keep things straight with all the hide/show stuff. That way you can figure out what needs to happen and the times they need to happen independent from working the actual Animator interface to set up your animation. (Very helpful in complicated animations--just follow your script.)

Also, I usually save the AVI with no compression applied to the frames. That way you don't get degradation in your images from the compression method. The output can create a huge file (~1GB or so for ~45 seconds at 600 x 480), but you can always use Windows Movie Maker (built in to XP) to trunk down or compress your final file or change formats to what you really need when finishing. (You can always decrease clarity in your AVI, but cannot add it once compressed.)



Jeff Mowry

http://www.industrialdesignhaus.com

Reason trumps all. And awe transcends reason.