Got some questions about Andy H's Turbocad Getting a Beer Animation. Turbocad animation getting a beer.mp4 ( search on youtube for Andy H)

At around the 12 second mark the view changes what command is used here?
At around the 13 second mark the view changes to a more front on scene what command is used here?
At around the 20 second mark the view appears to pull away somewhat, what command is used here?
At around the 25 second mark the view zooms in  what command is used here?

I m keen to learn more about how Andy does this magic and fill in the blanks.
FWIW, got the designs complete, actors set and tested on all parts.

Thanks

Daz

Five years ago I started drawing on pencil and paper ideas based on machines and concepts for the transport sector, but I lost the notepad sometime back. I just recently found the notepad in the back of my work filing cabinet, got more then 40 ideas and I've just been busy drawing ever since.

(For those that are interested here's some images from my latest project for the Transport Sector, many layers not shown)

Robotic Automated Pallet & Cardboard Handling

In the picture, the lower robotic machine has a carton clamp attached, whereas the upper robotic machine has a set of tines attached.  This robotic design can be configured to work with multiple attachments that serve to automate the loading and unloading of numerous pallet and cardboard box and  miscellaneous loads, thereby reducing the downtime for the supply chain and maximizing workplace productivity...

Daz,

    thank you for reminding us, about this excellent TurboCAD animation example. 
    I'll leave Andy, to tell you how easy it all was!

Regards Tim

Hey Tim I think what I'm after is camera commands but I was not confident that I'd get ti right hence the post to Andy.
Daz

Hey Tim I think what I'm after is camera commands but I was not confident that I'd get ti right hence the post to Andy.
Daz

    Yes, camera commands . . . probably.
    All very mysterious, at first, and potentially frustrating, but easy once you get the hang of it. 
    I have found animation with TC extremely (frustrating!) useful and rewarding, both for reward and pleasure.
    And, all at the same time!
    Unfortunately, old age and MND are getting the better of me. 
    So, it's encouraging to see some new interest, in AnimationLab.
    I'm sure it'll work for you too.

Regards Tim

Thinking about Andys video source file (tcw) it appears that it starts from the left side and extends all the way to the right and then some.
Was/is the source file large in size?
The camera appears to stay in front and off to the right just a little almost all the way through the video except when it zooms in momentarily, is that correct?
What was the compile time?

Thanks

Daz

Hi Darryl

Whilst AnimationLab has a 'mobile camera' which is basically the main TC camera moved in various ways,  personally I'm not fond of it, as one may need to mess about with 'look at' and 'up vectors'.

What I prefer to do is add a camera in design director and then add that camera as a normal actor, to control it I use two screen windows one for the camera and one I switch from plan, front etc as necessary, the camera movements in that video are simply the inserted camera actor using the slide by path or follow by path commands, what may look like zooming is just the camera moving along path closer to the object, the camera actor can also be controlled using keyframes which I do in some videos.

For an example of how I do it is walkthrough1, and walkthrough2 (these are old videos from 2015). 

Compile time is basically number of frames x length of time TC takes to render one frame,  one I'm currently playing with TC is taking 50 to 60 seconds to render one frame (working out about 22 minutes for one second of animation), so the whole movie will takes about 40 to 50 hours,  However - if TC is taking a long time to render each frame then I do it in stages, usually around 200 to 400 frames per movie, then I save-as a new file name and do another 200-400, I then join them together in a movie program,   I will sometimes do the whole thing in one go if TC is rendering the each frame fast enough like 5 to 10 seconds per frame.

Thanks Andy I did review both your videos and its clearer the methods used now.

Daz

Ok I get it now so what Im plannig is to use both anilab editors. Demo the functional aspects in the commands editor then use the keyframes editor for movement in and around objects. I need to learn a little more about the camera stuff and will keep you posted.
Thanks
Daz

In this junky animation I used a 3D helicopter to simulate movement by followbypath and slidebypath on the spline object to see the difference. Got It. When I view it its in iso-se it's clear what the diffrences are. So I then added a camera object and started to muck around with it to see if I could make the camera follow the spline and spline-2 paths, what Im not sure of is which view I should be in or if I appled the correct view at all. I did try front and iso-se views when animating but Im justr not sure if Ive applied the correct procedures. Based on your walkthrough video they are front on when you enter the house, so Im wondering if you could do the
same by using the camera in a 3D view instead?

Thanks

Daz

Daz,

    here's a simple example, of using camera commands.
    I hope this helps.

Regards Tim

Thanks Tim for the example.

Daz

Daz, Sorry for delay, Had a play with the file which didn't go to plan, as I had v2017 open so used that, then saved back as v2016, what happened - the cameras got messed up so badly TC decided not to bother with them.

So re-did some stuff in 2016, even now the cameras are a bit temperamental, but that actually has been a problem for me since TC v2015 was brought out, possibly worse as I using RedSDK without Lightworks.

Anyway,  your file - you had two camera commands,  those commands are primarily for the mobile camera as in Tim's file, although the commands become available with a normal camera, they don't work properly, so I'd avoid using them without a 'mobile camera',
 and personally I don't normally put cameras in a group, preferring to have them totally independent of any other objects.

I changed the file just a little bit, there are 3 windows, to animate one -  minimise or turn off the two not being animated, with camera 0 window, it needs animating with  AnimationLad - options - 'save frames as image files' turned on so it saved to disk,  with window camera view 1, save files can be turned off and just animated on screen (best to animate in draft with non-render turned on so you can see the path, at least that's how I did it on my computer,  the third window is for manipulating things in any standard view without affecting camera views, if you use the zoom or scroll the window in any of the camera views, it will mess things up.

To be honest, because of the camera problems I had with the file,  I've no idea it will work ok for you,

note - when looking from the cameras point of view - it looks at the cameras +Z direction,   normal camera actors do work differently to the 'mobile camera',  mobile camera - as in AmimationLab - press and hold the actor button to reveal mobile camera actor,  you can't have both mobile and normal cameras, so personal preference which one you find easiest to work with.

Andy

Andy thank you for your ideas and input it's been great as usual. I will test later today.

Tim thanks for the sample animation file as well.

Daz