×
INTELLIGENT WORK FORUMS
FOR ENGINEERING PROFESSIONALS

Log In

Come Join Us!

Are you an
Engineering professional?
Join Eng-Tips Forums!
  • Talk With Other Members
  • Be Notified Of Responses
    To Your Posts
  • Keyword Search
  • One-Click Access To Your
    Favorite Forums
  • Automated Signatures
    On Your Posts
  • Best Of All, It's Free!
  • Students Click Here

*Eng-Tips's functionality depends on members receiving e-mail. By joining you are opting in to receive e-mail.

Posting Guidelines

Promoting, selling, recruiting, coursework and thesis posting is forbidden.

Students Click Here

Jobs

Animation

Animation

Animation

(OP)
Is there a way to animate in Solidworks? I have a bellows design that I'd like to show what happens during collapse and expand. If a third party add-on is the answer that's okay be me.

Thanks - Dave

RE: Animation

Solidworks Animator is an add-in that comes standard with the Professional and Premium Solidworks packages.  Go to Tools/Add-ins and check Solidworks Animator.  If it isn't in the list talk to your VAR about an upgrade.

Dan

www.eltronresearch.com

RE: Animation

Animator won't flex a part during animation (such as a flexible bellows), but will manage the movement of parts in an  assembly relative to one another.  You set constraints of the parts in your assembly using mates (as usual) and then use Animator to move parts relative to time.

It has its limits--still need to develop Animator in a few more areas to make more robust, in my opinion, but when coupled with PhotoWorks, you can gain photo-real rendered animations:
http://www.industrialdesignhaus.com/internet/G2-38-Tommy-Gate.wmv

One of my chief complaints is that you must choose to use either PhotoWorks (photo-real) or SolidWorks materials for rendering--only SolidWorks materials will fade in or fade out in appearance in an animation.

Jeff Mowry
www.industrialdesignhaus.com
Reason trumps all.  And awe transcends reason.

RE: Animation

If you know FEA, try COSMOS-Express or COSMOS.

Chris
SolidWorks 06 5.1/PDMWorks 06
AutoCAD 06
ctopher's home (updated 02-10-07)

RE: Animation

If you don't have Animator, look into a little piece of software called imagetoavi (google it, I think it is freeware). You provide a series of jpeg files and the software assembles them in an avi video. You may need to play around with it a little to get it right. I used it and I know it works.

Red Flag This Post

Please let us know here why this post is inappropriate. Reasons such as off-topic, duplicates, flames, illegal, vulgar, or students posting their homework.

Red Flag Submitted

Thank you for helping keep Eng-Tips Forums free from inappropriate posts.
The Eng-Tips staff will check this out and take appropriate action.

Reply To This Thread

Posting in the Eng-Tips forums is a member-only feature.

Click Here to join Eng-Tips and talk with other members!


Resources