Can this Animation to be done ?
Can this Animation to be done ?
(OP)
Imagine you have a Horizontal Cylinder - Rod fully collapsed and a Roller 2" in front of the rod.
Now you extend the rod (Linear Motor) and when the Rod comes with contact with The Roller the Rod pushes the Roller.
Now you extend the rod (Linear Motor) and when the Rod comes with contact with The Roller the Rod pushes the Roller.






RE: Can this Animation to be done ?
RE: Can this Animation to be done ?
Jeff Mirisola, CSWP
CAD Administrator
SW '07 SP2.0, Dell M90, Intel 2 Duo Core, 2GB RAM, nVidia 2500M
http://designsmarter.typepad.com/jeffs_blog
RE: Can this Animation to be done ?
Animate the path of your cylinder extension first, without regard for the pushed object. Get the time right. Go back in time to the point where contact would be made with the pushed object and then set up a motion for that object. The end time should coincide for the cylinder and pushed object.
I have all sorts of things happen when attempting to edit a mate along the way in animations--maybe because I'm always setting up complicated things that Animator wasn't meant to handle (I don't know). But if the animation is really the final output, precision isn't usually as important as communication. And you can communicate fairly precisely even with Animator. So if the above-mentioned ideas don't work for you, try mine. It's simple and it will work--but it's not very precise.
Jeff Mowry
www.industrialdesignhaus.com
Reason trumps all. And awe transcends reason.
RE: Can this Animation to be done ?
Both remarks very valid - just discovered that when trying to animate rotation of more than 180 deg the thing rotates the other way around, that is it takes the shortes route (the smaller angle), not the one rotated manually during creation of the animation ...
No cigar yet, but it looks like eventually I am gonna get to the succesfull end ...
RE: Can this Animation to be done ?
Done by Theofilus method - will try other's suggestions tomorrow.
Thank you everybody.
RE: Can this Animation to be done ?
Could this be done ??
RE: Can this Animation to be done ?
How do you do that ? Please be descriptive, that's my first animation ...
What's that ??
RE: Can this Animation to be done ?
Jeff Mirisola, CSWP
CAD Administrator
SW '07 SP2.0, Dell M90, Intel 2 Duo Core, 2GB RAM, nVidia 2500M
http://designsmarter.typepad.com/jeffs_blog
RE: Can this Animation to be done ?
Obviously I am doing something wrong - there is only one mate in the animator feature tree, while about 20 mates in the Feature mgr tree
RE: Can this Animation to be done ?
Jeff Mirisola, CSWP
CAD Administrator
SW '07 SP2.0, Dell M90, Intel 2 Duo Core, 2GB RAM, nVidia 2500M
http://designsmarter.typepad.com/jeffs_blog
RE: Can this Animation to be done ?
Hmm ... in the Animator Tutorial (Oil_Pump) there are 13 mates in SW Feature Manager and only 5 in the Animator tree ...
RE: Can this Animation to be done ?
Jeff Mirisola, CSWP
CAD Administrator
SW '07 SP2.0, Dell M90, Intel 2 Duo Core, 2GB RAM, nVidia 2500M
http://designsmarter.typepad.com/jeffs_blog
RE: Can this Animation to be done ?
You say that your boss wants something more complicated. Can you be more specific?
Jeff Mirisola, CSWP
CAD Administrator
SW '07 SP2.0, Dell M90, Intel 2 Duo Core, 2GB RAM, nVidia 2500M
http://designsmarter.typepad.com/jeffs_blog
RE: Can this Animation to be done ?
Let see if I could use Distance=0 instead of Coincident
RE: Can this Animation to be done ?
Anyway, my problem now is - how to Suppress and Un-supress certain Mates at a given time ?? I managed to get certain mates into Animation Manager (for example by replacing Parallel [which would not show up] by Angle=0 [which does show up]) but how to manipulate them in time ??
RE: Can this Animation to be done ?
Jeff Mirisola, CSWP
CAD Administrator
SW '07 SP2.0, Dell M90, Intel 2 Duo Core, 2GB RAM, nVidia 2500M
http://designsmarter.typepad.com/jeffs_blog
RE: Can this Animation to be done ?
I think Jeff (the other Jeff) already answered your latest question. If you can see the mates within your Animator window, you can suppress or unsuppress them in time.
Does that work?
Jeff Mowry
www.industrialdesignhaus.com
Reason trumps all. And awe transcends reason.
RE: Can this Animation to be done ?
Forget about the cylider and roller - things are more coplex now.
As I said earlier, thanks to a tip, I managed to make some Mates visible in the Animator tree (replacing Parallel by Angle=0 etc., etc.,) as explaned earlier.
Now, what I would like to know is:
How to Suppress and unsupress those Animator tree mates at certain times.
Time1 (start) to Time2 Angle1 is unsupressed Angle2 supressed.
Time2 Angle1 gets Suppressed
Time3 Angle2 gets Unsupressed.
Time3 to Time 4 Angle2 Unsupressed.
....
As you can see I could even add same deley (say 0.5 sec) between Time 2 and Time 3 so the system would not get confused - that is not to get Angle1 Suppressed and Angle2 Unsupressed at the same time (if both are unsupressed at the same time then the system is overdefined).
I tried to copy and place the diamonds at proper (I think) time locations, then suppres the diamonds (make them gray). Does not work.
If I manually suppress the mate in the Main Mgr tree at Time2 then the things that worked perfectly (movement along certain path) get messed up, certain diamonds that were blue turn red and with replay I get the end of the animation O.K. but the beginning (that worked O.K.) is totally messed up (the other part will not start were it should).
To repeat the question:
How to Suppress and unsupress those Animator tree mates at certain times.
Time1 (start) to Time2 Angle1 is unsupressed, Angle2 suppressed.
Time2 Angle1 gets Suppressed
Time3 Angle2 gets Unsupressed.
Time3 to Time 4 Angle2 Unsupressed.
If you could - please treat me like a dummy, that is reply:
1) click this
2) right click that and chnge the color to ...
etc.
Thanks in advance.
RE: Can this Animation to be done ?
With your animation at the beginning:
1. Right click on Angle1 and make sure it is unsuppressed.
2. Right click on Angle2 and suppress it.
3. There is a vertical time-line bar that you can click and drag. Move it x.x seconds to time1 and release.
4. Right click on Angle1 and select suppress.
5. Move time-line to time2.
6. Right click on Angle2 and select unsuppress.
Angle1 should remain suppressed until you unsuppress it and Angle2 should remain unsuppressed.
Jeff Mirisola, CSWP
CAD Administrator
SW '07 SP2.0, Dell M90, Intel 2 Duo Core, 2GB RAM, nVidia 2500M
http://designsmarter.typepad.com/jeffs_blog
RE: Can this Animation to be done ?
RE: Can this Animation to be done ?
RE: Can this Animation to be done ?
RE: Can this Animation to be done ?
Assuming that Time1 is zero then my instructions should be correct. However, if Time1 isn't zero, then start my instructions from Time1.
Jeff Mirisola, CSWP
CAD Administrator
SW '07 SP2.0, Dell M90, Intel 2 Duo Core, 2GB RAM, nVidia 2500M
http://designsmarter.typepad.com/jeffs_blog
RE: Can this Animation to be done ?
One thing that has always helped me immensely is writing out a detailed script of my animation before "programming" the animation in Animator. I think the recent SPs for 2007 have helped, but Animator is still tremendously unstable and inflexible. I commonly make mistakes along the way (forget something tiny in my script) and try to change the animation, and often am better off starting clean (or else I get the dreaded red diamonds of death). Other nebulous factors contribute to the obstinate nature of Animator, but it's difficult to understand why, exactly, these factors matter. So I drastically dumb-down my assembly such that I have the least amount of dependence on mates as possible--and I eliminate as many parts from the assembly as I can. I even combine clusters of parts (subassemblies) into part files to reduce assembly complexity (and this helps with big assemblies).
After all my efforts, I do normally achieve what I need. But Animator has a long way to go before even approaching the sort of motion that is common in the assembly I wish to animate (for instance, I can easily drag a part and the dependent parts will follow--while in SolidWorks--but in trying to translate this into Animator motion the same attempt yields only red diamonds of death--no good).
Jeff Mowry
www.industrialdesignhaus.com
Reason trumps all. And awe transcends reason.
RE: Can this Animation to be done ?
Yes, I figured that out ...
Tend to agree - after all I have only 3 parts - one fixed and two moving - and as soon as I suppres the Angle1 I get red diamonds.
I fact I created simpler model - a Path (spline), which is the fixed part and a part mowing along it which has Angle1=0 (to force Parallel)
When it gets to the end of the path ("Manually") it's O.K. and it can be replayed - but as soon as I want to unsuppres Angle1 (so I can rotate the part) and rotate the part (of course after moving the time line to the next time) the things get weird. ...
RE: Can this Animation to be done ?
Ooops ... meant to read suppress
RE: Can this Animation to be done ?
If somehow there was "a clean break", that is if after arriving to that "weid" point one could start totally new an animation, but "glued togather" to the previous one (or even perhaps with a small "time gap" between them as to not confuse the system) then I think that could have a much better chance of a success.
RE: Can this Animation to be done ?
Start over, from the beginning. Either with a brand new animation or by deleting all the diamonds in your present one. Work with just one mate and see how it goes. It's been my experience that a little trial and error goes a long way.
Jeff Mirisola, CSWP
CAD Administrator
SW '07 SP2.0, Dell M90, Intel 2 Duo Core, 2GB RAM, nVidia 2500M
http://designsmarter.typepad.com/jeffs_blog
RE: Can this Animation to be done ?
Jeff Mowry
www.industrialdesignhaus.com
Reason trumps all. And awe transcends reason.
RE: Can this Animation to be done ?
So far it looks like I have to use a Spline (using the end points from the previously mentionned elemets) plus some "readjustments" of the spline tangency (to simulate a straight line).
BTW, if the spline first goes a bit down and then up I can not travel that in one swoop - system gets confused - I had to add some entermittent points (around when the spline is at its "bottom", to clear the confusion).
Did you guys have had a similar experience ??
RE: Can this Animation to be done ?
Jeff Mowry
www.industrialdesignhaus.com
Reason trumps all. And awe transcends reason.
RE: Can this Animation to be done ?
RE: Can this Animation to be done ?
RE: Can this Animation to be done ?
By the way, if you want a smooth animation, just save your assembly as an eDrawing assembly. Perfect smooth play in the eDrawing, plus you can check out other aspects of the assembly within the same small file. Very cool! (v. 2007)
Jeff Mowry
www.industrialdesignhaus.com
Reason trumps all. And awe transcends reason.
RE: Can this Animation to be done ?
I am totally lost - yes I can save the assy as eDwgAssy - but how do you play it ??? Which icons do you use ?? So far I managed to completely "desintegrate" eDwg while manually moving the "moving" part.
RE: Can this Animation to be done ?
Thanks for the tip anyway ...
RE: Can this Animation to be done ?
Now, during the Animation the sizes of the Dim (Lettering) and the size of the Arrow Heads seem to be all right - not too big, not too small, just right.
But when I save this Annimation as *EASM file and play it back with eDrawings, the sizes of the Dim (Lettering) become huge and the size of the Arrow Heads microscopic.
I am trying to play with various Document settings, like Font size for dims and Arrows - it works for "normal" animation (by SW), but so far does not make any difference in the EASM file (I know, I did save it again).
Is it a bug or is it a feature, or am I doing something wrong ??
SW 2007 SP3.1
RE: Can this Animation to be done ?
Jeff Mowry
www.industrialdesignhaus.com
Reason trumps all. And awe transcends reason.
RE: Can this Animation to be done ?
Need to do more "research" in this area - could it be that eDrawings "remembers" original size of part that had had the bigest font and later changes are of no use ?? - just speculation ..
RE: Can this Animation to be done ?
- It looks like in Properties--> Document--> Annotations Display the box Always Display Text at the same size must be cleared in details and assy (where you do the annimation).
- It looks like the first Part1 you put into the assy controls the size of the (dimensions) font in the *.EASM, so control the size of the font in Part1 (Annotation Font)
RE: Can this Animation to be done ?
- It looks like I was wrong - it's the size of the font in ASSY that controls the size of the font in the eDrawings.
- It looks like the following is still valid:
RE: Can this Animation to be done ?
1. Create a physical simulation in SolidWorks
2. Calculate the simulation
3. In Animator, click on the animation wizard
4. Select Physical Simulation
This will put your physical simulation on a timeline which you can then edit.