Animator Velocity Graph dialog box

Used to view and edit motion velocity curves. Opens when Settings > Velocity Graph is chosen from the Animation Producer dialog box.

Animator Velocity Graph dialog box

You can send entries to the Animator Velocity Graph dialog box from either the Animation Producerdialog box, or the dialog box.

From the Animation Producer dialog box:

1. Right-click the entry to open the pop-up menu.

2. Select Send to Velocity Graph.

From the Tree View dialog box:

1. Select the appropriate gray icon.

2. Click the Send to Velocity Graph button. Alternatively, right-click the selection to open the pop-up menu, then select Send to Velocity Graph.

When one or more velocity curves are displayed in the Animator Velocity Graph dialog box, you can use its various tools to view and edit them. As they are edited, the script entries update accordingly (in the Animation Producer dialog box).

To select a velocity curve to edit, you can either double-click the curve in the graph view, or double-click the curve in the Animator Velocity Graph List dialog box, which is opened by clicking the Display List of Curves icon.

Once a velocity curve is displayed in the dialog box, several viewing Scales are available in the X and Y axes, with the following conditions:

• Velocity curves can be displayed in all scale modes except those for items scripted at frame 0. These can be displayed only in Percentage/Percentage scale mode.

• When the Y scale is set to Value, curves may appear as a straight line in the X direction when there is no Y value change occurring over this period. An example of this is a setting that does not change between frames 10 and 20.

• When working with velocity curves, distance, rotation, and scale change values, cannot be derived from keyframes having no actors, or having more than one actor, in them.

Velocity curve viewing tools, located below the graph area in the Animator Velocity Graph dialog box, operate in the same manner as those in MicroStation, with the addition of two extra tools, as described below.

• Fit Curve — Used to fit the view to the selected velocity curve.

• Window Area Unconstrained — Similar to the Window Area tool but the window described by the pointer does not preserve the aspect ratio of the window.

You can edit a velocity curve using tools that are located across the top of the Animator Velocity Graph dialog box. When using the editing tools, the active curve is always the curve that is edited. Once the selected velocity curve has been edited, the changes are reflected in the script entry displayed in the Animation Producer dialog box.

To	In the Icon bar, select
Update the dialog display.
Display a list of velocity curves.
Define dialog colors.
Undo the last edit.
Redo the last (undone) edit.
Place points on a velocity curve.
Delete a point on a curve.
Delete all points on a curve.
Delete a velocity curve.
Move point on curve maintaining tangent.
Move point on curve.
Key in values for a point.
Convert a curve to a line.
Convert a line back to a curve.
Match one curve to another.
Display velocity information

Key-in: DIALOG ANIMATOR VELOCITY

Refresh

Updates the dialog box display.

Display List of Curves

Opens the Animator Velocity Graph List dialog box, which displays a list of the velocity curves that have been sent to the Animator Velocity Graph dialog box. The text is color coded to show which curves are visible as follows:

• Black — Currently visible and editable in the graph.

• Blue — The selected curve.

• Red — A parametric motion curve that cannot be edited.

• Grey — Either not displayed, or displayed as a line. In either case, not editable.

Set Dialog Colors

Lets you define the colors of various items in the Animator Velocity Graph dialog box.

Undo

Undo the last edit to the velocity curve.

Redo

Redo the last edit to the velocity curve.

Place Points on Curve

Lets you place more control points on a velocity curve without changing its curvature. This results in you having more control over the resulting velocity curve.

Delete Point on Curve

Lets you delete control points from the velocity curve with a resulting change in its shape.

Delete All Points

Resets the velocity curve to a straight line.

Delete Entry

Removes a velocity curve from the dialog box.

Move Point on Curve Maintaining Tangent

Lets you edit the position of any control point on the velocity curve. The continuity through a point on the curve is maintained. Modifications to points are constrained such that the curve monotonically increases in the X axis.

Move Point on Curve

Lets you modify a point on the velocity curve without maintaining its continuity.

Key In Point

Lets you enter a numeric x and y value for any control point for accurate placement of points.

Curve To Line

Used to convert a segment of the velocity curve to a line.

Line To a Curve

Used to convert a line segment back to a curve.

Match Curve

Used to make any selected curve have the same curvature as that of the active curve.

Velocity Information

With the graph axis mode set to frames or value you can use this button to determine the instantaneous velocity of an object at any time. When you drag the cursor along the selected curve in the dialog, the status bar for the dialog updates with the velocity information for the curve point under the cursor.

Scale X

Sets the scale used for the X-axis of the velocity graphs, from Percentage, Frames, or Time.

• Percentage
— X-axis is displayed as a percentage of the overall length of the sequence.

• Frames
— X-axis is displayed as frames in the sequence.

• Time
— X-axis is displayed as time.

Scale Y

Sets the scale used for the Y-axis of the velocity graphs

• Percentage
— Y-axis is displayed as a percentage.

• Value
— Y-axis is displayed as a value

X Axis Drag Precision

Sets the precision with which changes are made (graphically) along the X-axis.

Y Axis Drag Precision

Sets the precision with which changes are made (graphically) along the Y-axis.