Create Actor

Used to create an actor from one or more elements in a design. At the time of creation, you can specify the axes along which the actor may move or be scaled, and about which it may rotate. These restrictions apply for parametric motion, and when the Manipulate Actor tool is used.

As well, you can specify that a bounding box be created. These are useful for previewing the motion of complex actors, where screen updates may be slow due to the complexity of the actor.


Model of human body shown normally, left, and as bounding boxes on right. Simple bounding boxes can be used to preview animation of complex models.


Create Actor settings window

Tool Setting	Effect
Name	Sets the actor's name, which is required if the actor is to be controlled parametrically. Names are restricted to six alphanumeric characters.
Orientation	Sets the axes along which the actors can move or rotate. These actor orientations change if the actor is rotated after it is created, as they move with the actors. Design — Restricts movements of the actor to the design file axes. View — Restricts movements of the actor to the axes of the view in which the actor is created. ACS — Restrict movements of the actor to the axes of the current Auxiliary Coordinate System (ACS). If no ACS is loaded, then the design file axes are used.
Move Along	Sets the axes along which the actor can be moved — X, Y, or Z.
Rotate About	Sets the axes about which the actor can be rotated — X, Y, or Z.
Scale Along	Sets the axes along which the actor can be scaled — X, Y, or Z.
Create Bounding Box	If on, a bounding box is created for the actor. By default, it is created with the Active Level, Class, Color, Line Style, and Line Weight. Class — Lets you choose between Primary and Construction. If placed with Class set to Construction, its display can be disabled by turning off Constructions in the View Attributes dialog box. Level — Lets you specify a level on which to place the bounding box. If placed on its own level it can be displayed without the actor's geometry. This can be useful for previewing the motion of complex actors.

To create an actor from a single element

Select the Create Actor tool.

Identify the element to be converted to an actor.
A graphic prompt (triad), indicating the selected movement and rotation axes, appears (attached to the screen pointer).

Accept the actor (element) at the origin point.
The origin point will be used as the point about which movement, rotation, and scaling of the actor is calculated during animation or when using the Manipulate Actor tool.
Creating an actor from a single element. In this illustration, the circle normal to the X axis on the triad indicates that the actor can rotate about the X axis.

To create an actor from several elements

Select the elements.

Select the Create Actor tool.
A graphic prompt (triad), indicating the selected movement and rotation axes, appears (attached to the screen pointer).

Accept the actor (elements) at its origin.
The origin point is the point about which movement, rotation, and scaling of the actor is calculated during animation or when using the Manipulate Actor tool.

Key-in: ANIMATOR ACTOR CREATE


Creating an actor from a single element. In this illustration, the circle normal to the X axis on the triad indicates that the actor can rotate about the X axis.