T-FLEX Parametric CAD. Fundamentals. 2D Design

To “animate” the mechanism, use the command “AN: Animate Model”:
Keyboard Textual Menu Icon
“Parameters|Animate…”
Animation
When entering the command from the 2D window, a
dialog box with the command parameters is displayed on
the screen.
The parameters are as follows:
Variable name. Defines the name of the variable to vary.
The variable can't be a textual (string) one.
Starting value. This is the starting value of the variable
to vary.
Ending value. The target value of the variable at the
completion of the command.
Step. The increment value added to the variable at each
step of the animation.
Clear screen. With this option set, the screen will be
redrawn at each step. Otherwise, the images will be
overlapping to show the progress of the movement and
drawing modifications at each step.
Change color. With this option set, the image at each step will be displayed in its own color. This option is
useful when you want to compare results when varying the values of different drawing parameters.
Pause. With this option set, the system will require confirmation at each step, before drawing another frame.
Generate Metafile. With this option set, the animation clip will be saved in a T-FLEX CAD metafile. This
metafile can later be output to a printer or plotter, included in a T-FLEX drawing using the command “IP:
Insert Picture” or exported into another format. Note, that with the “Clear screen” mode turned on, a
metafile will not be output.
Save Report. With this option set, the result of animation at each step will be output in a log file (the
filename must be specified in the operation parameters). This parameter is available only when the model
has at least one report template, defined in the command “REP: Create Report”.
Generate multimedia file. Setting this option allows creating an *.avi file and defining its parameters:
File name.
Number of frames per second. The recommended frequency is 24 frames per second.
The graphic button [Compression…] invokes the dialog box for customizing multimedia file
compression parameters:
Compressor. Selects a compressing application.
Compression Quality. Defines the quality grade for
multimedia file compression.
Key Frame. Defines the number of frames between the key
frames.
Data Rate. Defines the data transfer rate (kilobytes per
second).
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