Transient data can be animated through EnSight's flipbook capability. During the flipbook load process, all parts (both model and created) are automatically rebuilt (if necessary) using the data from each time step in sequence. At each step, a graphical page is created and stored in memory. When the flipbook is active, the pages are displayed in order as rapidly as the hardware allows (although you can slow it down). You can also step through pages manually.

The graphical pages can be one of two types: object or image. An object flipbook saves each page as 3D geometry so you can continue to manipulate the model (for example, rotate or zoom) during playback. However, for very large models and/or long sequences, the memory requirements can be substantial. In this case, you can create image flipbooks that save only the image pixels for each page. Although the size of each page is now fixed, you cannot change the viewing parameters without reloading the flipbook.

This article covers using the flipbook capability for transient data (and assumes that you have successfully loaded your transient data). See Create a Flipbook Animation for more details on flipbooks. EnSight's keyframe animation capability also works with transient data and provides a flexible mechanism for synchronizing your available time steps with the output animation frames. See Create a Keyframe Animation for more information.