19.17.3.2. Animation Behaviors

Depending upon the type of simulation that you perform, the behavior of the resulting animation varies.

For a static analysis with one time step or a Modal analysis, the animation progresses forward and then backwards in a continuous motion.
For simulations that have more than one associated time or step range, the animation begins at the initial time or step value, progresses to the final set, and then stops and starts at zero again (forward animation only).
For transient and stepped simulations that have an associated time or step range, the animation begins at the initial time or step value, progresses to the final set, and then stops and starts at zero again. It does not traverse backward as it does for static simulations.

As illustrated below, you may also select a specific time period to animate that is a subset of the total time. To do so, drag the mouse through the time period in the graph. The selected time period turns blue. Click the Play button to animate only through that period. While that specific period is playing, you can right-click the mouse to receive the options to Pause, Stop, or to Zoom To Range, which expands the defined period across the entire graph.

The following demo is presented as an animated GIF. View online if you are reading the PDF version of the help. Interface names and other components shown in the demo may differ from those in the released product.

Note:

  • In older releases, the application first processed result animations and then displayed them instead of displaying the animation as it is being processed. As needed, you can revert to the previous display method by setting the Animation Draw Option to No in the Graphics category of the preferences dialog.

  • In the event your result file includes a result set with no values, the animation ignores that result set.

  • In a dynamic analysis, probe animation for joints is only supported if there is at least one rigid body. See Probes.

  • For a Modal analysis, rigid bodies are not currently auto-scaled during animations and as a result may not display accurately.

  • When animating mode shapes with color contours, be aware that the shapes are animated by scaling the displacements from 1 to 0 to -1 to 0 to 1 in a full cycle, but the corresponding contours are animated by scaling their values from 1 to 0 to 1 to 0 to 1 over the same cycle. You can correct this display limitation by setting a variable (TreatModalAsComplex = 1)