1. The last tutorial laid the groundwork for basic VNS scene construction. Let's build on those basics and animate Components. Create a new project and name it Flyby. We'll use the Island project as a starting point, so check Clone an Existing Project.

2. Select the disk button to open the Clone Project file requester. Go to the Island project folder and open Island.proj.

3. When you Create & Save, VNS will create a copy of the Island project, called Flyby, in a new Flyby folder under WCSProjects. The terrain elevation file is still in the original Island folder.

4. We already have the terrain data we need, so answer No to the Import Data question box.

5. Activate the Island Planimetric view and return the camera to its default camera position.

6. We'll be working with the Animation Toolbar, so let's take a closer look at it. Record Key Frames engages the VNS auto key function. In this mode, all parameters you change are automatically keyframed to the current frame. Don't use this unless you understand the consequences; it's easy to make unintentional keyframes in this mode.

7. When the Record mode is engaged, the Frame Slider turns red. We're not going to use this mode, so turn it off.

8. Next is the Key Frame Group toggle, which keys all parameters in a group when one is keyed. This will make more sense shortly when we create the first keyframe. As a rule, it's convenient to use this mode, so turn it on. What's a keyframe? Keyframes are simply frames where you set parameters. VNS does the rest of the work and creates the frames in between. Let's start by animating the Main camera.

9. Go to the Render Task Mode and open the Main Camera Editor to the Position & Orientation page. Select the Animation Operations button to the right of the Latitude field and select Create Key.

10. The Input Request box will ask for the keyframe time and default to the current frame. This is the beginning of the camera path, so use the Enter key to set the first keyframe at 0 seconds.

11. The Animation Operations button turns green for all 3 members of the camera position group because we're in Key Frame Group mode.

12. Keyframed parameters are indicated by a red key in the Scene-At-A-Glance.

13. Expand the Main Camera category. The Camera Latitude, Longitude, and Elevation all have red keys.

14. The Main camera is still active, so Ctrl-click a new camera location northeast of the island.

15. Clear the elevation field in the Value Request box and OK. The camera will be placed at the current elevation.

16. This time, add a key with the Add Key Frame button on the Animation Toolbar. Enter 20 seconds for the new keyframe time. The planimetric view will update with the new camera location.

17. The Go to Next Key Frame button is now available beside the frame counter and we can jump between keyframes.

18. Click the Play Animation arrow at the right end of the frame slider to play the animation. VNS has taken the 0 and 20 second camera position keyframes and filled in the frames in between. Click Play Animation again to stop playback.

19. We can also drag the frame slider to move back and forth in the animation.

20. To jump to a time like 10 seconds, enter it into the frame counter. Enter 0 to return to the start of the animation.

21. Let's change the velocity of the camera between the keyframes using the Timeline Editor. One way to open it is by making the Camera Latitude active in the Scene-At-A-Glance and selecting the Open Timeline for Active Parameter button on the Animation Toolbar.

22. The timeline is a graph with the variable on the vertical axis, in this case latitude, and time on the horizontal axis. Triangles represent keyframes and the active one is highlighted in yellow. The latitude timeline represents a change in north-south position with time; the absolute value of the slope is the north-south velocity. The graph is a straight line, which means we have a constant velocity. We're going to change the velocity to make the camera start from rest, accelerate to cruising speed, and decelerate to a stop at the end.

23. We could use Velocity Distribution to Ease In and Ease Out on the Camera Editor Position & Orientation page, but it can't be previewed in realtime views.

24. Instead, we'll vary velocity in the Timeline Editor. The first key is active and yellow. Change its Tension to 1.

25. Click to select the last keyframe and change its Tension to 1. This will give us a latitude velocity that starts at 0 (no slope), slowly increases to a maximum at 10 seconds (slope increasing), and slows to 0 at the end of the animation (slope decreasing to 0). Keep the changes to set the latitude timeline settings.

26. That takes care of the latitude half of the camera position. Another, and easier way to access the timeline is from the Camera Editor. Select Longitude Animation Operations and View Timeline.

27. Repeat the latitude timeline process and change the Tension at each longitude keyframe to 1.

28. Keep the changes, save the project, and play the animation. The camera now slowly accelerates to a maximum velocity midway through the animation and decelerates to a stop at the end.

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