Getting Started
with VNS 3: Animation
Basics
Part 2B. Previewing Animation with Quick Sequence
1. To save a series of realtime
animation frames to disk, open the Main Camera view popup
menu and select Make Quick Sequence.
2. Navigate to the WCSFrames
folder, name the sequence Main, and Save.
3. The animation will play slowly
in the camera view and the Status window will show the
Quick Sequence progress as the frames are saved.
Take
Heed!
The Quick Sequence reads
off active OpenGL buffers, that is, what's visible on the screen.
Don't open or switch to another application until the process
is completed. |
4. After VNS is finished, go
up to the menu and select View > View Image >
From Disk.
5. The View Image File
requester will open in the last folder we were in, WCSFrames.
There will be 601 numbered Main frames. We'll use QuickTimePro
to assemble the frames into an animation. It's an inexpensive
tool with a good feature set. If you'd prefer to use another
tool you're familiar with, assemble the frames into an animation
and rejoin us at Step 14.
6. Launch QuickTimePro
and select File > Open Image Sequence.
7. Navigate to your WCSFrames
folder and select the first Main bitmap, Main0000.bmp.
Change the frame rate to 30 frames per second and click
Open to import the frame sequence.
8. To save the movie, choose
File > Export.
9. Name the movie MainOpenGL.
Let's check the Options and make sure they're appropriate
for animation.
10. In the Movie Settings window,
select Settings.
11. Choose the Animation
Compression Type, Key Frames every 30 frames, and Best
Quality.
12. OK to set the Movie Settings.
13. Save the movie.
14. When QuickTime finishes exporting
the movie, open it to see the assembled OpenGL sequence. It's
on the VNS
3 DVD in the animation
folder.
15. Play the animation. The camera
path looks good, so we're ready to continue. It's a good idea
to preview your camera moves this way before committing to long
render times later on.
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