Aivia Software

Video animator

Owned by Hoyin Lai
Last updated: Mar 28, 2019
4 min read

The Video Animator lets you create and export a 3D flythrough video from Aivia. You can define specific camera locations and display settings, called a keyframe, in the tool and the software will automatically interpolate the optimal path to the next keyframe.

Interface

The Video Animator can be found in the Contents Panel at the bottom of the Aivia window. To launch the tool, make sure you are in 3D View mode and then click on the Video Animator  icon.

The Video Animator can be broken down into two sections: toolbar and keyframe display.

  • Toolbar: controls for keyframe creation and export
  • Video timeline: shows a thumbnail of the added keyframe (i.e. camera locations and display settings) and timeline


On this page:

Video animator GUI



Toolbar

The toolbar is the main method for interaction in the Video Animator. It is located at the top of the Video Animator section. The options for adding or modifying keyframes and exporting the results can be found here and summarized in the table below:

NameIconDescription
Add frame

Adds a new keyframe on the video timeline based on the current display
Preview

Plays a preview of the entire video animation
Modify transition times

You can modify the transition time of all keyframes by clicking the + button to add, the - button to subtract a specified length of transition time between keyframes based on the time textbox on the right
Clear all frames

Removes all keyframes from the video timeline
Options

Opens the Option window for the Video Animator that lets you adjust the relative size and location of the Aivia watermark and add a custom watermark

Blend

Toggles blending between keyframes to create smoother, or less abrupt, transitions with cross-fading between visible layers. This may cause a mild slowdown during export as additional processing is required to generate the blended frames
FPS selector

Specifies the frame rate of the exported movie; there are five (5) options, measured in frames per second (FPS):

  • 20 FPS
  • 24 FPS
  • 36 FPS
  • 48 FPS
  • 60 FPS (Default)
Resolution

Sets the resolution of the exported video; there are five (5) options:

  • Current: exports the video dimension as-is displayed
  • 2160p UHD: exports video in 4K (3840x2160) resolution
  • 1080p HD: exports video in Full HD (1920x1080) resolution (Default)
  • 720p HD: exports video in HD (1280x720) resolution
  • 480p SD: exports video in standard definition (640x480)
Export video

Exports the video to file based on the video timeline with the defined FPS and resolution settings



Video timeline

The video timeline shows a thumbnail of all the added keyframes. You can also modify the displayed keyframes and transition time between the keyframes in this section. Each added keyframe is presented by a thumbnail on the timeline, there are three tools that are overlaid on the thumbnail:

NameIconDescription
Play from current frame
Plays a preview of the video animation, starting from the selected frame
Remove selected frame

Deletes the selected keyframe from the video timeline
Replace selected frame

Replaces the selected keyframe with the current display


Keyframe thumbnail


Using the Video Animator

When you enter the Video Animator, you can start creating the video by adding keyframes to the timeline. Each keyframe is a starting or ending point in the video animation that encapsulates the camera position and display setting. The full video sequence is composed of multiple keyframes with transitions automatically generated to interpolate between them.

Typical workflow for using the video animator is as follows:

  1. Add keyframe for current display
  2. Adjust display attributes - such as camera position, object visibility, color or time point
  3. Repeat steps 1 and 2
  4. Preview video animation sequence
  5. Export video

Detailed information on how to use the Video Animator can be found on the How to export 3D videos page.