Animating an object is the process of bringing that object to life. Basic animation in SoftImage is done with key frames. Key frames mark key poses or important changes in the motion/actions of an object (remember the karate kick example). The cool thing with computer animation is that the in-between motion between two key frames is filled in for you by the software (through the process referred to as “Interpolation”).

Basic steps for animating in Soft

  1. Set frame position in time line (ex. start at Time 1)
  2. Change parameter of object (A parameter is any feature of an object (its size, color, shape, etc…) that is animateable – virtually anything relating to the object!)
  3. Key frame that change (Shortcut key to keyframe: k)
  4. Set new key frame position in time line (ex. KF20)
  5. Repeat steps 2-4.

Commit these steps to Memory

Set position in time line→Change parameter→Keyframe that changed (with parameter still active) - REPEAT

Time→Change→Frame

Keyframe color indicators

Red: Parameter has been keyframed

Green: Parameter has been keyframed, the animation sequence has progressed but the parameter has not been changed.

Yellow: Parameter has changed and NEEDS to be keyframed for changes to be applied

Clearing Keyframes

  1. To remove one keyframe from a parameter → Click on the parameter (i.e. scaling, translation etc…), type in the key frame number where the keyframe was set, click on the keyframe icon to deselect it (key should turn from red to clear or yellow)
  2. To remove all of the keys from that marked parameter, select it and choose

Animation →Remove Animation→From Marked Parameters.

Animation – Basic Example

  1. Position object in starting position and click on some parameter of the object that you want to change. In this example, we will translate the object up and to the right. So we have selected the translation icon (t) in the Main Command Panel on the right of the screen.

  1. Type a key frame number in the animation time line or drag slider to position (Start position: KF1) and with the translation icon still activated, key frame the parameter by clicking on the key frame icon in the animation toolbar. (The keyframe icon will change from clear to red indicating that a key frame has been set. You can also hit the shortcut key: K on the keyboard) Setting this first key frame marks the starting position of the sphere.
  2. Type in the next desired key frame in the animation time line (Ex. KF20). The key icon will change from red to green.

  1. Activate the property of the object that you want to change and change it. In this example, translate the sphere up and to the right (in the X and Y directions). Because we have translated the object, the key frame icon has changed to yellow indicating that the marked parameter (in this case the translation value) has been changed and needs to keyframed for these changes to be applied to the animation sequence.

  1. With translation still active key frame the change! This key frame marks the ending position of the sphere. Back up your animation to the beginning and play it to watch your sphere move!
  1. Now, let’s take this one step further and animate an extrusion – in other words, let’s give our sphere some legs and let’s animate them like the legs coming down on a spaceship! I recommend animating one parameter at a time! In other words, we have already animated the translation of the sphere from frames 1-100, now we can animate the extrusion. First, be sure to set your time in the timeline back to Time 1. Now, select some polygons on your sphere that will be used to extrude some legs. I have selected four polygons around the bottom of the sphere. Next, select Modify→PolyMesh→Extrude Along Axis. The extrusion property box appears. Notice the green icons in front of all of the extrusion parameters (length, inset, etc…circled in red below). The presence of these icons means that you can animate these parameters. In this particular example, we are going to animate the length parameter.
  1. Now let’s begin the animation sequence. Remember, TIME →CHANGE →FRAME. First, make sure the time in the animation timeline is set to 1. Next (make some change) – set the length value in the extrude box to 0. Finally, key frame that change by clicking on the green icon next to Length in the extrude box. NOTE: You DO NOT use the key at the bottom of the main screen – the green icon in front of the length value is the KEY!.
  1. Now, let’s simply repeat the sequence.

TIME →CHANGE →FRAME

Increase the time in the time line to 100 (Note that the sphere moves to its new location from the translate animation). Now (make some change) – increase the length value in the extrude box to 5 (or some value). Now key frame that change by depressing the green icon in front of the length value. Now play your animation and watch ball move and watch the legs come down at the same time! If you can complete this exercise – you can animate ANYTHING! Well done!

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