Scenario Recorder  

Recorder allows saving rotations, movements and scaling of actors. All changes of your scene will be saved in a Scenario File (*.sc).

Note: For TurboCAD v6.5, only rotations can be saved. For TurboCAD v7 - all options will work.

		Main commands
		Commands for controlling list of actors
		List of actors
		Recorder commands
		Scenario File Name
		Recorded frames parameters

  Main commands

		Start the player to run scenario
		Plug-In settings (also see Section 2 “Options dialog”)
		Open the window to edit Custom Script
		Save actors in a file or load them
		Run Movie maker

Note: 
When a scenario is saved, actor names and their commands are saved. 
When a scenario file is being loaded, AnimationLab will load commands only for those actors from your current list of actors, the names of which match actor names in the scenario file. 

Scenario file also saves Custom Script.

  List of actors

Actors are brought up in the order, in which they are processed by the player. CheckBoxes allow setting activity of an actor in the current scenario.
You can edit the name of an actor by clicking for the second time on the selected actor. Icons next to the name show actor type:

		Regular actor
		Light source
		Mobile camera
		Path for another actor

  Commands for controlling list of actors

		Create a new actor out of an object, selected in the drawing
		Create a mobile camera to move in the scene
		Delete selected actor. Note: the initial object is not removed from the drawing by this command.
		Fill in the list of actors from the current drawing
		Save scenario changes in the drawing

Recorder commands

		Define Scenario File Name and Start Recording to the Scenario File
		Add Current Scene State to the Scenario File
		Finish Recording of the Scenario File
		Press this button in order to track rotation of the actor
		Press this button in order to track movement of the actor. (TurboCAD v7 only.)
		Press this button in order to track scale of the actor. (TurboCAD v7 only.)
	/	Switch Animation Lab to the Edit Scenario or Recorder Mode

Recorded Frames parameters

The following fields allow using start and end positions of an actor at each step of Scenario Recorder to create an interpolational function, and to divide the step into arbitrary number of steps in accordance with the specified function

Start frame number - the number of the frame, from which recording of commands will start Intermediate states number - the number of points for interpolation. To define a custom Law of changing, or to edit an existing one, click in the graphics window or choose "Others..." line in "Law of Changing" combobox - you will be presented with "Law of Changing" dialog.

"Law of Changing" Dialog

"Law of Changing" dialog allows using start and end positions of an actor at each step of Scenario Recorder to create an interpolational function, and to divide the step into arbitrary number of steps in accordance with the specified function. This provides the means to smooth the trajectory, control speed and acceleration within each step, make additional movements (e.g. oscillation).
Having transformed an actor by means of a selector, and having recorded several such changes, you can get a complex scenario with unlimited number of steps, which describes movement of an actor according to the law you specified.




Intermediate states number
"Intermediate states number" field - the number of points for interpolation. The more intermediate points are defined, the more accurate interpolation of the specified transformation type will be. However, this also leads to corresponding increase of the number of frames and the size of the animation file. 

Type of Changing

To illustrate the meaning of "Type of Changing" concept, let's use an example. Let movement with constant speed be defined (e.g. by Move command) for an actor. Now we will use the horizontal axis for time, and the vertical axis - for traversed distance. (Pic. 1). 


Pic. 1

In this case, movement of the actor will be characterized by a straight line, since the distance, traversed during a unit of time, will always be the same. Slope of the straight line depends on the movement speed.
Movement with acceleration will be characterized by a curve, where the slope of the tangent to each point will be proportional to the speed at that point of time. Pic. 1 also shows the deceleration curve; its slope (as well as speed) decreases as time increases.
Change of the angle of rotation or scaling factor is also characterized by a curve, as a time function. In this case, the vertical axis will define the angle or scaling, respectively.
In the situation of complex transformations, which contain movement, rotation and scaling at the same time, they will change according to one law.

You can use one of the default transformation types (Constant, Acceleration, Deceleration…), or create your own one (Pic. 2).



Pic. 2

Type of Interpolation

You can choose from one of the following three types of interpolation: Linear, Bezier, 3 Point Bezier (Pic. 3).
Linear - interpolates the points by line segments. It is used when it is necessary to reproduce angles in the law of changing.
Bezier - interpolates the points by Bezier curve. It is used for smoothing the law of changing. 
3 Point Bezier- interpolates the points by Bezier curve, but the Bezier curve is created not on the basis of all defined points (as in the previous case), but on the basis of the three nearest ones. It is used for smoothing the law of changing 


Pic. 3

Editing the Interpolation Curve

Interpolation points are indicated with blue marks in "Intermediate states" window (Pic. 4).
You can add, remove and move the interpolation points, using the mouse.


Pic. 4

To add a point, left-click on the curve, at the place where you intend to put the point.
To remove a point, right-click on the point, which you want to delete.
To move a point, it is necessary to drag it to the desired place, while holding the left mouse button pressed.