How to Create Multi Parametric 3D Animations in BricsCAD Mechanical
Quick answer: The Animation Editor panel animates several parameters at once and programs camera movements, playable directly in BricsCAD or rendered as a 2D video. This resolves and expands the “Animate” step operation briefly mentioned on this hub’s representations page, exploded view animation is one of three sequence types the editor supports.
Scenes, Timelines, and Animation Sequences
A scene contains one or more timelines, each holding one or more animation sequences; the editor creates one automatically on first launch. A scene sets the animation’s duration, current time moment, and current frame, together forming its animation schedule for playback and render. Only the current scene renders at a time, though a document can hold multiple scenes, switchable at will.
An animation sequence is the basic building block, a single continuous animation with a start time and duration, plus values specific to what it animates:
- Parameter: animates a value continuously from a start to an end value (a distance constraint between two faces, for example, moving one face between a minimum and maximum distance).
- Camera: a continuous camera movement along a path.
- Exploded view: the assembling or disassembling process from the first step to the last.
A timeline visually represents a sequence for a given object; each parameter gets its own, sequences within it can’t overlap, and any timeline can be temporarily disabled or locked. Timelines are independent, so multiple parameters can animate simultaneously with their combined effects visible together.
Opening the Animation Editor
Right-click a toolbar and choose Animation Editor from the Panels menu, click the Animation Editor tool in the Ribbon, or run ANIMATIONEDITOROPEN.
The Toolbar
| Tool | Description |
|---|---|
| Add Scene | Adds an empty scene with a default duration |
| Scene Selector | Selects the current scene |
| Remove Scene | Removes the current scene |
| To previous / next sequence | Jumps to the start of the previous or next sequence |
| Play / Pause / Stop | Controls playback |
| Render video | Opens the render dialog for a 2D video |
| Record animation graphics (zip or folder) | Records and saves animation graphics |
| Load animation graphics (zip or folder) | Loads previously recorded graphics into a special playback mode |
| Unload animation graphics | Unloads currently loaded graphics (special mode only) |
| Toggle configurator | Shows or hides the configurator panel |
The Timelines Area and Time Scale
Add and remove timelines and sequences here, and view the animation schedule. Click a sequence to select it (shown in blue; others stay grey), or drag its start or end to adjust duration, or drag its middle to reposition it without changing duration. Dragging supports snapping by scale, by cursor, and by other timelines’ sequence intervals (including exploded view steps).
The area’s cursor marks the current animation position, playback moves it automatically, or move it manually, or edit the Current time moment or Current frame directly; every parameter and the camera update to match. Click the update icon to sync the model state with the cursor position at any time (this doesn’t affect the animation itself).
Each timeline shows: a lock/unlock toggle, an enable/disable toggle, the associated object’s name, Add Sequence and Remove Timeline tools, and the sequence bar(s) themselves.
The Configurator
Groups properties by object:
- Scene: Name; Scene duration (seconds); Current time moment; Current frame; Frame rate (fps).
- Sequence: Sequence type (read-only); Object name (read-only); Start time (adjusting it keeps the end time fixed and shifts duration); Duration (adjusting it keeps start time fixed and shifts the end time); End time (adjusting it keeps start time fixed and shifts duration).
- Parameter (for parametric sequences): Start value; End value; Rounding direction; Precision.
- Camera (for camera sequences): Camera position, either Fixed (a single point) or Dynamic (moves along a path); Camera point or Camera path, selectable from a dropdown of previously used points/paths, or picked directly from the model (each gets a name when selected, removable from the list afterward).
- Target: the point the camera looks at, either Fixed (a point) or Dynamic (a path), configured the same way as Camera position above.
Selected points and paths store in the drawing, similar to ANIPATH.
Animation Playback
Click Play to start from the cursor position (toggling to Pause); click Stop to halt and return the cursor to the start. Jump between sequences with the next/previous sequence tools.
During playback, involved parameters and the camera change directly in the drawing, which can take noticeably longer for complex models, use the cursor to check key moments instead of playing the whole thing. The camera follows any set camera sequences, or uses the current view if none exist; the rendered output matches the current viewport. After playback finishes, the model reverts to its pre-animation state, click the update icon afterward to sync it with the cursor’s actual position if needed.
Rendering a Video
- Click Render video; the Render video dialog opens.
- Adjust: Render frame rate (fps); Resolution; File format (AVI, MPG, or WMV); Render quality (draft or full); Start/End time or Start/End frame; the Frame images folder for FFMPEG; and whether to clear rendered frame images after creating the video file.
- Click Render, then specify a location and file name.
- Click Save to start rendering; a preview shows progress.
Common Workflows
Adding a scene: click Add Scene, enter a name and duration in seconds, click Add.
Removing a scene: select it with the Scene Selector, then use Remove Scene.
Animating a parameter: select the parameter with the Object selector and click Add Timeline; position the cursor on the Time Scale where you want it to start; use Add Sequence (or double-click the timeline) to create a sequence; drag to set its duration, or use the Configurator’s Start time, End time, or Duration fields; then set the Start value and End value in the Configurator.
Animating a camera movement: select Camera from the Object selector to add its timeline; position the cursor and add a sequence the same way as above; in the Configurator, choose Fixed or Dynamic for Camera position (selecting a point or path from the dropdown, or picking one directly in the model), then do the same for Target, the point the camera focuses on.
Removing a sequence: right-click it and choose Delete, or select it and press Delete.
Enabling/disabling a timeline: click its status icon to toggle between enabled and disabled; sequences on a disabled timeline are excluded from the animation.
Locking/unlocking a timeline: click its lock icon to toggle; a locked timeline blocks toggling, adding, deleting, or moving its effects, and disables its object’s properties in the Configurator, useful for protecting an already-configured timeline from accidental changes.
Animating an exploded view: the Animation Editor isn’t supported in Block Editor or reference editing modes, so only exploded views already inserted into model space can be animated. Insert the exploded view, optionally suppress it or the model to control visibility during the animation, select it via the Object selector, add a timeline, then add and configure a sequence the same way as other sequences, setting its start and end step (and optionally enabling auto-hide) in the Configurator.
Saving and Loading Animation Graphics
For large, complex models, recalculating every animation frame can take a long time. Recording the graphics to a zip archive or a folder lets you play them back significantly faster afterward (and still zoom, rotate, and change visual style, unlike a plain 2D video, plus render videos directly from the recorded graphics).
Saving: click the export icon, choose Export graphics to zip-file (smaller, compressed, good for sharing, but slower to create for large models) or Save graphics in folder (uncompressed, faster for repeated local playback and rendering), choose a location, and confirm; a progress bar shows while recording.
Loading and playing: click the import icon, choose Load zip-file with graphics or Load graphics from folder, and select the source. Once loaded, a special playback mode opens with the same controls as the standard editor (the render dialog’s frame rate is locked, since graphics recorded at a fixed rate can’t change it; use the update icon to reload graphics if something looks wrong; and load graphics only while the original source document is active, or results may differ). You can still add a new Camera timeline to override the recorded camera effects. Press the unload icon to exit this mode and clear the cached graphics.
Load animation graphics while the original document they were recorded from is active, otherwise results may differ from the original.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can animation sequences on the same timeline overlap? No, each timeline can only have one sequence active at any given time.
Why would I record and load animation graphics instead of just playing the animation directly? For large, complex models, recalculating every frame during playback can be slow, recorded graphics play back significantly faster and still support zooming, rotating, and changing visual style.
Can I animate an exploded view while it’s open in the Block Editor? No, the Animation Editor isn’t supported in Block Editor or reference editing modes, only exploded views already inserted into model space can be animated.
What happens to the model after an animation finishes playing? It reverts to its pre-animation state; click the update icon to sync it with the cursor’s current position if needed.