Animator is the product of my desire to create a simple scripting language for Autodesk Inventor. I (and others) have been wanting to do this for a long time but the API wasn't mature enough for quite a while. So what exactly is it?

Animator is a VB add-in written by Neil Munro, Charles Bliss and myself. It allows you to take multiple parameters and drive them through a sequence of animation. It's based off a workflow I suggested back in R2 about programmatically driving parameters via Excel. No longer do you have to write complicated equations for functions in the parameters dialogue.

Currently you can only drive one constraint (hence, parameter) at a time. This means to achieve multiple part motion the user must employ complex functions. I addressed these functions in my Advanced Motion Part One and Advanced Motion Part Two tutorials. These functions can become very complex very quickly. Here for example is one of numerous functions required for the checkers demo:

move = 2.750 in + min(( 0.100 ul * angle * 1.000 in / 1.00 deg );0.500 in) - sign(angle - 40.00 deg) * min(max(( 0.100 ul * ( angle - 40 deg ) * 1.000 in / 1.00 deg );0 in);0.5 in)

Now who wants to type all of that? Furthermore it can become very confusing dealing with all of the nested min and max functions. With Animator the process is greatly simplified.

With Animator you simply choose which parameter you want to drive. Set a start and end value then set the number of steps between these values. Select another parameter to drive and repeat the process. You can even group the parameters to drive them together so that you can have multiple parts moving at the same time. What used to hours (the checkers demo took over 4 hours to program and debug) can be reduced to minutes.

For the latest version of Animator see this thread: http://www.mcadforums.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=1475

What's New for Animator v4.0

• New tree-view style sequence list
• Ability to drive constraints in sub assemblies
• Suppression of constraints
• Ability to alter visibility, enabled state and color of objects
• Advanced camera and view options including "before" and "during" view transitions
• "Smooth" motion option (causes objects to accelerate and decelerate when moving, non-linear)

Bug Fixes for Animator v4.040

• 3D sketches won't update without solid body
• Some subassemblies not listed in assembly list
• Start frame of first played sequence not recorded to avi
• AVI files not viewable in Quicktime player
• Unable to unsuppress initially suppressed constraints
• Multipe instances of Animator can be started
• Need to have AVI's and Animator data files stored in workspace or parent assembly folder
• Escape key not recognized
• Custom AVI size always resets to 240 pixels in Options dialog box
• Help menu items don't work

Bug Fixes for Animator v4.042

• Ability to right-click the Play or Reverse buttons and select an end sequence (to play a set of sequences).

Bug Fixes for Animator v4.043

• Fixed bug that prevented Animator from being started more than once per session.

Bug Fixes for Animator v4.046

• Fixes problem with modified constraints when sequences are moved up or down in an animation.
• Fixes problem with Inventor instance left running after closing Animator

Please remember to donate to one of the charities listed in the help document if you use Animator.

Download Animator V4.046 Full Install - Updated 3/26/04

Download Animator V4.046 Update DLL - Updated 3/26/04

What's New for Animator v3.5 (Beta)

• Ability to capture AVI files directly from the Animator interface
• Choice of system CODECs to record AVIs
• Animator v3.0 is an add-in and the icon resides on the assembly panel bar
• Animator v3.0 requests a save if changes have been made to the sequence file
• Sequence file and AVI names are defaulted to that of the assembly
• Improved error trapping and crash prevention
• Animator v3.0 can read v2.0 and v2.5 sequence files