Animating a 3D Model
Build a camera flight through a 3D model node with magic keyframes, switch camera modes along the way, and play it in your web tour.
A clip on a 3D model node moves the camera through the model. Next to pan, tilt, and field of view, it animates the camera’s position and its camera mode. The quickest way to build such a flight is with magic keyframes: you move the camera to each stop along the way, and Pano2VR works out the timing.
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In the Tour Browser, select the 3D model node.
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Check the model’s Units / Meter setting. The walk and fly speeds are in meters, so the timing is only right when the model’s scale is.
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Open the Animation Editor by clicking the Animation button in the Toolbar.
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Click the Add/Duplicate Clip button, give the clip a title, and click OK. The clip starts with keyframes for the node’s default view, including the camera position and the camera mode.
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Click the Magic Keyframes Settings button and set the 3D Walk Speed and the 3D Fly Speed. The fly speed is used while the camera is in Fly mode, the walk speed in all other modes. Click OK.
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To start in a different camera mode, double-click the first keyframe of the Camera Mode track and choose the mode, for example Walk.
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In the Viewer, move the camera to the next stop along the way. See Camera Modes for how to move in each mode.
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Click Add Magic Keyframes. Pano2VR adds keyframes for the view and the camera position after the last keyframe, timed so that the camera moves at the walk or fly speed, and moves the playhead to them.
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Repeat steps 7 and 8 for each stop.
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To change the camera mode partway, make sure the playhead is on the last keyframe, choose the new mode in the Camera Mode track’s menu, and click the track’s Toggle Keyframe button. Then continue adding magic keyframes.
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Press Page Up to go back to the start, then press the Space bar to play the clip.
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Fine-tune the flight. Drag keyframes to change the timing, or select them, right-click one, and choose Smooth Continuous Bezier Keyframes for a smoother path. See Editing Keyframes.
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To play the flight in your tour, open the web output’s Autorotation & Animation settings, select Animation, and choose the sequence that contains the clip.
The Animation output renders panoramas only. It leaves the clips of 3D model nodes out and tells you which ones.