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Camera Animation Tool

Overview

The Camera Animation tool enables you to create "flythrough" animations and videos of your projects. You can set aspect ratios, speeds, points of view and fixed locations to focus on key areas of interest. Take control of the camera manually or let it progress along a defined path according to your preferences.

Feature Highlights

  • Create dynamic "flythrough" animations for project visualization.

  • Full camera control: position, rotation, field of view (FOV) and "Look at Points" for fixed focus.

  • Define camera paths with multiple intermediate points for complex movements.

  • Flexible timeline editing with keyframes and support for jump cuts.

  • Real-time animation preview within FieldTwin.

  • Export animations as .mp4 files in different aspect ratios and resolutions (HD, 4K, Portrait, UltraWide, XGA)

  • Easy sharing via view links with real-time playback.

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Accessing Camera Animation Tools

The Animation Preview and Animation Timeline panels are available under the Layout drop-down menu.

The Animation Timeline panel allows cutting, splicing and cropping of videos, offering high flexibility.

The Animation Preview panel shows a live preview of your animation.

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Creating a New Animation

  • Zoom into your area of interest in the Viewport.

  • Select Animation from the Create menu.

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  • A camera will be added automatically to the project and will appear in the Viewport.

  • The camera view is displayed in the Animation Preview panel.

  • Animations are listed in the Project View panel.

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  • The camera properties panel becomes accessible when the camera is selected.

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You can set the camera's starting position and rotation in the properties panel or by using move/rotate tools directly in the viewport.

Previously created animations can be selected in the Animation Timeline and Animation Preview panels using the drop-down box at the top.

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Creating an Animation Path

  • Select the camera in the 2D or 3D Viewport.

  • Drag the green marker along the timeline's time axis to set your first keyframe.

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  • Moving the camera in the viewport will create an animation path between start and end locations, shown as a pink dashed line.

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  • Use the back arrow and play buttons in the Animation Timeline panel to reset and play the animation.

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  • Zoom in and out on the time axis with the magnifying glass buttons.

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Camera Positioning

  • Move the camera freely in the Viewport or use the Camera Here button to position it quickly.

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  • Set XYZ coordinates manually in the camera properties panel if preferred.

  • Rotate the camera in the viewport or specify rotation in the properties panel; the animation transitions smoothly between rotation points.

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  • Add intermediary points by clicking on the animation path in the viewport. These points can be manipulated like Connection Designer nodes. Delete an intermediary point by right clicking on the point in the Viewport.

Note: Uncheck Connection Point Snapping in the Connections tab of the Settings panel to turn off point snapping guides.

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To anchor the animation around a fixed point:

  • Enable the Look at Point checkbox in the camera properties panel.

  • A green box representing the Look at Point appears in the Viewport, connected to the camera by a green line.

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  • Camera movement is anchored around this point and the camera aspect smoothly changes between Look at Point positions.

  • Intermediary Look at Points can be added to vary the fixed point. The Look at Point path will be shown as it's own green dashed line in the viewport.

  • Look at Points can be toggled on or off during the animation and controlled similarly to path points.

Use the FOV controls in the camera properties panel to zoom the field of view in or out.

Editing the Animation Timeline

  • Red keyframe markers appear below the timeline axis whenever camera properties change (position, rotation, Look At Point, FOV).

  • Drag these markers to adjust when keyframes occur.

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  • Delete a keyframe by pressing SHIFT + LEFT CLICK

  • Right-click a keyframe to create a Cut Point, disabling transitions from the previous keyframe. This allows instant camera jumps without showing movement. Cut Points appear as half-sized markers.

  • You can edit both sides of a jump cut: use the top and bottom half sized boxes to set the attribute state immediately before and after the cut.

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Exporting Animations

  • Click the camera icon in the Animation Preview panel to open export settings after selecting the Resolution.

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Supported Export Formats

Format Aspect Ratio Resolution (pixels)
HD 16:9 1920 × 1080
4K 16:9 3840 × 2160
Portrait 9:16 1080 × 1920
UltraWide 21:9 2560 × 1080
XGA 4:3 1024 × 768
  • Select compression (Small File size, Balanced or Best Quality) and frame rate (24, 30 or 60 FPS) from the drop-down menus and press Start Render.

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  • The backend processes the rendering and the final video is available for Download.

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Sharing Camera Animations

Projects containing camera animations can be shared as View links with colleagues or customers. Recipients can watch the real-time looping animation and detach at any time to take manual control.

This feature is ideal for directing attention to specific routes or areas or for presentations.