Make Movie dialog-box

Background: A cycling, 3D model is quite CPU intensive. As a result, commercial video software may skip a machine step when recording the screen. The Make Movie dialog-box does not skip any machine steps.

Use the File menu / toolbar > Make Movie to record a movie

• to a single file: use the GIF file-type.

or

•to a sequenced number of images, use PNG, JPG, or BMP file-types

The images are at equal machine steps and synchronized with the Master Machine Angle.

Icon-MakeMovie

File toolbar > Make Movie
Make Movie dialog-box

Make Movie dialog-box

Top-Tip - Before you open the Make-Movie dialog-box, click Run menu > Home

To open the Make Movie dialog

or

The default 'box-frame' shows in the graphic-area.

1.Edit the 'size and position' of the box-frame, the 'file-name and file-type', and 'number-of-frames', start-angle and end-angle
2.Record the movie [GIF], or images [PNG, JPG, BMP]

tog_minus        Frame Size and Position 

Dialog-13.2-MakeMovie-FamSize

Pre-set Frame Size...

1.Use the 'Pre-set Frame Size...' list-box to select one 'frame size'

- or -

1.Edit Width and Height to define the size of the frame.

Top-Tip: If you use a 'Pre-set Frame Size', click the 'Left' box to take the 'blue-focus' away from the 'Pre-set Frame Size...' list-box.

2.Edit Top and Left to position the frame in the graphic-area.

tog_minus        File-name and File-type 

Dialog-13.2-MakeMovie-FileType

File-path and File-Type button

1.Click the File-name and file-type... button

Use the standard Windows® Save As dialog to:

a.Browse to a path and enter a 'File-name' [Enter a file-name that ends with a 'letter' and not a number - e.g. ModelName-A]
b.Select a file-type from the 'Save as type' list box
2.Click 'Save' in the dialog

The File-path and File-name show in the Make-Movie dialog-box.

PNG, JPG, JPEG, BMP file-types.

MechDesigner saves one image file for each frame. See Number-of-Frames

•Enter a file-name that ends with a 'letter' and not a number.

MechDesigner appends 001, 002, 003, ... to the name of each image. For example: Hinge-A000.png, Hinge-A001, Hinge-A002, ... "Hinge-A" & "Number-of-Frames"

•To compile separate PNG images as a movie, I use Avidemux 2.6. But there are many other free tools on the internet.

In Avidemux2.6:

1.Open the first image in the numbered sequence - e.g. Hinge-A000.png

You need to import only the first image, as Avidemux2.6 automatically imports images in a numbered sequence.

2.Save the movie with the MP4 movie format.

MP4, with the x264 codec, is the recommended format for YouTube®. The files are small and without much loss.

GIF file-type.

MechDesigner saves a movie in GIF format. Note: GIF files can be very large when the frame-size is large.

tog_minus        Make Movie. 

Dialog-13.2-MakeMovie-MakeMovie

Number-of-Frames

1.Edit the Number-of-Frames box [Default = 30 Frames, Minimum=5 ; Maximum=10000]
2.Edit the Machine Start Angle [Default=0 ;  Maximum > Minimum ≥ 0]
3.Edit the Machine End Angle [Default=360 ; 720 ≥ Maximum > Minimum]

Note-Pencil-20: 720 is 2x full machine cycles.

Make Movie... button

Note-Pencil-20: Before you click the Make Movie... button, move the model to Home, with Run toolbar > Home

4.Click Make Movie button.

When you click the Make Movie button, the model moves the model to the Start Angle and 'Makes the Movie'.

If the model does not appear to complete a machine cycle, please wait, as the movie, or images, are being saved to your PC.

 

Tutorial and Reference Help Files for MechDesigner and MotionDesigner 13.2 + © Machine, Mechanism, Motion and Cam Design Software by PSMotion Ltd