Have you just finished your 3D CAD model and want to show it off in an awesome 3D walk-through animation? The best tool for the job is SOLIDWORKS Composer. You can use it to create static 2D snapshots of your model or complicated 3D animations quickly and easily. It’s great for clearly conveying steps for assembly instructions or to help show off your model for marketing or sales purposes. SOLIDWORKS Composer is the go-to tool for creating the technical content you need to go along with your SOLIDWORKS models. In this Video Tech Tip, Application Engineer Mike Souders shows off the power of animations in Composer, specifically focusing on how to modify camera paths.

Creating an Animation

When creating an animation using SOLIDWORKS Composer you can use the timeline to add camera keys, but you can also use a hybrid technique known as storyboarding. For this method, you simply drag and drop the views created in Composer at a specific point on the timeline. These views capture everything from the look, position and orientation, to the state of other actors such as arrows, balloons and callouts. What makes this method so great is that Composer will interpolate between views giving you an effortless way to create detailed animations. Getting familiar with navigating through the timeline will help you regardless of which method you choose to create a great animation.

 Ready to take your SOLIDWORKS Composer skills to the next level? Sign up for a training course today!