2009

Table Of Contents
Chapter 36. Overview
In Autodesk NavisWorks Simulate 2009 you can animate your model and interact with it. For example,
you could animate how a crane moves around a site, or how a car is assembled or dismantled, and so on.
With a few mouse clicks, you can also create interaction scripts, which link your animations to specific
events, such as ‘On Key Press’ or ‘On Collision’. So, for example, a conveyor belt will move when you
press a button on your keyboard, the doors will open as you approach them in your model.
Animations created in Autodesk NavisWorks Simulate 2009 can be played in all NavisWorks 2009
products, including Freedom.
Combining the Presenter functionality with Object Animation enables you to greatly enhance the realism
of your exported AVI movies, whether for marketing purposes or for instructional training.
Linking TimeLiner and Object Animation together enables the triggering and scheduling of object
movement based on start time and duration of project tasks, and can help you with workspace and
process planning. For example, a TimeLiner sequence may indicate that when a particular site crane
moves from its start point to its end point over the course of a particular afternoon, a workgroup working
nearby causes an obstruction along its route. This potential obstruction problem can be resolved before
going to site (e.g., the crane can be moved along a different route, the workgroup moved out of the way,
or the project schedule altered).
Linking Clash Detective and Object Animation together enables the checking of animated versus
animated or animated versus static object clashes. For example, linking a Clash Detective test to an
existing animation scene would automatically highlight clashes for both static and moving objects during
the animation, e.g. a crane rotating through the top of a building, a delivery lorry colliding with a
workgroup, etc.
It is also possible to link Clash Detective, TimeLiner, and Object Animation together to enable clash
testing of fully animated TimeLiner schedules. So, instead of visually inspecting a TimeLiner sequence to
make sure, for example, that the moving crane didn't collide with a workgroup, you can run a Clash
Detective test.
Basic terminology
An animation is a prepared sequence of changes to the model. The changes you can make in Autodesk
NavisWorks Simulate 2009 are:
Manipulating geometry objects by modifying their position, rotation, size, color, and transparency. This
type of change is referred to as an animation set.
Manipulating viewpoints by using different navigation modes (such as orbiting or flying), or by using
existing viewpoint animations. This type of change is referred to as a camera.
Manipulating section planes either by moving them, or by turning them on and off. This type of change
is referred to as a section plane set.
A script is a collection of actions that you want to happen when certain event conditions are met.
Scope
Autodesk NavisWorks Simulate 2009 supports both object animation and object interaction as follows:
380