Anim8or_FoxLogo_Animation

=Animate your Fox Logo= include component="page" page="menu-foxlogo_animation" editable="1" There are a LOT of [|animated versions] of the Fox Logo - but it's wise for you to start small when learning 3D animation. This tutorial will walk you through two the simplest - Animating the spotlights.

There are THREE spotlights in behind the buildings that you can move. Here's how: (you may have done this already - if your pre-existing lightbeams aren't "perfect" this is a good time to rebuild them).
 * **1. Create a LIGHTBEAM object**
 * IMPORTANT*: Draw a cylinder straight up starting at the origin (middle) - location 0,0,0
 * Double click and make the cylinder about 300 units long with a start of 5 units and an end of 7 units
 * Make sure it has a LAT value of only 1
 * It should have a transparency value of about .15, and you can try adding an light blue emissive value of .80

This can be tricky, so follow each step carefully...
 * The "Center of Rotation" is wherever you START drawing the object from - your lightbeam will pivot from the BASE just like a real spotlight if you follow these instructions. || [[image:FoxLogo_Animate01.png]] ||
 * **2. Place your LIGHTBEAMS in the scene**
 * Go to SCENE Mode and choose (or build) the best scene to animate
 * If you don't already have them, use BUILD - ADD OBJECT five times to add all five spotlights
 * The ones in the back may have to be SCALED larger so they extend off the top of the frame. When you scale them, you should see them grow upward (from the "Center of Rotation". If not, remove the 'flawed" lightbeams with EDIT - DELETE ELEMENT, and build in the new one made in step 1 above
 * Rightmouseclick - ROTATE the beams to match the reference image - you should see them rotate from the bottom (if not, go back and use the ones made in step 1 above) || [[image:FoxLogo_Animate02.png]] ||
 * **3. PREP for animation:**
 * 1) Set your FRAMERATE
 * 2) Go to the VIEW | PREFERENCES dropdown menu
 * 3) Set the FRAME RATE to 30 fps (frames per second)
 * 4) Enable "Limit Playback" (this will keep the movie from going TOO fast in edit mode)
 * 5) Set your MOVIE LENGTH
 * 6) Choose SETTINGS | SCENE from the dropdown menu
 * 7) Name your scene appropriately
 * 8) Set the length of your movie to 150 frames for a 5 second animation (30fps x 5 secs is 150 frames)
 * 9) Open your TIMELINE
 * 10) Click on the little + sign at the bottom left beside "scene01"
 * 11) Click on the little + sign at the bottom left beside "world"
 * 12) Drag to enlarge the timeline window as necessary, and scroll down to the bottom of the list of "eobjects" - these are each of your "elements" that you built into the scene, the spotlights being at the bottom.

You're ready to go - these 3 steps are necessary ANYTIME you want to put animation into a scene. || || Make sure you're in the LEFTMOST "frame" of the timeline at the bottom of the screen. You can do this by hitting the "rewind" control button
 * **4. Begin creating KEYFRAMES**

> //KEYFRAMES are the basis of most modern animation - you use them to impose STARTING and ENDING positions for an object's movement, and then let the computer calculate how to move the object in between.//
 * 1) Click the KEYFRAME button - [[image:FoxLogo_Animate04b.png]]- it will turn GREEN
 * 1) Select the first lightbeam that you want to sway - choose the one in the back left hand side. Double click it and change it's name to "BEAM1" - You'll notice it becomes selected and renamed in timeline tracks at the bottom of the screen.
 * 2) LOCK THE STARTING POINT
 * 3) Use the ROTATE tool and gently RIGHT-MOUSECLICK the beam on the screen. Notice that a "KEYFRAME" appears in the BEAM1 timeline. This "nails down" the beam's starting point. We DON'T want to start moving it yet || [[image:FoxLogo_Animate04.png]] ||
 * **5. Create an ending KEYFRAME**
 * 1) Click on the BEAM1 track at the bottom at a point 2 seconds (60 frames) from the start - you'll see a vertical line there
 * 2) Use the RIGHT-ROTATE tool and rotate the beam onscreen just about 30 degrees or so to the right - like the sway of a real spotlight would. You'll see a NEW KEYFRAME appear in frame 60 of the BEAM1 track
 * 3) Hit rewind and try playing your animation to see the results so far!

This is a good time to SAVE YOUR WORK! || ||
 * **6. Bring it back to the starting position**
 * 1) Hit the FAST FORWARD button to go to the LAST frame of your scene (frame 149)
 * 2) Rotate the beam back roughly to it's starting point
 * 3) Tap the arrow keys on your keyboard to see how close you are to the actual starting point - see if you can adjust the final frame so that it closely matches the starting frame
 * 4) Try playing your animation to see the effect - Not bad eh?

SAVE YOUR WORK!

You can make your animation appear to LOOP by using the dropdown menu: OPTIONS - LOOP SCENE ||  ||
 * **7. Animate the other two "background" LIGHTBEAMS**
 * Just animate those lightbeams that have "hidden" bases - not the ones coming out of the spotlight building or the spotlight table
 * Follow the above steps - be sure to NAME the beams "BEAM2" and "BEAM3"
 * Try to make the sway appear natural - don't have the same "midpoint" frame for all three beams - that way they won't look like they're moving exactly the same way as the lightbeam beside them. ||  ||

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