Animating Assemblies in

Inventor:

Applications in MAE3

Dor Ashur
Dr. Nathan Delson
 Lecture Overview
• Review of Constraints
• Animation Basics
• Two methods to specify animation movement
• Recording an animation
Constraints Animation Basics Animation Methods Recording Animation

Constraints Basics
Constraints can be made between any two of the
following:
• Face (Origin plane, flat, curved or cylindrical)
• Edge (straight, round or circle)
• Point

2 Constraints cannot conflict

You may need to re-constrain your assembly to correctly
animate your parts.
Constraints Animation Basics Animation Methods Recording Animation

Types of Constraints
• Mate • Angle
• Insert

• Flush • Tangent
Constraints Animation Basics Animation Methods Recording Animation

Animations In Inventor

Simple Animations – Driving Constraints

• Drive a single DOF within an assembly

Complex Animations - Inventor Animation Studio

• Creates sequence of motion events in a timeline.

• Required to animate complete robot
Constraints Animation Basics Animation Methods Recording Animation

Animation Overview
Make sure your assembly is properly constrained

Test the animation a constraint : Right click Æ Drive Constraint

Open Inventor Studio : Applications Menu

Animate Constraint : Animate Components :

Control the change in offset Control the change in coordinates

Save your animation

Constraints Animation Basics Animation Methods Recording Animation

Driving Constraints

Use Drive Constraints while still in the assembly mode,

as a test run for animating one constraint.

(Right click on the constraint and choose “Drive

Constraint”)
Constraints Animation Basics Animation Methods Recording Animation

Inventor Studio
Screen Shot
To Access Inventor Animation Studio:
“Applications” Æ “Inventor Studio”

Animate
Components

Animate
Constraints

Part Animation Timeline

Tree
Action Editor
 Simple Tutorial

Animating with Inventor Studio tutorials can also be

accessed through the “Getting Started” page under “Try
it Tutorials”
Constraints Animation Basics Animation Methods Recording Animation

Animation Methods in
Inventor Studio

Animating Animating
Constraints Components

Change the offset of a “Free Motion”

constraint over a set
Change the x, y, z and
time.
rotational components
over a set time
Ex: Angle constraint goes
from 0 to 90° in 5 second.
Ex: Ball moves +5” in the
y-axis and - 4” in the z-axis
in 1 second.
 Constraints Animation Basics Animation Methods Recording Animation

Animating Constraints
Procedure
• Inventor Animation Studio allows you to drive
multiple constraints at once
• Right click on the constraint and choose “Animate
Constraint”

Options: Specify:
• Drive Constraint • End Position
• Enable Constraint • Start Time
• Suppress Constraint • End Time

Use the timeline and action editor to easily edit actions

Constraints Animation Basics Animation Methods Recording Animation

Animating Components
Example of Ball Launching
1. In Inventor Studio choose “Animate Components”.
2. Select the object you want to move and click on “Position”
Input the Δx, Δy Δz coordinates by:
• Clicking on the axis, plane or black ball to input 1, 2 or 3 coordinates
respectively
or
• Clicking and dragging
on an axis.

Input the rotation coordinates about the x, y and z axis by:

• Clicking on that axis and entering the rotation angle, or dragging the
mouse through that rotation angle.
Constraints Animation Basics Animation Methods Recording Animation

Recording Animation to .Avi file

• Maximum file size for MAE3 animation and presentation is

100 MB (they will be posted on the web), maximum
length is 10 sec.
• Avoid “Rendering” these beautiful images are hard disk
hogs!
• Lower the frame or the compression ratio to decrease the
size if needed.
 Animation Overview
Make sure your assembly is properly constrained

Test the animation a constraint : Right click Æ Drive Constraint

Open Inventor Studio : Applications Menu

Animate Constraint : Animate Components :

Control the change in offset Control the change in coordinates

Save your animation