CATIA V5 R20

- How to generate an animation with Catia DMU Fitting workbench ?- How to capture a video ?- How to make movie re-arrangements ?

EDMS:1155564

Twisting Octopus – DMU FittingCE

RN –

EN

MM

E

TABLE OF CONTENTSCE

RN –

EN

MM

E

1 – Tool choosing guide to perform an animation

2 – DMU Fitting – Before getting started : Warnings!!!

3 – DMU Fitting workbench – Basic functionalities

4 – DMU Fitting specific time notion…

5 – DMU Fitting – Camera creation and camera travelling

6 – BB Flashback Pro – Motion capture

7 – Vegas Pro – Video arrangement

8 - Conclusions

1 – Tool choosing guideCE

RN –

EN

MM

E

Two workbenches are available to generate an animation in Catia :- DMU Fitting - DMU Kinematics

However, there are many differences between these tools which you might know of before opting for one of them.

Indeed, the DMU Kinematics module is very powerfull when it comes to movement analysis. You can of course generate an animation with this workbench but it will take a lot of time to reach a satisfying result especially on complex assemblies. This tool is specifically designed to perform highly accurate accelerations or speeds measurements on any motion point. Mainly for stress analysis purpose.

Whereas, the DMU Fitting module is completely focused on motion simulation. Moreover, it’s much more easier to implement an animation with this module.Best solution to perform a "fast" animation.

2 – Before getting Started : WARNINGS!!!

Here is a list of things you might take into account before starting the animation with the DMU Fitting module :

I highly recommend to create a "mirror" assembly of the original assembly composed of CGR files of each mobile sub-element for the following reasons :

- If you choose to perform the motion on the original assembly, Catia will request an update of all the sub assembly drawings each time you will play the animation and save the modifications. Highly pervert effect Huge time consumption Huge quality impact

- The motion of heavy assemblies requests a lot of memory from the computer. If it is too big, you will probably get lags in the motion simulation. CGR files are greatly lighter to handle for the software. Convert any mobile element of your animation into CGR files.

CERN

– E

N M

ME

2 – Before getting Started : WARNINGS!!!

- Design the "mirror assembly" in the initial position of the animation (which is not necessarily its original design position !...). You should also remove all assembly constraints (heavy to calculate) and fix all elements. It might seems stupid but it can help you to save a lot of time…

- Before you start designing any movement, I would recommend that you write down the whole scenario of the animation on a piece of paper. It avoids to forget a step in the process which will be very hard to insert at a later stage.

Once you have all the elements listed here above, you are ready to start the animation with the DMU Fittings module!...

CERN

– E

N M

ME

3 – DMU Fitting : Basic FunctionalitiesCE

RN –

EN

MM

E

DMU Fitting Workbench

Color / Visibility Action

Track

Edit Sequence

Simulation PlayerSwept Volume

ShuttleReset Position

Clash Detection On/Off/Stop

3 – DMU Fitting : Basic FunctionalitiesDMU Fitting workbench main functions description :

- Track : Enables the creation of movement tracks to animate parts, assemblies or shuttles. The displacement of elements is done with the Catia compass (try to use entire values such as 100mm, 45°, …).

- Shuttle : Enables the creation of group of elements moving together.

- Color/Visibility Action : Enables the change of graphic properties (color, transparency, show, or hide) of selected elements during the animation.

- Edit Sequence : Enables the ordering of tracks in chronological order. You can play tracks simultaneously to combine movements or one after another.

- Simulation Player : Enables the play of the whole sequence or a single track.

- Reset Position : Reset the assembly to its original configuration.

- Swept Volume : Enables the creation of a maximum space allocation volume which can be saved as a CGR file (very useful function).

- Clash Detection On/Off/Stop : Enables to perform a clash analysis detection during the simulation (You can even stop the simulation when the first clash is encountered).

CERN

– E

N M

ME

4 – DMU Fitting : A Specific Time Notion…

The DMU Fitting simulation uses several time divisions as every single movement as its own duration as well as every sequence. I won’t enter in huge explanations regarding this particular point but I’ll try to give you tricks to avoid getting lost with it.

The best is to forget the time factor of each operation to focus on the whole animation duration only. Then every action will only be a fraction of time of the global time.

To do so, try to fix a duration target from the beginning (i.e. 90 seconds).

Then look at the storyboard you have previously established and divide the global time by the total number of movements and you get the duration of any actions.

You will be able to change it then. Play the simulation and adjust the global time to speed up the movie or slow it down if necessary.

According to me, this is the most complicated setting of this tool especially because you will have to adjust this speed very wisely to get a smooth motion capture later on...

CERN

– E

N M

ME

5 – Camera creation & Camera travelling

The DMU Fitting Workbench also allows the creation and animation of cameras (Travelling).

However, there are a few things I would recommend to avoid tricky surprises :

The camera creation must be the last action (once the complete motion simulation is fully achieved).

Then, comes the Camera track creation. Enter the camera view and move your assembly with the mouse then save the new position, move again, save position… It is the best way to ensure that the camera is correctly oriented and focus on what you need look at.All camera movements must be performed in a one-shot operation otherwise, you will observe some cuts in the movie.

If you want to see the whole motion simulation through the camera view point, you have to enter the camera view first then launch the simulation player.

CERN

– E

N M

ME

6 – BB Flashback Pro – Motion Capture

Catia V5 R20 allows to record videos but it is very limited.

You can use it to capture small videos as explained in the dedicated FAQ :

https://espace.cern.ch/cad-service/faq/General/Video%20From%20Catia.aspx

But for heavy or long length videos, you will probably have to use a more appropriated software.

Useful trick : I have adjusted the simulation speed at 1/25 of the normal speed in order to capture 25 images per second. Once the video captured, I have accelerated it x25 to come back to the real speed. This way, I get a very smooth motion rate in the video.

For the current movie, the video acquisition has been performed with "BB Flashback Pro" which was kindly provided by our CAD support team.

CERN

– E

N M

ME

7 – Vegas Pro – Video ArrangementCE

RN –

EN

MM

E

The video arrangement has been performed with Sony Vegas Pro.

8 – Conclusions

The DMU Fitting module allows to create a motion simulation quite easily.

Nevertheless it demands a fair experience with Catia and a high personal stringency to reach a satisfying result. That’s why I think this module is mostly reserved for advanced Catia users.

Do not hesitate to follow a dedicated training should you see any additional value in DMU Fitting / Kinematics for your own projects.

In the present case, a simple video of 7 minutes will provide a safe working environment for any new users of the Twisting Octopus concept. This interactive users’ guide is a high efficiency training method which will be integrated faster and better than any traditional paper users’ guide. So I think it worth the time spent on it…

Enjoy…

CERN

– E

N M

ME