referenceTutorials [2]

By: Ahui Herrera [3]
Posted/Revised: November 16, 2003

Knowledge Requirements
Basic knowledge in using POV-Ray
Being able to convert an LDraw file into a POV-Ray file
Familiar with Stages 1 (storyboards) and 2 (3D Modeling) of creating animations. (See LEGO Animation 101 for further reading)

Software Requirements
Make sure you have installed on your system the following.
POV-Ray [4]
Video Editing Software (Ulead MediaStudio Pro is used in tutorial)
DivX 4.11 Codec [5]

File Requirements
POV_Galaxy [6] (See readme.txt inside zip for installation instructions)
Ywing_ini.ini [7]
YWing.pov [8]
ComplexMotion.avi [9]

Optional Files
Title.png [10]
Credits.png [11]

What will you learn in this tutorial
This tutorial will teach the reader the basics in creating the illusion of movement in outer space. The reader will gain knowledge in writing his/her own POV-Ray code that will command the POV-Ray camera to move over a series of frames and how to create an initialization file (.ini). Next I will show the reader how to take the completed POV-Ray image frames and create an animation movie file using Ulead MediaStudio Pro. I will also briefly cover creating space backgrounds and placement of light sources.

Theory
In the tutorial LEGO Animation 101: Simple Movement [12] we left the camera in one place and made our object (train engine) move across the front of the camera. The logic was that the camera would capture any movement so long as the movement was in the line of sight of the camera’s lens. This is okay for simple linear one-plane movement like a train moving across a track. What about a fast attack airplane? Simple linear one-plane movement can be done but the results would look a bit dull and the sense of the plane moving fast would not be achieved. The solution is to give the perception of speed to the audience. This is achieved two ways: 1) Move the camera around the objects in question and 2) move the camera and the objects in question at the same time. See the example spaceships file (provide link to scene 1.avi) for an illustration of this. The first seconds of the movie the objects are doing the movement while the camera is in place. In the later part of the movie, the spaceships and moving and so is the camera. Okay so lets get started on our own project.

Step-by-Step Procedures
This tutorial will only focus on Stages 3 (Rendering) and 4 (Video Production) of creating an animation. Stages 1 (Storyboarding) and 2 (3D Modeling) were covered in tutorial LEGO Animation 101 and it is assumed that the reader is familiar with those two stages.

Stage 3: Rendering

Step 1: Opening The POV File
Create a folder called Ywing and put all the required files in it. Now open YWing.pov in Pov-Ray. YWing.pov was created using the L3PAO software to convert an Ldraw file into a Pov-Ray file. Upon first inspection this file may seem huge and a challenge to read. However, 98% of the information in this file will NOT be used.

Step 2: Important POV File Section
At the top of the file you will see a series of #declare lines. The only one important is the one highlighted in red in the image above.

#declare QUAL = 2; // Quality level

Make sure that the quality level is equal to 2 for FINAL rendering. It is recommended that you use level 1 when working on figuring out where to place the camera and when doing initial key animation frames if you have an older machine. Note that it is NOT RECOMMENED that you use level 3 unless one owns a high-end workstation PC or a dual-processor power Apple as rendering times per frame will take 5+ minutes. Level 3 requires A LOT of processing power and memory. The quality difference between 3 and 2 is not noticeable for animations. If you are doing still images, use quality 3 for the best results. I have done animation rendering on a dual P-3 1.4 GHz with 512 MB Ram machine and the time was still very slow.

Now scroll to the bottom of the file. Look for the commands that look similar to the image above. This is where the major parts of the animation hand coding will take place.

Object { Y_dash_Wing_space_Right_space_Back_dot_ldr… is the command line that tells POV-Ray that all the lines above it create the Y-Wing Model. If multiple objects were in the scene you should have 1 ‘final’ object line per item.

Background { color rgb <0,0,0>} tells POV-Ray to create a background with the color in parenthesis. One can change the color of the background by changing the values of the numbers. Rgb stands for red, green, and blue and acceptable values range from 0 to 1 for each color. Values above 1.0 can be used to create a bright neon color effect. The name of the game here is to experiment with the values. 0 means no color while 1 means full color saturation for the color in question.

Camera {… } is the command that lets POV-Ray know where the camera should be placed and in which direction it should be looking. The only thing to remember when working with the camera is that in ldraw the sky is on the –y axis. Thus when rendering in POV-Ray remember that the sky is in the –y axis.

Light_source { …. } is the command that lets POV-Ray know where to place lights in the environment. You need lights in order for the camera to see. Think of those big lights used in the photo studio. By placing the lights in various locations around the object you can get different effects.

Step 4: 1st Render of Y-Wing
Click on the run button to see what the current POV file looks like. If you do it you should get something like the image below.

In order to get this image ready to look like the final animation we need to add a background composed of stars and planets, relocated the light sources and move the camera a bit. Take a look at the final animation (ComplexMotion.avi) if you have done so yet to get an idea of what we will be doing.

Step 5: The Storyboard
The image below shows the major items that we will have to place in order to complete the final animation.

STep 6: Adding The Star Field
Notice that the entire scene is enclosed in a sphere called star field. If you just create a plain with a start field texture when you begin to move the camera the stars will not move correctly. To understand what I mean draw a bunch of stars on a piece of paper and then move the paper closer to you as if it is going to pass you by. You will notice that the stars are in a single plain and don’t have the 3D movement you see as the ones in the sky. Why? Because the ones in the sky are indeed in a very, very huge sphere! So in order for use to capture this in our animation we too must make the star field a sphere.

Add the following code to your POV file. You can read the Galaxy.htm for a detailed explanation of the commands below.

// Background:
// GALAXY INCLUDE FILE OPTIONS  
#declare galaxy_distance = 25000
#declare galaxy_seed = -3030
#declare galaxy_colour1 = <1.084, 1.250, 0.750>;
#declare galaxy_colour2 = <0.550, 0.484, 1.050>;
#declare galaxy_pattern_scale = 0.813;
#declare galaxy_pattern_origin = <-19.869, 16.733, -17.843>;
#declare galaxy_turb_origin = <-5.753, -12.661, -23.418>;
#declare galaxy_star_colouration = -0.315;

#declare galaxy_bgstars = 2;
#declare galaxy_bgnebula = 6;
#declare galaxy_nebula_sphere = 5;
#declare galaxy_nebula_ambient = <0.973, 1.029, 0.976>;

#declare galaxy_object_name = "Nebula2"
#declare galaxy_object_scale = 1.075;
#declare galaxy_object_flatten = 0.128;
#declare galaxy_object_rotate = 8.1;
#declare galaxy_cluster_name = "Star2"
#declare galaxy_cluster_objects = 8;
#declare galaxy_cluster_scale = 0.432;
#declare galaxy_cluster_rotate = -44.7;

#declare star_type = 2;
#declare star_colour = <1.000, 1.000, 1.000>;
#declare star_colour_turb = <0.100, 0.100, 0.100>;

#include "GALAXY.inc" 

Download the file Code_starfield.txt [13] here.

In general we are creating a sphere with a star field texture that is 25,000 units big. You want to make the sphere big because everything (props, lights and camera) must fit inside of it. To create a different star field or effects use the Rand.pov and Rand.ini files provided in the Galaxy.zip to generate 100 different star field scenes.

Now render the POV file again. You should get something that looks like this.

Step 7: Placing The Camera & Finding Camera Location #2
Looking at our latest rendering image and at our storyboard we can say that the current camera position is #2. Before we can place the planets and stars, however, we will need to move the camera to position #1 to get a better view of the universe. Currently our camera code is what L3P & L3PAO calculated. We need to simply this if we want to be able to control the camera ourselves. To do this we remove all the lines of codes in the camera statement. Next we need to find camera position #2 using our own lines of code. We are going to locate position #2 first because once we have it obtaining position #1 is just matter of backtracking on one of the axis and positions #3 and #4 are identical to #1 and #2 with the exception that they are looking in the opposite direction. Thus location #2 gives us most of the positions with the least amount of work.

This is perhaps the HARDEST part of the animation: Finding the camera position. There are some basic things to remember when looking for this position. First remember that the object is located at position <0,0,0> as we gave it this location in the LDraw file. So the best place to have the camera looking at is <0,0,0> (the center of the object). Secondly, place the camera close to the look at position at the beginning and do a quick render. Chances are that your camera is too close and you are either looking at the inside of the object or a very close up of the object. Something like the image below.

Once you have an image similar to this then start changing one value at a time and doing a rendering again. In my case the camera was at location <100,100,100> above so I changed the x-axis value on the next render to 0 getting <0,100,100> and so on until I came up with the final image. Lastly when doing this keep your numbers whole and use increments of 100s or 50s only. This way it’s easier to deal with the numbers when animation time comes. Also remember that you can use negative numbers. Location <100,-100,100> would have gave me a close up of the ship looking at it from above as oppose to below as in the image above.

Step 8: Placing The Camera & Finding Camera Location #1
By now you should have experimented enough in finding the camera location #2 that you know that we just need to pull back the camera from position #2 in the z-axis. The question is how much should we pull it back. There is no correct answer for this and it becomes a matter of taste. Note that in the image below I moved the camera in two directions (x-axis and z-axis). I pulled the camera back in the z-axis originally and did not like the image. See what I mean below. Note that your images, if rendered, will not have the pink planet or yellow star yet.

Location <0, -250, -3000>	Location <-700, -250, -3000>

The image on the right provides a better initial view of the starship. Thus I will use that location as my starting point and will move to position #2 from there. This will mean that I will be moving in two axes (x and z) instead of the original one (z-axis).

Step 9: Placing The Camera & Finding Camera Location #3 & #4
These last two locations are easy as they are a mirror image of locations #1 & #2. Below is what location #3 should look like.

Note that all I had to do was make the z-axis value the opposite it was than position #2. –600 z-axis became +600 z-axis.

Step 10: Adding The Pink Planet
In our final rendering image (camera position #3) above we can see that we are missing two items: the yellow sun and pink planet. To add the pink planet you use the following code. Place the code between the galaxy and camera code.

// Pink Planet Code
#declare My_Ground = pigment {
bozo
turbulence .4
octaves 6
omega 0.7
lambda 2
color_map {
[0.0 0.1 color rgb <0.14, 0.36, 0.10>
color rgb <0.36, 0.2, 0.061>]
[0.1 0.5 color rgb <0.36, 0.2, 0.061>
color rgbt <1, 1, 1, 1>]
[0.5 1.0 color rgbt <1, 1, 1, 1>
color rgbt <1, 1, 1, 1>]
}
scale 300
}

#declare My_Clouds = texture { pigment
{
bozo
turbulence 1
octaves 7
omega 0.7
lambda 2
color_map {
[0.0 0.1 color rgb <0.85, 0.85, 0.85>
color rgb <0.75, 0.75, 0.75>]
[0.1 0.5 color rgb <0.75, 0.75, 0.751>
color rgbt <1, 1, 1, 1>]
[0.5 1.0 color rgbt <1, 1, 1, 1>
color rgbt <1, 1, 1, 1>]
}
scale 850
}}

sphere
{ 
<-1000,-1000,0>, 400
pigment { color rgb <.19,.19,.29> }
texture { My_Ground }
texture { My_Clouds }

}

Download the file Code_PlanetTry1.txt [14] here.

Notice that this image is using camera position #4 and that the planet is not pink and you can’t see all of it. There appears to be not enough light. Before I go into fixing these problems let me tell you a bit about the code. Special thanks goes to the POV-Ray help files for creating this section of the code. We have two #declare statements that create two textures: My_Ground and My_Clouds. After that we created a sphere and placed the textures in it. The sphere is at location <-1000, -1000, 0> and it’s size it radius 400 units. The best way to appreciate this planet is to experiment with some of the values in the texture file and see what happens.

So how did I know what the location was? Experimentation, experimentation!

Now we need to fix the coloring of the planet to make it look pink because a bluish like planet looks too familiar. However, before we can fix the color we need to see the planet. What we need to do is add some light.

Step 11: Let There Be NO LIGHT!
Space is a dark place with the only light sources coming from stars. Currently, the planet has a realistic light shading but not the spaceship. While the planet has realistic shading it is all-wrong. Remember our storyboard? In the storyboard the planet has a sun (star) on the left of it, so the left side should be showing and not the right. This means we need to reposition and add some lights. Looking at our current POV file the last lines of code deal with the light sources. In the extreme event we can comment out all the current lights using the “//” to see the results. If you render the file you will get something like this.

As you can see the planet is black and you can barley make out the starship. So we need to play god and give this universe some light. “The light_source is not really an object. Light sources have no visible shape of their own. They are just points or areas which emit light.” (From the POV-RAY Help File)

So where do we place our light source? Well the easiest way is to start at the center of the planet and work our way from there. The center of the planet is <-1000, -1000, 0>. So if we start with that location for the light source and render the file you will notice that you get the same image as above. Why? Well from the location of where the camera is you can NOT see the light which is inside the planet! Thus we need to move the light source. The following code looks the most promising.

All that is left is to fit the color on the planet. To change the color of the planet change the pigment from <.19, .19, .39> to <.49, .19, .19>.

Step 12: To Add A Star
We will now add the yellow sun close by. To do this we use the following code. Insert the code after the pink planet code.

// LARGE STAR (Yellow Star)
#declare galaxy_object_name = "Star1"
#declare galaxy_color3 = <0,1,2>;
#declare galaxy_object_scale = 1;
#declare galaxy_object_position = <560, 45, -1000>;
#include "GALAXY.OBJ"

Download the file Code_YellowStar.txt [15] here.

Notice that our star location is not conforming to the whole numbers lecture I gave earlier. The reason for this is because moving in increments of 50s or 100s would be too big and the star would ‘fall off’ the screen. For more detailed information on the other commands refer to the galaxy.htm file.

Step 13: Adding Another Star
We will now change the camera position to #1 to get a view of the blue star. We could use the same star type as the yellow one but given the fact that we have four types of stars I will choose a different type. First we change the position of the camera and render the image. You should get the following image!

The image above doesn’t look nice does it? Remember we removed all the lights from the scene except the light source from the yellow sun. This code should provide us with the blue sun and the light it emits. Notice that I have used very high values for the light_source color. Basically the higher the values the brighter the light will be.

// Blue Star
#declare galaxy_object_name = "Star2"
#declare galaxy_color3 = <2,.2,.2>;
#declare galaxy_object_scale = 1.5;
#declare galaxy_object_position = <-10, 35, 0>;
#include "GALAXY.OBJ"  

Download the file Code_BlueStar.txt [16] here.

Step 14: Understanding a .ini file
If you have read Lego Animation 101 – Simple Movement then move on to step 15. To understand what an ini file will do I need to provide you with a little bit of history on creating film. At the basic level a video can have 25 or 30 (technically speaking 29.97) frames per second. These are the US standards; European standards are a bit different and will NOT be discussed here. In the movie theaters they use 30 frames per second. What this means is that each second the film camera is sending 30 frames to the screen. The human eye sees this as continues movement when in reality it is a series of still images that you are really seeing. One can go as low as 15 frames per second but at that rate the human eye will start to see that the movie is really a series of images.

So how does this correlate to our animation and the .ini file? Well the .ini file will let POV-Ray know how many images to render, what file to render, the size of each image, which frame to start and end with, and the final output file type.

Ini files are very easy to read. Look at the sample ini file above. The line numbers have been added to help explain each line of code.

Line 1 – Comment lines are command lines that POV-Ray will ignore. They are denoted by a “;” in front of them. You can write whatever you want in them.

Line 2 – Provides POV-Ray with the filename that it will render.

Line 4 & 5 – These lines inform POV-Ray what to name the first and last frame for the animation.

Line 6 & 7 – These lines inform POV-Ray where to start and end in the series of frames provided in lines 4 & 5. You use these commands only if you are NOT going to render the complete animation or need to restart from a certain point. This will make more sense in the next step.

Line 8 & 9 – Let POV-Ray know where to start and stop the clock variable. The clock variable is the most important item to remember when doing your animation. It is how you will get the camera to move position in each of the frames.

Line 10 & 11 – These provide the information need to know what size frames to create. Look at the QUICKERS.ini (default ini file) of POV-Ray for a list of common sizes.

Line 12 – Optional animation that will NOT be discussed in this tutorial

Line 13 – A POV-Ray option that will NOT be discussed in this tutorial

Line 14 – Provides the specification for the type of output file that POV-Ray should create.

Line 15 & 16 – Used to create smoothness in text so that it is easier to read in computer screens when set to ON.

Step 15: Creating a .ini file

This file has been provided at the beginning of the tutorial.

In the ini file above you can see that we have provide the filename of the file to render, the number of frames to render (5 secs of film x 30 frames per second = 150 frames), what frame size to create and output file type. I am using 320 x 240 for the file size as this will make a decent size video file with good quality but not create a very huge file. Look at the QUICKRES.ini file for different file sizes. You can choose whatever format type suits your needs, I know Ulead MediaStudio Pro 6.0 can handle the PNG format type so I will use it.

Now for the hard part of the file: the clock variable. The beauty of POV-Ray animation is that you only need to know the major points of your animation. These are called keyframes. Remember how we spend all that time looking for the four camera positions. Those are our keyframes! We need to provide POV-Ray with a way to knowing that these are the major points of our animation. The table below shows this more clearly.

As you can see from the table it is the clock value that will allow us to ‘move’ the position of the camera over each frame. Furthermore since we want a smooth incremental movement over time, POV-Ray will calculate the clock variable increments so this happens. Currently the clock variable will create values in increments of 0.0067. The clock will start at 0 and add 0.0067 to each frame’s clock variable until it gets to the 150th frame in which the clock will be at 1. Clock is moving from 0 to 1 in 150 frames. 1 divided 150 equal 0.0067. So we need a clock increment that will allow us to go from –700 to 0 on the X-Axis and –3000 to –600 on the Z-Axis. As you can tell these are not moving in the same increment so two clock values will be needed.

Step 16: Figuring Out the Clock Values
First we need to figure out how many seconds each camera transition is going to have. With a total of 3 transitions (1 to 2, 2 to 3, and 3 to 4) we must divide 3 by 5. This is going to give us a fraction number and I hate dealing with fractions so I will increase the total animation time by 1 sec. Thus each transition will be 2 seconds long. Since we have increase the total film time to 6 seconds we now must change the ini file to reflect this. We now have 180 frames as oppose to the earlier 150 frames.

Next we want to go from –700 to 0 in moving from position 1 to 2. How do you do that? Well you can say that the initial clock is 0 and the final clock is 700 and then set the camera command line to ‘location <-700 + clock, -250, -3000>’. This should work, right? No, you will move the camera the desired X-axis movement but NOT in the Z-axis. Also note that the clock we stated is for the entire length of the animation 6 seconds but the movement from position 1 to 2 is only 2 seconds. We can do two things. 1) Figure out the complex math that will give us the clock values we need over the length of animation or divide the animation into three smaller parts. It is always a good idea to create smaller animations for each of the keyframes transitions you may have. In our case we have 3 transitions so we will have three mini-animations.

Step 17: One Animation Becomes Three Mini-Animations – Mini-Animation 1
So now we have a 2 seconds animation which means that our ini file changes once more. We now only have 60 frames to deal with. Now if we do ‘location <-700 + clock, -250, -3000>’ we still have the problem of NOT moving in the Z-Axis. So we need to do some math. To get from position 1 to 2 on the X-Axis you must move 11.67 units per frame (700 units / 60 frames) but to move on the Z-Axis you must move 40 units per frame (2400 units (3000 – 600) / 60 frames). Thus there is a 28.33 difference between the two axis movements (40 – 11.67 = 28.33) So how do you solve this? See if you can understand the table below.

We start out with –700 and –3000. The next frame will have –688.33 and –2960. This is accomplished by decreasing the X-Axis by 11.67 and the Z-Axis by 40. The difference of the two axes is 28.33. If you continue to each additional frame you will notice that the difference continues to increase by an additional 28.33 between the two axes. This constant increase must somehow be related. That is where the constant comes in. If you divide the difference by the X-Axis increase (the clock) you get 2.427592 for each frame. That is the key for the animation. Look below for the code.

FOR INI FILE

Initial clock value = 0
Final clock value = 700

FOR POV FILE

#if (clock = 0)
Location <-700, -250, -3000>
#else 
Location <-700 + clock, -250, -3000 + clock + (clock * 2.427592)>
#end

If the clock is at 0 then we are at position 1 otherwise some movement in needed. Read the If…Else Statement out loud to yourself. “If the Clock is equal to 0 then the Location is… Else Locations is …” For the X-Axis the movement is dictated by the clock for the Z-Axis the clock movement is NOT enough for an additional 28.33 (the difference between the X and Z movement) is needed per frame! To get this additional movement we take the clock and multiple it by the constant we found. Now render the final frame of this mini-animation. To do this modify the Ywing_ini ini file to include the Subset_Start_Frame = 60 and SubSet_End_Frame = 60 and setting the ini file to Ywing_ini.ini in the ini options of POV-Ray. You should get something like this.

Notice how this render looks like our old camera position 2 render with one exception. There is too much light! Remember we set the blue sun light source to <4,4,4>. Well in the distance it looked okay but not anymore. So I think we should lower the light level to <2,2,2>. That should give you better results.

If you have read Lego Animation 101 – Simple Movement then move on to the next step. If you want only a section of the animation you must use the SubSet command in the ini file as we did above. The reason for this is say you stop the animation when the 15th file is completed. If you then come back and set the Initial_Frame = 16 and the Final_Frame = 60 then the clock calculations will be based on 45 frames and NOT the original 60 frames. Thus you must use Subset_Start_Frame = 16 and Subset_End_Frame = 60 for the clock variable to be based off the original 60 frames.

Step 18: Rendering Mini-Animation 1
Okay we our now ready to render the first 60 frames. First create a subfolder under the Ywing folder and call it Mini1. Now comment out the SubSet commands from the ini file and run the POV file. Once completed you should have 60 new .PNG files in the Ywing folder (YWing01.PNG … YWing60.PNG). Move these files to the subfolder Mini1. Congratulations you have just completed the first section of the animation.

Step 19: Mini-Animation 2
The transition form Camera Position 2 to 3 is much simpler than 1 to 2 because now we are only moving on one axis: the Z-Axis. The changes are as followed:

FOR INI FILE

Initial clock value = -600
Final clock value = 600

FOR POV FILE

Location <-700, -250, clock>

I commented out the commands for the mini-animation 1 but you can delete them if you like. I commented out just in case I need to later go back to them. Upon rendering the 60th frame you should have something like this.

Now create another subfolder under the Ywing folder and call it Mini2. Move the latest 60 images that have to the new folder.

Step 20: The Last Animation
Since the camera movement from Position 3 to 4 is mirrored to Position 1 to 2 no calculations are needed. This is what your commands should be:

FOR INI FILE

Initial clock value = 0
Final clock value = 700

FOR POV FILE

#if (clock = 0)
Location <0, -250, 600>
#else 
Location <CLOCK, 2.427592) * (clock + clock 600 -250,>
#end

Upon render the 60th frame you should have something like this.

Now create another subfolder under the Ywing folder and call it Mini3. Move the latest images into the new folder. You are now done with the animations rendering. Now it’s time start the video production.

Stage 4: Video Production
If you have read Lego Animation 101 – Simple Movement then you should know how to import and create your animation file. See step 6 to learn how to add a title and credits to your animation before completing the file. Otherwise skip this section and move on to the last section.

There are many video editing software packages available. I will be using Ulead MediaStudio Pro 6.0 because it’s the one I have and is pretty easy to use for our purposes. You can download the trial version of Ulead MediaStudio Pro 6.0 at the bottom of this tutorial. Also ensure that you download the DivX4.11 Codec. You can read more about DivX4.11 Codec from their website here [make the word here a link to http://www.divx.com] In a nutshell we will be creating a video file using the .avi format. Think of this format as a container that holds a) your movie, b) what type of compression you use for the movie, c) your sound (if any) and d) the compression you use for your sound. You don’t have to compress your video or sound if you don’t want to, but without compression video and sound files are huge! One example of a compression codec is very popular MP3 format. In our case, our animation will have video only. We will use the DivX 4.11 video codec because it’s one of the best ones in creating a high-quality video while keeping the final file size reasonable. Okay we are now ready to begin the final stage.

Step 1: Opening Ulead MediaStudio
Locate the Ulead MediaStudio Pro 6.0 folder in the Programs Folder of Windows and click on the Video Editor 6.0 icon. After opening MediasStudio you should see two windows: a timeline window and the Video Editor – Untitled window. Your screen should look like the one below

Step 2: Importing Our Images
Click on the insert menu on the toolbar menu of the Video Editor window and then image file. A pop up window will appear. Now browse for the MiniAni1 sub-folder in the Ywing folder. Locate the LAST file in the MiniAni1 folder the one that says Ywing60.png. Click on that file. Now hold the shift key and use the up arrow to select the rest of the files. This ensures that when you import the images Ywing01.png is the first image shown and not Ywing60.png. Now before you click on the open button look at the duration numbers. There are four sets of numbers here. One for the hours, minutes, seconds, and frames. As you might have guessed this lets MediaStudio know how long each image should be. In our case we want each image to be 1/30th of a second. Remember we needed 30 images per second. So set the numbers to 00 for hours, 00 for minutes, 00 for seconds, and 01 for frames. Now click on open.

Step 3: Inserting Images To Timeline
Your mouse should turn into a finger. Drag the finger to the timeline window and place the imported images into the VA timeline section. See image below for details.

The timeline image above has a lot of information. For our purposes we only need to worry about the VA timeline section. This section of the timeline deals with the A-Video. You can have multiple videos sections (VB, V1, V2, V3) when doing your movie but for our case we only need to concentrate on the VA section. Below the video sections are the Audio timeline sections. Aa corresponds to the audio section related to the video in section A. There is one special timeline section called Fx. This is for special transitions or effects.

Step 5: Importing Images Again (Mini-Animation 2 & 3)
Now we need to insert the images from Mini2. Insert the images the same way we did the previous images. Do the same for those images in Mini3. In the end should your time line should look this:

Remember to click on the last image first and use the shift key to select the rest of the images. A word of warning. Mini1 – Ywing60.png is the same image as Mini2 – Ywing01.png .Mini2 – Wying60.png and Mini3 – Ywing1.png are also the same. So when you import the next set of images you can either NOT import the duplicates. Since this animation is tiny (6 seconds), 2/30ths of a second more is NOT going to be noticed. This is something to keep in mind if you plan on doing a bigger animation.

Step 6: Adding A Title & Credits
This is an optional step. If you do not want to add a title and credits to your movie then go to step 7. You can edit the optional files I have provided to make your own title and credits. Or you can create your own using any graphical program. Just remember that the dimensions of the movie are 320 x 240. First we need to move the three animation clips on the timeline. Grab each of the animation clips and drag them to the V1, V2 or V3 timeline section. The location is not important right now but make sure that you know which clip is which.

Next insert the image called Title.png to the VA timeframe and give it a duration of 3 seconds. Insert the image Title.png again and this time give it a duration of 1 second. Now insert Mini1 – Ywing01.png and give it a duration of 1 second but put this image on the Vb timeline right below the 1 second Title.png image. Your timeline should look like this.

Note that I have enlarged my time line so that it is easier to view. Your timeline image may be smaller than this. Click on the icon in the red circle of the image above to look at the timeline display options.

Now click on the Window menu and check off the Production Library. A new window should appear called Production Library. This Library houses an assortment of special effects that can be placed on the FX timeline section. Choose the one you like and drag it onto the FX timeline between the two 1-second images. If you double click on it you can get more options for the particular effect your choose. Your timeline should now look like this.

Now place the animations images we imported early in the correct order on the Vb timeline. Next we insert Mini3 – Ywing60.png onto the Vb timeline with a 1 second duration. On the Va timeline in the same location as the newly inserted Mini3 – Ywing60.png slot we insert the credits.png image also with a duration of 1 second.

Choose another FX effect from the production library. Next insert the credits.png image again with a longer duration say 3 seconds. Your timeline should now look something like this.

Note that I have added something else after the credits image and look carefully at the arrows on my FX timeline section. They go down, up and then down again. Make sure that yours do the same go down and then up or vise versa depending on where you started you video. To change the direction of the arrow double click on the effect and choose the correct direction from the option window that appears.

Step 7: Creating the Video
Okay we are now ready to create the .avi file. Under the file menu of MediaStudio look for the create option. A small pop-up window will appear with several choices. Click on the Video File and a small pop-up window will appear. In the filename box type in YWing. Now click on the Option button and click on the compression tab. The default value for video compression is none. Scroll through the compression options until you find the DivX4.11 compression. Once selected click on the OK button. In the description area write “<YOUR name> copyright <CURRENT year>”. Finally choose a location to save the file and click on the save button. MedisStudio will now create the animation.

Step 8
Now go look for your file and double-click on it to see your animation. Congratulations you are done!

Final Thoughts
You may have notice several things a bit off with the final animation. First as the camera approaches the spaceship and goes over it there appears to be a ‘jump’ in the movie. This is because the 60 frames allocated for the movement from camera position 2 to 3 are NOT enough. The number of frames should be increased in this section to create a smoother camera movement. I will leave this up to the reader to fix. You can either increase the total amount of the movie or decrease the amount of time allocated to the other two mini-animations. Also note that the planet seems to move rather fast during this animation as. We could place the planet further back in the universe to not experience this. This will off course force us to change the location of the yellow sun and the light sources. But then again this is what animation is all about: Trial and Error.

Well, I hope you enjoyed and found this tutorial useful. It was fun writing it and if you have any questions feel free to email me at jedi_agh@yahoo.com [17] or visit my website at http://www.geocities.com/jedi_agh/. Remember that the best learning tool is to experiment with the software.