Render animation

Render videos of your product, animating lights and cameras.

Rendering an animation outputs the animation according to the settings you specify in the render dialog box. There are three tabs in the dialog box that provide settings based on the selections you make on the General tab. We recommend using the Preview Render option to confirm the camera shows the animation in the way you want.

Before you render an animation, must make sure that no productions are active. In the browser, expand the production folder and if a production is active, it will have a check mark next to it, right-click and deactivate it. Active productions take precedence over active animations at render time.

Attention: When rendering, productions have precedence over animations. To render an animation, and not a production, deactivate any active production. Right-click the production and select Activate to deactivate it.

Specify rendering settings for an animation. On the ribbon, click Render tab Render panel Render Animation .

Set the options on the General tab
- Height and Width Specifies the width and height for output of rendered animations. To choose from most recently used values, click the arrow on the input box and select from the menu. You can adjust any value in the input box.
- Camera Specifies the camera for the active document.
- Lighting Style Provides a list of Lighting Styles from which to select. If no lighting styles are available, animations are rendered with the default lighting style.
Note: When rendering an animation, not a production, you can only record one camera at a time. If you want to use multiple cameras when rendering the animation you must use Video Producer or other video editing software.
Set the options on the Output tab (Render Image only).
On the Output tab specify whether to render all or part of the animation. You may choose to render the animation in reverse. Provide the output file name and type (.avi, .wmv, or static images) and the frame rate. Use Preview render to quickly see the results. Preview render uses the scene or Environment lighting from the modeling environment instead of Studio lighting.
- Save Rendered Image When selected, activates the file browser, and starts the Open dialog box where you can enter a name, select a location, and choose a WMV or AVI. If you select WMV as an output type, use the Custom option for Network Bandwidth with a value of 700 or higher.
- Browse window Shows the path and file name selected or entered to save the rendering. Click the browse icon on the right to start the Open dialog box.
- Time Range Use a time range to produce segments of the animation. Specify the range in seconds or frames. To specify frames, use the letter ‘f’ after the value, for example, 24f to 124f.
  Entire Animation Specifies the start and end times for the entire animation. To use the Measure command or choose from most recently used values, click the arrow on the input box and select from the menu. You can adjust any value in the input box.
  
  Specified Time Range Specifies the start and end times for a segment of the animation. Start time must be less than or equal to end time. To choose from most recently used values, click the arrow on the input box and select from the menu. You can adjust any value in the input box. The specified time range is expressed by seconds as a default. However, the time range can be expressed in terms of frames by specifying the number followed by the letter “f”.
  
  Reverse When selected, the animation records in reverse, from the end time to the start time. The time edit controls display the appropriate reversal.
- Format
  You can specify video output or image output which results in each frame being output as an image. You would compile these in a third-party editor to produce the animation.
  
  Video Format Specifies the video format.
  
  Image Sequence Format Specifies the image sequence format.
- Preview: No Render Use this option to preview the output in a file. Lighting and scene information is not rendered. When selected, renders a preview animation using model scene elements such as lighting, shadows, and reflection.
  Note: Preview Render records the animation using model scene elements such as lighting, shadows, and reflection.
- Frame Rate Specifies a value for frames per second. You select the value from the list. As a gauge, typical television and movie frame rates are between 24 and 30 fps.
- Launch Player When selected, starts the player for video format only.
Set the options on the Renderer tab (Render Image only)
- Render Duration
  - Render Time Sets the duration of the rendering. The number of iterations (and resulting quality) completed in the render duration depends on CPU speed.
  - Render by iteration Sets the number of render iterations per frame. The time required to complete the render is based on the number of frames multiplied by the number of iterations per frame, and the CPU speed.
  - Until Satisfactory Sets unlimited rendering. The rendering may be stopped manually.
- Lighting and Material Accuracy
  - Mode Sets the duration of the rendering. The number of iterations (and resulting quality) in a particular time interval depends on CPU speed.
  - Image Filtering (Antialising) Determines how multiple samples are combined into a single pixel value to soften or sharpen the final image.
    - Box - uses an equal weight across the sampled area.
    - Triangle - the least filtering happens at the edges of the sampled area. Use this option when you want to preserve sharpness.
    - Gaussian - uses a sloped curve, weighting the sampled area gently at the top and toward the edge of the sampled area. This filtering method is often used to control the staircase artifact effect.
    - Lanczos - uses a narrower, less bell-shaped curve than the Gaussian filter. This option is good for final render, but does increase rendering time.
    - Mitchell - uses a narrower bell-shaped curve than the Gaussian. This option is good for final render, but does increase rendering time.