Animations change properties of objects. Animations map input values to output property values. The input value is most often time, but you can use property values too. Animations can be either background animations or are triggered by events.
In Kanzi you can create:
In Kanzi animations are formed using:
Animation data object contains keyframes and target property for the animation. One animation data object can target one property data attribute of one property. Animation data objects are independent from the objects they target, so animations targeting different objects can share the same animation data. For example, you can use Animation Data objects to create event-driven animations. See Triggering animations with the Play Animation action.
In Animation Data object each keyframe maps an input value to an output value, which are floating point numbers. Boolean values are mapped so that values less than 1 return false and values that are equal or greater than 1 return true. Input values can be time or property values, which are used in property driven animations, bindings, or transition layer transitions.
Kanzi loads keyframes into memory on demand. An animation is kept in the memory while it is used (for example, during an edit operation in the animation clip editor), and saved to disk after the modification is complete. See Editing animation clips.
Animation clips contain animation data objects and are used for editing animations. Animation clips can share animation data. Use animation child clips to create hierarchical animations and use the animation clip itself to target a specific object. Make the animation clips to target a hierarchy of children of the targeted object.
You can set the hierarchy of target nodes for animation child clips using the Target property. You can set this property using relative paths (for example, ./Box) or, if you set the Reference for Targeting property in the parent clip, absolute references. If you are using absolute references, set the reference to the object that the clip is set to target. The paths are still be passed to the Kanzi Engine as relative paths using the reference. See Editing animation clips.
Timeline entries set the entry points for animation clips. A timeline entry defines the type of contained animation input. The available input types are time and property value.
Timeline entries also specify which objects the animations target. Kanzi Studio passes the targeted objects to the Kanzi Engine as a relative path. When you set the Reference for Absolute Paths property in a timeline sequence, the timeline entry can track the relative path of the object you set using an absolute path. Set this reference to the object where the sequence is instantiated. For example, for a scene’s background sequence, set the reference to the scene itself.
Timeline entries can blend an animation clip they contain. This functionality is used based on hosting timeline sequence level and the entry weight property set in each entry. Entry Weight is defined by Blending Mode and Weight, where Weight is the ratio in which the blending is calculated based on the Blending Mode you selected. If Blending Mode is set to None, blending is not made for the animation. See Editing timeline sequences.
Timeline sequences are sets of timeline entries. Timeline entries can target specific items inside the scope of a timeline sequence. With timeline entries you can manipulate animations, including repetition, scaling, targeting, and blending.
A timeline sequence is usually set as a background animation for an object, and the entries of a timeline sequence target items contained by that object. To set a timeline sequence as a backround sequence, start it using the Play Animation action in the Node Attached to Graph trigger. For scenes you can do this using the scene’s Background Sequence property. See Editing timeline sequences.
Animation sharing is when one animation animates several or a group of objects. All animations in Kanzi are shared. You can use animation clips and data items multiple times in multiple contexts. You can select the target for an animation in the Play Animation action, for timeline entries in timeline sequences, and for animation child clips for hierarchical animations.
Target animation takes the animated property’s starting value from the object's current property value and the target value from a designated target object's current property value. To use the target animation set a new value for the target object’s property and trigger the animation. As the new animation takes its new starting value from the current property value, the animations run smoothly even if launched in the middle of an ongoing animation.
Animating an object for the duration of its lifetime