Animating constraints

[Anonymous]

Hi, 

I know there are lots of similar posts related to this but im going crazy reading them all with no success.

I have made a fairly complex assembly that contains fairly complex sub-assemblies. All I want to do is animate some constraints instead of clicking, hold, and dragging the components around with the mouse like an idiot to show someone the design.

From the top level I want to animate a rotational constraint within a sub-assembly. This works fine from within that assembly but not from the top level. In the top level, this rotational constraint directly affects the movement of other assemblies which are all also rotating. I just want to press play and watch.

I have very little experience with presentations but I feel its probably not the answer since it would be extremely difficult to get all the "tweaks" right to operate correctly. 

Can someone please explain to me how to do this? slowly? lol

Thanks

Sandro

[mcgyvr]

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@Anonymous wrote:

Hi, 

I know there are lots of similar posts related to this but im going crazy reading them all with no success.

I have made a fairly complex assembly that contains fairly complex sub-assemblies. All I want to do is animate some constraints instead of clicking, hold, and dragging the components around with the mouse like an idiot to show someone the design.

From the top level I want to animate a rotational constraint within a sub-assembly. This works fine from within that assembly but not from the top level. In the top level, this rotational constraint directly affects the movement of other assemblies which are all also rotating. I just want to press play and watch.

I have very little experience with presentations but I feel its probably not the answer since it would be extremely difficult to get all the "tweaks" right to operate correctly. 

Can someone please explain to me how to do this? slowly? lol

Thanks

Sandro

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You       likely      want      to       use     Inventor       studio         if           you     want     full     control       over       timed      or       precise       assembly        movements...      Slow.        enough?...

Some    help      material      is      in     this    link   below   

https://knowledge.autodesk.com/search-result/caas/CloudHelp/cloudhelp/2017/ENU/Inventor-Help/files/G...

as      well      as     here  

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=__EjxKIsy9E

and      various       other        places              by                   searching "autodesk inventor studio animation tutorial"                in              google..

http://lmgtfy.com/?q=autodesk+inventor+studio+animation+tutorial

[Anonymous]

mcgyvr, thanks for responding. I checked out one of those links are will try to find the time tomorrow to do a tutorial. I really thought this was going to be such a simple process since I could drive the constraint in the subassembly so easily and move everything so easily in the top level. 

I dont understand why my rotational joint constraint is not available to select within the studio. this is the constraint that will move everything and it doesnt show up there? please explain.

[mcgyvr]

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@Anonymous wrote:

mcgyvr, thanks for responding. I checked out one of those links are will try to find the time tomorrow to do a tutorial. I really thought this was going to be such a simple process since I could drive the constraint in the subassembly so easily and move everything so easily in the top level. 

I dont understand why my rotational joint constraint is not available to select within the studio. this is the constraint that will move everything and it doesnt show up there? please explain.

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@Anonymous Quick test and it seems that "joints" may not be supported but constraints are..

Joints are a "fairly" new function and with Autodesks "multi-stage" implementation processes now they may not have gotten around to allowing joints to function in that environment "yet"..  

[doug.johnston]

Sandro,

You will need to animate your constraints in Inventor Studio (as mentioned), but if you want to show the movement in the main assembly quickly, you will need to make your sub-assembly "flexible" and use the "click and hold" method.

I do this all the time to quickly check clearances between components, then use Studio, if I need to demonstrate the movements to others as a movie.

mcgyvr  - LOL !!!  ..... you must work with Engineers !!!    

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[Anonymous]

mcgyvr, 

as usual, every problem I have has no solution. I guess ill forget about this animation for now. This is really annoying because I can drive the joint constraint from within the sub assembly but not the top level. I feel like if i would have just built everything component by component in one massive assembly file, this would work. 

[TheCADWhisperer]

I will make significant wager that there is a logical and relatively simple solution... but... without an assembly - all is a guess.

[mcgyvr]

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@Anonymous wrote:

mcgyvr, 

as usual, every problem I have has no solution. I guess ill forget about this animation for now. This is really annoying because I can drive the joint constraint from within the sub assembly but not the top level. I feel like if i would have just built everything component by component in one massive assembly file, this would work. 

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Well.. There is a solution.. It just likely involves redoing all your joints as regular constraints to allow studio to use/animate them..

The "limitation" of joints not working in Studio animations is something that should be better documented..

@bob_holland Bob here is another example of a confusing help document (I can do this all day Bob.. hire me to run your help documentation team )... 

https://knowledge.autodesk.com/support/inventor-products/learn-explore/caas/CloudHelp/cloudhelp/2018...

This one implies that "relationships" which cover both joints and constraints can be animated in Studio.. Thats just wrong..

[kelly.young]

Hello @Anonymous not sure if this will help, but if you have a Constraint that you want to Animate, first check it as Key in Parameters:

Then enter into the Studio Environment > Manage > Parameter Favorites > Check Favorite:

Then it will show up in the Animation Favorites for you to be able to Animate Constraints/Parameters.

Hope that helps!

Please select the Accept as Solution button if a post solves your issue or answers your question.

[Anonymous]

Hi Kelly, 

Thanks for trying to help but I followed your instructions and was still unsuccessful. My rotational joint has limits set for open and closed. Maybe this would work without the limits as I would animation a full rotation but this does not work for me. 

[kelly.young]

Hello @Anonymous what version of Inventor are you using, 2017 still or have you upgraded? 

Here is a screencast showing how to setup a Rotational Joint and create an Animation with Inventor Studio:

I later set the Limits to 90°-180° and the animation still functioned so that shouldn't be an issue. 

If you can attach a simplified assembly with Pack & Go that would be helpful to investigate. Thanks!

Please select the Accept as Solution button if a post solves your issue or answers your question.

[Anonymous]

Hi Kelly, 

Thanks again for your continuing support. I have followed the screen cast and I may be one step closer. This process only works in the sub-assembly that contains the rotational joint. In the top level assembly, this same joint affects the movement of other parts so if i am able to drive the rotation from the top level, i expect the other parts to move. however, the rotational joint animation wont even work in the top level assembly. 

[johnsonshiue]

Hi! I think we will have to take a look at the files to comment further. Either there is a bug or the constraints were not applied properly. Please share an example exhibiting the behavior here.

Many thanks!

[Anonymous]

Hi, 

I would like to but it is sensitive information. Could you please provide a safe link 

[kelly.young]

Hello @Anonymous you can send the files to johnson.shiue@autodesk or kelly.young@autodesk.com and be covered by the non-disclosure agreement you signed when joining the forum and ours as employees. 

You can use Pack & Go as .zip to share the files easily. 

Please select the Accept as Solution button if a post solves your issue or answers your question.

[Anonymous]

Hi Kelly, 

Unfortunately my file is 11 MB which is over your max. I would think Autodesk would have a slightly larger max size lol. Please send an alternate method to share the file.

[doug.johnston]

Can you recreate your issue by creating a new model showing your workflow that is similar to your sensitive model ??

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[kelly.young]

@Anonymous received the files, thanks. Will investigate further.

[kelly.young · Accepted solution]

Hello @Anonymous you were very close. The issue is that you have the Flap Valve set to Flexible. You have to turn this off in order to Animate Parameter d77.

I think that when you have the assembly set to flexible the ability to animate the constraint is suppressed.

Please select the Accept as Solution button if a post solves your issue or answers your question.

[Anonymous]

Wow...thank you. Yet again another issue solved by something so simple yet impossible to logically trouble shoot.

I appreciate the help! This fixed it perfectly. I will have to remember this one for the future. I hope Autodesk changes this!