Initiates the calculation of animation frames based on settings (above)
and the random optical environment. Note that this only does the frame
calculations; it does not display the resulting frames as animation content.
(See "Start Animation")
Cancel Animation Generation
Cancels the animation calculation.
Start Animation
Begins playback of a calculated animation.
Pause Animation
Freezes playback of the animation
Reset
Unfreezes a paused animation, causing playback to resume
at the point where it was previously paused.
Stop Animation
Stops playback of the animation. Starting animation after a stop
causes the animation to restart from the beginning.
Randomize Environment
Repopulates the virtual "optical environment" with random objects. The
optical environment remains unchanged between animation regenerations unless
this button is pressed or the page is reloaded, even though changes to the
settings can impact the dimensions and precision of the generated frames.
How to use this page to create animations - step-by-step
Adjust the various settings to reflect desired animation characteristics,
or leave the settings unchanged and proceed with the default values. (Starting
with the defaults is a good place to start the first time.)
Press "Generate Animation" to generate the frame data for an animation.
This step can be time-consuming and the time required will vary based
on the various settings. As the animation creation proceeds, its progress
can be monitored by observing the "Animation status". Do not
press "Cancel Animation Generation" unless you explicitly want to cancel
all of the animation generation calculation and start over.
Press "Start Animation" to actually display the calculated animation. This
animation will loop indefinitely once started unless you intervene.
While the animation is playing, you may choose to Pause or Stop its playback.
If you do so, the calculated animation frames will not be lost and the animation
can be easily and quickly restarted via the "Restart" or "Start Animation"
buttons.
If a different random arrangement of objects in the virtual environment is desired
then you can press the "Randomize Environment" button, then (optionally) change
one or more settings, and then press "Generate Animation" to recalculate the animation.
(Remember
that you will still have to press "Start Animation" after the animation has been calculated.)
Before generating a high-resolution animation (i.e. large dimensions, small pixels, many frames, etc.),
you may find it useful to repeatedly (if necessary) generate animations at lower
resolution before then changing the settings for higher resolution without
pressing the "Randomize Environment" button again. Then, once an low-resolution animation has
the desired composition, change settings again to re-generate using higher resolution.