Properties for the 3D Graphics Window - Record Movie
The Record Movie properties allow you to control how individual or sequential frames of animation are captured and saved.
If the window size is changed during recording of WMV or AVI, all frames prior to the resize will be lost. Animation should be paused before the property page is brought up to disable recording when in full screen mode.
Off. By default, recording is disabled. When you select one of the following recording methods, frames are recorded and saved when you animate the scenario.
Record every Animation Time Step. Captures frames once for each animation time step.
Record in Real Time. Saves animation frames at the interval specified in the Record Every field in the Output Options group box.
Output Options
Use the following Output Options to define settings for saving animation frames.
| Option | Description |
|---|---|
| Directory | Specifies the directory in which the image files are to be stored. |
| File Name Prefix | The prefix to be used for each frame saved to an image file for the recording session. |
| Start Frame # | The first number in the sequence. The frame number increments for each subsequent frame, unless otherwise specified. |
| Min Digits in File Name | The minimum number of digits in the image file name. |
| File Format | The image file format used when saving frames. The file extension is automatically included in the file name. |
| Record Every | If you choose to record in real time, you'll also need to specify the time between frames. |
| Codec | For the video format only. The algorithm used to compress the movie. The default is H.264. For more information, see Choosing a Codec. |
| Framerate | For the WMV format only. Indicates the number of animation frames that are played per second. A higher framerate will play back more smoothly, but will require a higher bitrate to maintain the image quality. Do not set this value higher than your monitor refresh rate. The default is 30. The maximum on many computer systems is 60. |
| Bitrate | For the video format only. Indicates the target amount of disk space each second of video should take in kilobits. Larger numbers produce larger movie files, with better quality. For more information, see Choosing a Bitrate. |
| Record Every | If you choose to record in real time, you'll also need to specify the time between frames. |
Anti-Aliasing
Use. If selected, supports anti-aliasing. You must first enable Support Scene Anti-Aliasing at the application level before you create the window in which images are to be captured, in order for anti-aliasing options to be used effectively.
Preload Textures
If selected, preloads globe textures which ensures that the correct resolution textures are loaded for each animation frame. Preloading textures improves visual quality which is useful for recording animation. If not selected, you will be able to move more smoothly around the 3D graphics window but the correct resolution texture may not fully load until you stop moving the cursor.
This is a global setting and affects all 3D Graphics windows in the scenario.
If the central body imagery appears pixelated, you can decrease the pixelation by increasing the Chunk Image Cache on the Scenario 3D Graphics Global Attributes property page. This allows more and higher resolution imagery to load.
Lens Flare
When this option is enabled, the lens flare emulates the Sun's light bouncing between inner elements within a camera's lens. This creates "ghost" copies of the Sun in a line across the screen. These are only visible when the Sun is near the center of the screen and not blocked by the aircraft body.
Vignette
When this option is enabled, the edges of the 3D Graphics window become darker than the center. The brightness of overlaid text annotations are not affected by this option. Vignette emulates a real-world effect present in some lenses and filters, where more light is permitted through the center of the lens barrel. The digital version of this can sometimes improve contrast between the STK image and the annotations. The strength ranges from about 0.001 to 5.0, but is most useful in the default strength of 1.0.