Animation

) to define and export a movie or series of images based on a plot group. Play the animation in a web browser or use it in presentations or on a website. You can also use it as a player directly in the COMSOL Desktop Graphics window. Use this node, for example, to export multiple images for different time steps or eigenvalues.

Right-click (

) and choose to create an node set up for a player, or choose to create an node set up for a exporting a movie or images to files.

From the list, choose (the default when the node was added as a Player) to play the movie directly in the COMSOL Desktop, or choose (the default when the node was added as a File) to export the animation to file as a movie or as an image sequence.

Select an : (the default) to generate a single movie file containing all the images, or to generate multiple image files, one for each frame. This section is only available when the is set to .

Enter a including a path to save it to your computer, or click and navigate to where you want to the output. For example, navigate to the desktop and enter a in the dialog box, then select a image file type from the list: , , or .

The text entered in the field is used for all the images generated. For example, if image is entered, select as the file type, and if there are 11 frames in the movie, 11 files are created: image01.png, image02.png, …, image11.png.

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If is selected, select a for the movie: (the default), , , or . For any movie or video format, enter a path and include a . Or click and navigate to where you want to the output. Also enter a number of (the default is 10).

Select the check box if you want the program to always display a dialog box for specifying where to store the movie or images.

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If is selected, the check box is selected by default. Click to clear the check box if you do not want interpolation between the frames.

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If is selected, enter a , a scalar value between 0 and 1. The default is 0.75.

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If is selected, select the choose a (compression format): (the default) or . VP9 is a compression format that is a successor to VP8 and that is customized for video resolutions greater than 1080p and also enables lossless compression. If you have chosen, select the check box for a lossless compression. If you do no select the check box, you can enter a parameter (a value between 0 and 1), where a higher values means a higher quality. The default is 0.6. The encoder uses VBR (variable bit rate), and a higher value for the quality parameter means a higher target bit rate. A higher quality value usually results in large file sizes and longer encoding times.

The default for the list is . Choose to specify the advanced parameters under Advanced Parameters for the WebM Video Format below.

	AVI is a file format that can contain video encoded in different ways. For movies using this format, you might also need to change the codec used for animations (in the Graphics and Plot Windows section of the Preferences dialog box). Use Windows Media Player to play AVI files.

The check box is selected by default. Select the check box to also enable parallel decoding when the check box is selected.

From the list, choose (the default) for no dithering or a level 1–5. Dither is low volume noise, and dithering adds white noise to reduce distortion of low-amplitude signals.

From the list, choose (the default) or . If you have selected the check box, this setting is not available.

From the list, choose one of the following color spaces: , , (the default), or .

	Each selected animation sequence component creates a frame in the movie or an individual image file.

The default, , is useful to animate time-dependent solutions or across the eigenmodes for an eigenvalue or eigenfrequency solution or across the parametric solutions for a solution from a parametric sweep. If is selected:

From the list, select the steps or parameter values to : (the default), or if applicable, a parameter or combination of parameters, any parameter in a study, or the . If is selected, a list appears that contains all combinations of parameter values and times (if applicable).

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: For parametric sweep studies where there are multiple inner solutions (for example, a parameter sweep around a time-dependent solution), and are also available, typically corresponding to and parameter values, respectively. Typically, an animation shows variations looping over a parameter, frequency, or time; animating all solutions might be useful to get an overview of all solutions that the model contains.

If you choose to loop over , select the set to animate, then the time steps, which you can select, using the list, as (a list of all stored times), or (a text field where you can specify any times within the time range directly). See Volume Integration, Surface Integration, and Line Integration and Global for more information about the inner and outer solutions.

If you choose to loop over (that is, the parameters from the parametric sweep), the list contains all combinations of parameter values. Select as needed, then select an option from the list: , (the default), or .

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If a parameter or combination of parameters are selected to loop over, choose an option from the list: (the default), to select from a list of all parameter combinations, or to enter a range of parameter value indices directly (or click the button (

)).

If the model includes other parametric sweeps or frequency sweeps, specify the value of those parameters for the frames in the animation in separate lists. Also, if the model includes a time-dependent solution, select a time step from the list, or select to specify any time within the time span in the text field that appears.

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If you select to loop over the , for time-dependent problems, choose an option from the list: to use all time steps, to select from a list of all time steps, to enter a range of times as indices directly, or to enter . If the model contains a parametric sweep, select an option from the list.

Use a to animate the changes resulting from a sweep of the values for a defined result parameter (found under ). Using a parameter you can, for example, animate a sweep of the position of a slice across the geometry in a slice plot using it in the slice coordinates. Typically, you can use a result parameter in text fields for coordinates. It is not possible to use a result parameter in, for example, text fields for expressions.

If is selected, choose a from the list (or select ), which contains all result parameters, and define an interval for the parameter values using the and fields and a unit in the field, if desired (the parameter’s unit appears here if it exists).

If is selected, choose a from the list (or select ), which contains all global parameters, and define an interval for the parameter values using the and fields and a unit in the field, if desired (the parameter’s unit appears here if it exists). It is not possible to use a global parameter in, for example, text fields for expressions.

Use a , for example, to animate the dynamics of an eigenmode in an eigenfrequency or eigenvalue solution. In such a dynamic data extension, the full harmonic cycle (the default) is the normal choice. You can also use it to animate a stationary solution even if there is no obvious interpretation of the animation.

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— half a sine wave (the solution phase grows linearly from 0 to 180°)

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— a linear ramp (Re(eiα), where α is the phase, grows linearly from 0 to 1)

Select when you want to animate streamlines with moving arrows to indicate some fluid flow, for example. From the list, choose the streamline plot to animate from any existing plot nodes.

If the selected is Stored Solutions, choose a : (to play all solutions in the stored solution) or . For any sequence type, or if number of frames is selected here, enter the . The default is 25 frames.

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For , select the check box to keep the original animation width and height. In the and fields, enter the number of pixels (px) for the generated image size. The default value is 640 pixels (width) by 480 pixels (height).

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If required, select the check box.

If the is set to , and to preview individual frames, enter the or select it using the slider. Observe the geometry in the window to see the number.

Use this section, when the is set to , to adjust some settings that affect the playing of the recorded plots. In the field, enter the time to display each frame (in seconds) to control how fast the player runs (default value: 0.1 s). Select the check box to replay the sequence of plots repeatedly instead of playing it just once.

At the top of the window, click (

) (or right-click the node) to regenerate the animation if it has not already been generated. Then the frame of the animation corresponding to the settings for the player is shown.

Right-click the node and select (

). Watch each cycle from beginning to end in the window. You can also use the buttons on the window to (

) and (

), and (

) and (

) to cycle through the animation.

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By default, the , (1D graphs) or (2D plots); ; and (1D and 2D plots) or , , , , and (3D plots) parts of the graphics are included. To edit the default, select the check box and click to clear or select one or several of the available check boxes.

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Enter a (pt) for the text in the animation frames. The default is 9 pt.

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Select a : (the default) or . If is selected, click to select a custom color background to replace the default, which is white. Select to use the background in the plot group, which is a blue gradient background for 3D plots and white for 2D and 1D plots.

By default, the check box is selected, which means that all frames in the animation use the same color scale, isosurface levels, deformation scale, and so on. This synchronization makes areas with the same solution values keep the same color, for example, during the entire animation. Click to clear the check box to make the scales and levels adapt to the solution in each frame. This can be useful, for example, for time-dependent simulations of transient phenomena where the magnitude of the solution changes significantly during the time stepping. With the synchronization active, it can then be difficult to distinguish small variations in the solution.

Click the button (

) in the window or right-click the node and select to export the animation to a file, if is set to . The animation file is exported to the location on your computer previously specified. The window confirms where the files are exported as specified in the section. Click the button (

) to refresh the window. This is useful if you have disabled in the node’s window and change the in the animation.