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      <title>Merge Animations/Animation Sequencer Dialog</title>
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      <div class="title_topic4" id="xps10_pagetitle">Merge Animations/Animation Sequencer Dialog</div>
      <hr noshade="true">
      <p class="para_topic"> The Merge Animations option allows you to combine MPEG video clips into a single MPEG movie. You can specify multiple MPEG video clips for the movie, and include transitions. A video clip could be an entire MPEG movie or a range of frames from an MPEG movie.</p>
      <p align="center"><img align="bottom" src="graphics/vie_8viewfr06.gif"></p>
      <p class="para_topic"> Animation Sequencer</p>
      <p class="para_topic"> Selecting the Merge Animation option opens the Animation Sequencer dialog. Once you have used the dialog to define clips and transitions into a desired sequence, clicking OK or Apply creates a new MPEG movie.</p>
      <p class="para_topic"> If the processing a large movie and it's too time consuming, you can abort the MPEG file generation by pressing &lt;Ctrl&gt;&lt;Shift&gt;L.</p>
      <div class="title_division"> MPEG Sequence</div>
      <p class="para_division"> The MPEG Sequence area of the Animation Sequencer dialog consists of a scrolled list box containing entries for MPEG clips and transitions, and a set of option buttons you can use to modify the list. Entries in the list start with the name of either an MPEG clip or a transition type. The list also includes two parameters for each entry, representing either the start and end frames of an MPEG clip, or the length and overlay status of a transition (APP for appended or OVR for overlay).</p>
      <p align="center"><img align="bottom" src="graphics/vie_8viewfr05.gif"></p>
      <div class="title_division">MPEG Sequence Dialog</div>
      <table border="0" cellpadding="2" cellspacing="3" width="100%" align="center">
         <tr>
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               <p class="para_td"> Option</p>
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            <td bgcolor="#c0c0c0" colspan="1" rowspan="1" valign="top" width="80%">
               <p class="para_td"> Description</p>
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               <p class="para_td"> Import and Export</p>
            </td>
            <td bgcolor="#f4f4f4" colspan="1" rowspan="1" valign="top">
               <p class="para_td"> Reads or writes the contents of the MPEG Sequence list box to or from a file. The buttons initially display a file selection box that lets you select the input or output file. The default extension for the file is &quot;.msq&quot;. For an Import operation you can turn on the Clear Current Sequence toggle in the file selection dialog to replace the existing animation sequence with the import data. If this toggle is not set on, the imported sequence data is appended to the current MPEG sequence.</p>
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            <td bgcolor="#f4f4f4" colspan="1" rowspan="1" valign="top">
               <p class="para_td"> Move Up and Move Down</p>
            </td>
            <td bgcolor="#f4f4f4" colspan="1" rowspan="1" valign="top">
               <p class="para_td"> Reorders the sequence by moving selected items in the list.</p>
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            <td bgcolor="#f4f4f4" colspan="1" rowspan="1" valign="top">
               <p class="para_td"> Update</p>
            </td>
            <td bgcolor="#f4f4f4" colspan="1" rowspan="1" valign="top">
               <p class="para_td"> Works on the selected item in the MPEG Sequence list box, and updates that item with the current data in the associated edit area of the dialog.</p>
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            <td bgcolor="#f4f4f4" colspan="1" rowspan="1" valign="top">
               <p class="para_td"> Delete</p>
            </td>
            <td bgcolor="#f4f4f4" colspan="1" rowspan="1" valign="top">
               <p class="para_td"> Removes the selected item from the MPEG Sequence list box.</p>
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               <p class="para_td"> Add New MPEG Clip</p>
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               <p class="para_td"> Inserts a new MPEG clip into the MPEG Sequence list box, based on the data from the MPEG Clip Edit area of the dialog. The new MPEG clip is inserted either below the currently selected item,or at the end of the list if nothing is currently selected.</p>
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               <p class="para_td"> Add New Transition</p>
            </td>
            <td bgcolor="#f4f4f4" colspan="1" rowspan="1" valign="top">
               <p class="para_td"> Inserts a new transition into the MPEG Sequence list box, based on the settings in the Transition Edit area of the dialog. The new transition is inserted below the currently selected item or at the end of the list if nothing is currently selected.</p>
            </td>
         </tr>
      </table><br><p class="para_division"> The animation sequence you build is not actually stored in the part file, since the animation is not necessarily part specific. During a NX session the animation sequence is retained.</p>
      <p class="para_division"> When you execute the merge function by selectingApply or OK, the current animation sequence is automatically saved to a default file, def_merge.msq. This file is written to the current working directory of the NX session. When you first open the Animation Sequencer dialog in a session, the system attempts to import the default file as the initial sequence. You can change the name and location of the default file by assigning a pathname to the NX environment variable UGII_MPEG_MERGE_SEQ_FILE.</p>
      <div class="title_division"> MPEG Clip Edit</div>
      <p class="para_division"> Highlighting an MPEG clip entry in the MPEG Sequence list box displays the parameters for the clip in the MPEG Clip Edit area.</p>
      <p align="center"><img align="bottom" src="graphics/vie_8viewfr04.gif"></p>
      <p class="para_division"> You can edit the start frame and end frame of a selected MPEG clip by changing the parameters in the Start Frame and End Frame fields and then clicking the Update button.</p>
      <p class="para_division"> To add a new MPEG clip to the sequence, click the Specify MPEG Clip File button and select a movie clip from the file list dialog. You can narrow the contents of the selected clip to the portion you want to use by entering start and end frame numbers in the Start Frame and End Frame fields. When the parameters for the new MPEG clip are specified, press the Add New MPEG Clip button.</p>
      <p class="para_division"> The software uses a convention where the first frame of an MPEG sequence begins with zero. The end frame number must be greater than the starting frame number. </p>
      <div class="title_division"> Transition Edit</div>
      <p class="para_division"> The Transition Edit area of the Animation Sequencer dialog allows you to add and edit transitions in the MPEG Sequence list box. A selected transition displays its parameters in the Transition Edit area, where you can edit them. You can edit the transition type, the length of the transition and whether the transition overlaps adjoining clips or is appended to them.</p>
      <p align="center"><img align="bottom" src="graphics/vie_8viewfr03.gif"></p>
      <div class="title_division">Transition Type</div>
      <p class="para_division"> The Style option menu allows you to select one of the following transition types:</p>
      <table border="0" cellpadding="2" cellspacing="3" align="center">
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            <td bgcolor="#c0c0c0" colspan="1" rowspan="1" valign="top">
               <p class="para_td"> Option</p>
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            <td bgcolor="#c0c0c0" colspan="1" rowspan="1" valign="top">
               <p class="para_td"> Description</p>
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            <td bgcolor="#f4f4f4" colspan="1" rowspan="1" valign="top" width="20%">
               <p class="para_td"> No Fade</p>
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            <td bgcolor="#f4f4f4" colspan="1" rowspan="1" valign="top" width="80%">
               <p class="para_td"> The clips are appended to each other with no transition.</p>
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               <p class="para_td"> From Black</p>
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               <p class="para_td"> The transition begins with black, with the image gradually fading into view. This style is usually used at the start of a movie.</p>
            </td>
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            <td bgcolor="#f4f4f4" colspan="1" rowspan="1" valign="top" width="20%">
               <p class="para_td"> To Black</p>
            </td>
            <td bgcolor="#f4f4f4" colspan="1" rowspan="1" valign="top" width="80%">
               <p class="para_td"> The transition begins with the normal image and gradually fades to black. This style is usually used at the end of a movie.</p>
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            <td bgcolor="#f4f4f4" colspan="1" rowspan="1" valign="top" width="20%">
               <p class="para_td"> Fade Out/In</p>
            </td>
            <td bgcolor="#f4f4f4" colspan="1" rowspan="1" valign="top" width="80%">
               <p class="para_td"> A transition between clips, where you start with one MPEG clip, fade to black, and then fade into a second clip.</p>
            </td>
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            <td bgcolor="#f4f4f4" colspan="1" rowspan="1" valign="top" width="20%">
               <p class="para_td"> Cross Fade</p>
            </td>
            <td bgcolor="#f4f4f4" colspan="1" rowspan="1" valign="top" width="80%">
               <p class="para_td"> A transition between clips that basically fades from one image into another.</p>
            </td>
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            <td bgcolor="#f4f4f4" colspan="1" rowspan="1" valign="top" width="20%">
               <p class="para_td"> Vertical Wipe</p>
            </td>
            <td bgcolor="#f4f4f4" colspan="1" rowspan="1" valign="top" width="80%">
               <p class="para_td"> A second clip, starting at the top of the frame and proceeding downward gradually replaces the first clip.</p>
            </td>
         </tr>
      </table><br><p class="para_division"> Except for No Fade, each transition has two parameters, the length of the transition, specified by the entry in the Length (frames) field, and the Overlay toggle setting, which controls whether the transition is appended or overlapping.</p>
      <p class="para_division"> The number of frames you enter in the Length (frames) field controls the length of the transition, and represents the number of frames over which the transition is applied. This setting indirectly controls the rate of change for the transition. For No Fade, the length is always set at zero.</p>
      <p class="para_division"> You can use the Add New Transition option to create a new transition based on the current Transition Edit settings. The new transition is added to the MPEG Sequence list, following the selected entry.</p>
      <p class="para_division"> You can use the Update option to update the currently selected transition in the MPEG Sequencer list box with any changes you make to its parameters.</p>
      <div class="title_division"> Appended and Overlayed Transitions</div>
      <p class="para_division"> The setting of the Overlay toggle determines how a transition is applied between two clips. When the Overlay toggle is OFF, the transition starts immediately, following the last frame of the leading clip, and stopping immediately prior to the first frame of the next clip. The result is an appended transition.</p>
      <p align="center"><img align="bottom" src="graphics/vie_8viewfr02.gif"></p>
      <p class="para_division"> Appended Transition</p>
      <p class="para_division"> A Cross Fade with the Overlay toggle OFF, for example, would begin with the last image in clip 1 and then &quot;morph&quot; to the first image in clip 2. In this case the two clips appear to stop while the transition occurs. The total number of output frames would be the length of clip 1 + the length of clip 2 + the length of the transition.</p>
      <p class="para_division"> When the Overlay toggle is ON the result is an overlay transition, where the final frames of clip 1 overlay the first frames of clip 2. While the two clips overlay each other, the transition is applied.</p>
      <p align="center"><img align="bottom" src="graphics/vie_8viewfr00.gif"></p>
      <p class="para_division"> Overlay Transition</p>
      <p class="para_division"> If the example in the above figure used a Cross Fade transition type, the movie would start to fade while part way through clip 1, and the full transition to clip 2 would occur somewhere in the middle of clip 2. In this case, the two clips appear to be in motion while the transition occurs.</p>
      <p class="para_division"> The length of a transition cannot be longer than the length of a clip and in a full sequence multiple transitions cannot overlap. The total number of output frames from the movie in the sample would be the length of clip 1 + the length of clip 2 - the length of the transition.</p>
      <div class="title_division"> MPEG File</div>
      <p class="para_division"> The Specify MPEG Output File button allows you to select the name for the output MPEG movie file. Clicking the option button opens a file selection dialog for you to specify the name.  </p>
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