The Animation Panel

The Pisces Animation Panel.

The Animation panel allows users with interactive output devices to see a sequence of level sets in a one-parameter family of models.

How it works

The animation is created by the following algorithm:

The step size is computed by taking the difference between Ending Value and Starting Value and dividing that difference by the Number of Steps.
The value of the Parameter to Animate is saved.
The value of the Parameter to Animate is set to the Starting Value.
The Algorithm is called to compute the level set.
The Parameter to Animate is incremented by step size.
If the value of Parameter to Animate is less then or equal to the Ending Value then go to the previous step.
The value of the Parameter to Animate is restored.

Controlling the Animation Panel from Pisces

The Animation panel has the following fields:

Parameter to Animate: From the menu of the current model parameters, the selected parameter is the one which will be animated.
Starting Value: The value that the selected parameter takes for the first frame of the animation.
Ending Value: The value the selected parameter takes for the last frame of the animation.
Number of Steps: The number of frames of animation that will be produced. This must be a positive integer.
Algorithm: This menu selection determines method of computing the level set. The parameters for each algorithm may be set using the control panel specific to each algorithm.

To see the animation press the Go button. At any time after that during the animation you may stop it by pressing the Interrupt button which replaced the Go button for the duration of the animation.

Known Bugs

The menu's in the Animation Control panel do not change when the model is changed. The result is that the panel must be closed and reopened before the correct list of parameters is available. In addition, the currently selected parameter must be reselected as it is not reset when the panel is reopened.

In addition there is not check to make sure that the algorithm will work with the given model. This flaw is not specific to the Animation panel but does affect it's operation.

Bug Reports

software@geom.umn.edu

Implemented By

Mark Phillips. Popup menus added by John Golden and Erik Streed.

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