How to start animating in BricsCAD
BricsCAD Pro and up packages have a number of tools available to it's users and one of those is animation.
This is not something BricsCAD shouts about so we will bring attention to a feature some people might find some use in but one thing to note is that this is not supported on MacOS or Linux.
To get started in BricsCAD open a 3D file and make sure your are using the Pro version and above if running the trial.
To change which version your trial is in see this article.
Next either
- Run the command 'ANIMATIONEDITOROPEN'
- Go to View > Animation > Animation Editor
- Right click the toolbar > Panels > Animation Editor
Now that the Animation editor is open you have most of the tools to get started.
The main part is the timeline. This decides how long your animation will be.
To the right is your settings for the timeline as well as the selected camera.
To the left is What scenes and cameras you have available. The sun is also there but we'll stick to cameras for a basic starting point.
To add the camera to the timeline, first click the drop down where Sun is and select the right camera then the big plus to the left.
To add an animation to that camera look to the right hand side and change the settings so the Camera's position is Dynamic.
For the Path you will need to draw a line or even use a shape like square or circle to create a path that the camera could follow.
To make sure the camera points to the right object set the target point so the camera can focus on a specific point of your model.
Now all those settings are set on the left hand side once again click the plus next to the trash bin to add a blue box to the timeline. This dictates how long and when your animation starts and finishes, if you're having one animation then stretch the box to fill the timeline but if you multiple animations then set this first box up, change the settings and add another one and repeat until your film is complete.
Finally to render hit the Render Video button, check the settings and you're done!
If you cannot see all the options then make sure to stretch the box to see all your options.
This is designed as a quick start guide so get into the software and see what you can come up with!
Related Articles
Understanding BricsCAD Licences
A recent change has come in for BricsCAD licences meaning any new licences purchased after 17/03/25 only have one activation. Moving forward if you renew on time then you will keep your 2 activations but if you take a break from renewing then restart ...How to deactivate your BricsCAD licence
With the recent changes brought in users will now have to deactivate their licence more than ever, so here is a quick guide on how to deactivate your licence and move it onto your other machine. First open BricsCAD on your machine and select any of ...Extrude isn't finding the boundary correctly?
In BricsCAD a strange error that happens could be that when trying to extrude a 2D sketch, BricsCAD won't recognise the area of the shape as a boundary meaning you can't extrude This is a simple fix where you need to run a command called ...Getting started with Rhino
To start in Rhino head to the download page here and install Rhino. If you are on windows just remember to right click and ‘Run as administrator’ especially if using the Cloud Zoo features. Once downloaded and installed, you will be asked to log in. ...How do I run BricsCAD in a different trial version?
When you're in BricsCAD's trial mode, you can access all the features of a BricsCAD Ultimate licence. However, if you'd prefer to test a particular version, then you can use the following instructions to set the licence level. You'll need to use the ...