Viewing Animations of Results

Simulation results from CarSim, TruckSim, and BikeSim models are viewed with an integrated animator called SurfAnim.

Easy to Use

To fit in with the rest of the software, SurfAnim is so easy to use that training is not required. View an animation with one button click, and interact with simple sweeping mouse movements.

• Use a single button click to view any existing run in the database.
• Change camera position and zoom in and out with the simulated camera using simple mouse sweeping motions.
• View road shapes that are generated automatically from the geometry specified for the vehicle math models.
• Control camera settings with a graphical interface in the database the same as used for all other parts of the simulated vehicle and testing.
• Assemble parts in the animation using the same graphical interface as used to assemble part of the vehicle and control models.

Built from Standard High-Performace Technology

SurfAnim is built to make use of technology originally developed for advanced flight simulators and more recently accelerated for movie animations and video games.

• All surfaces are shaded and rendered using the OpenGL library that is standard in Windows and other modern operating systems.
• Most video/graphics cards support OpenGL in hardware, speeding up SurfAnim to allow the same performance as obtained in high-end video games.
• Shapes can be translucent or opaque, and can have photographic images and textures "wrapped" around them.
• Shape definitions are stored in open-standard OBJ or STL surface files that can be created with most 3D graphics and CAD programs. This allows you to obtain model shapes from many sources (including commercial suppliers of shape data).

Extended Features for Showing Vehicle Dynamics

SurfAnim has a few extra features that give it unmatched value for showing vehicle dynamic behavior.

• Playback speed can be controlled continuously from full-speed (real time), to extremely slow motion, to pause. This allows the careful study of complicated motions.
• Instant access to any part of the animation is provided with a slide bar, similar to the slide bar in a multimedia player.
• All motion is smoothed by spline interpolation, to avoid jerky display even with extreme slow motion.
• Results from different runs can be overlaid (a single button enables this mode) to visually compare results for different vehicles or conditions.
• Multiple images of the vehicle (called "ghosts") of past vehicle positions help visualize complicated motions.
• Shapes can be sized based on variables from the vehicle model. This feature is used to show arrows indicating tire forces.
• Shapes can be made visible or invisible based on variables from the vehicle model. For example, this is used to show brake lights.
• Shape transparency can be adjusted based on variables from the vehicle model. This feature is used to show tire skid marks. (New in version 3.6.)
• The animator also works in real-time, obtaining motion variables "live" from a running model. This mode is used to show the simulated vehicle when testing hardware in the loop, or when using a driving simulator to drive an virtual vehicle.
• Multiple animations can run in real-time on different computers to support multiple-screen displays for driving simulators.

Transfer Animations via Email

SurfAnim has the option to save the current animation information in a highly compressed form. The saved file can even include the SurfAnim program. The saved file can be emailed to colleagues, downloaded from a web site, or posted on a company server. It can also be embedded in PowerPoint presentations. As you can see from our download examples, the saved file has all the detail and quality of the original.

Although you need to be running under a license (CarSim, TruckSim, BikeSim, etc.) to create the file, no license is needed to play it. Go ahead and test this by downloading some animations.

The animator also has the option of saving videos using standard multimedia file formats such as AVI, for use in PowerPoint or uploading to YouTube.

Animating Data from Tests and External Sources

The animator obtains motion information from ERD files that are generated by the math model solver programs. A Utility program is used to convert files from CSV (generated by spreadsheet programs such as Excel) to files to allow animation of data from outside sources. This capability has been used to animate measurements from physical tests, allowing "virtual races."

General Information

Example Animations