DUG-Insight’s new 3D animation tool is a great supplement to reports
Build stunning animations showing key geological features, geological timelines or data comparisons
In this example we’ll interrogate a reservoir interval in the Carnarvon basin in North West Australia
The top Triassic unconformity is represented in blue and the base reservoir is in green
We have an IL/CL displayed in the flattened domain, let’s save this as our first keyframe
Animations are created from a set of keyframes, each of which uniquely define the state of their corresponding view
Our 3D animation is created via our new View tab in the Control Panel
Select Animation under view
Name the new animation: Reservoir
3D view is selected as default as animation is only available via 3D viewer at present
Select OK
The timeline editor will appear
This interface is used to create and edit keyframes
A "keyframe" defines the full state of the view including position and orientation, navigation and other view display settings
The Timeline Editor will then automatically animate between keyframes based on how these change
The maximum number of frames can be set here
This sets the total animation length
We can control animation settings via the film strip cog in the right-hand side of the toolbar
Here we can control the aspect ratio
Width and height options are locked to maintain aspect ratio but can be customised if preferred
Increasing frames per second will speed up the animation
We’ll keep it at the default 30 frames/second for now
Check out the help button for more detailed information on how to run this tool
Our first keyframe has been added to the track view
This is where you can manipulate each defined keyframe
The track rows are labelled and colour-coded for quick identification
Let’s explore each in turn
The camera track indicates which keyframes change view orientation, for example pan, zoom, rotation changes etc…
The location track indicates which keyframes change navigation values, ie. IL, CL, TWT etc…
Finally the settings track indicates which keyframes change other settings for example background colour, colourbars etc…
Let’s add a second keyframe and watch the changes in each track
I’d like to simply scroll through the 3D volume
Click on the track view at frame 40
Notice frame 40 is at time 136
This is shown in the information bar
In 3D view, set the crossline to its new position
I can type 1996 in the CL box or use Ctrl drag to shift the line
Back in track view, right click and select create keyframe
The animation will stop at the crossline selected
Notice the location track has updated to show a filled blue diamond
This shows a location change has been made between keyframes
A snapshot of the changes made between keyframes can be viewed under right click > show info
By default Insight will show the differences from frame 1
We can change this to Full if we wish to review all parameters set in the new keyframe
Let’s interrogate this interval a little more and add a few keyframes
I’ve got a smooth transition through my volume, I’ll add a time-slice and scroll though vertically in the flattened domain
Let’s create a keyframe at 160
Then another at 220 to set the final keyframe
Let’s check the animation
I’d like to highlight a possible channel at time-slice 2856
To keep the animation at this time-slice for a few frames, copy the keyframe by right clicking and selecting copy keyframe to clipboard
Paste it at frame 200 via right click paste keyframe
Let’s quickly QC this section by holding control and scrolling the middle mouse wheel
That’s looking really good
Let’s play the entire animation through
I’m happy with that
Click on the file & floppy disk icon to export to .webm format
Choose the save to location and save
Insight will show the progress bar along the bottom
Our webm format export can be easily converted to any video format, such as mp4 or wmv
These can be easily inserted into reports