Keyframe Animation

Keyframe Animation is a Ruby plugin for Google SketchUp (Free and Pro) that runs on both Windows and the Mac. It will allow you to quickly add movement to any number of objects in your model. They can move along a straight line, or rotate about any point. You can move the camera too. Best of all, the animation you create can be exported to a movie, directly from SketchUp.

Keyframe Animation works by using ordinary SketchUp scenes that act as key frames. On each scene, you just move the objects where you want them to be, and click a button to record their positions. When a scene is selected, the objects move or rotate to their prerecorded positions, as if by magic. If you run the SketchUp animation utility (View > Animation > Play), not only does the camera move, but now the objects will move during the animation as well.

Download Keyframe Animation

Main Features

Interpolate Translations

Generates the intermediate positions of an object moving along a straight line between key frames.

Interpolate Rotations

Generates the intermediate positions of an object rotating about an axis between key frames.

Animate Subgroups/Subcomponents

Any group or component can be animated. If they are contained inside other groups or components, they are animated relative to the parent component. This opens up inifinite possibilites for new and complex types of motion.

Assign Key Frame Transition Times

The transition time is the amount of time it takes for the animation to transition from the previous key frame to the current key frame.

Add Pauses between Key Frames

Sometimes you want to add a pause to the animation after it has transitioned to a key frame, and before it starts the transition to the next key frame.

Insert/Reorder Key Frames

You can insert new key frames anywhere in the key frame sequence. Individual key frames can be moved forward or backward to a new position in the sequence.

Animate Visibility by Layers

You can animate the visibility of objects by putting them on layers and then turning those layers on or off for each key frame.

Export Animation to a Movie

There is a feature that will generate all the intermediate frames (tweens) in between the key frames, so you can export the animation to a movie, directly from SketchUp.

To find out how SU Animate and Proper Animation compare with Keyframe Animation, for each of these features, please read this review: Three Animation Plugins Compared.

The User Guide has more detailed documentation about the features in Keyframe Animation.

Keyframe Animation Demos

The Demos page has several examples of animations that were made with Keyframe Animation. There is the obligatory rotating gears animation. There are a couple animated assembly processes. There are examples of more complex types of motion using animated sub-components. And there are examples that animate object visibility.

Keyframe Animation Video Tutorials

If you would rather watch how to do things than read, then there are a couple Video Tutorials to get you started. We plan to add more tutorials describing everything from the basic features of Keyframe Animation, to the typical workflow, to advanced techniques such as controling visibility and working with animated sub-components.