Previewing an Animation

When you play back a clip, combustion renders each frame into cache memory and draws it in the active viewport. This process takes some time the first time you play through a composite. Once the system has cached the frames, however, playback is smooth.

Note: The number of frames that the system can play back smoothly depends on the amount of RAM in your system.

To increase the playback speed, reduce layer detail, lower display resolution, or turn off processing-intensive effects.

You can also use the RAM player to preview your work in real time. For more information, see Rendering to RAM.

To preview the animation with reduced detail:

1. In the Composite Controls panel, click the Settings button.
2. Click a display option under the Object Detail heading.
   
   

   Click:	To:
   Wireframe	Replace layers and objects with their outlines. You cannot play the animation with this setting, but you can scrub to preview your work.
   Current	Render only the current layer or object. Displays only the outline of other layers or objects.
   Relatives	Display only the current layer or object and related layers or objects (parent, child, target, and so on).
   All Objects	Display all layers or objects.

   
   
   
3. To preview the animation, click on the playback controls, scrub with the Current Frame field or the scrub bar, or drag the Current Time indicator.

The animation preview plays in the active viewport.

To preview animation at different resolution:

Do one of the following:

• Select a resolution from the Display Quality list. Play the clip.



• Enable the Feedback button (or press Caps Lock). The display resolution is lowered when you make changes in the viewport. When you release the mouse button, the original resolution is restored.

To preview animation with fewer rendered effects:

1. In the Composite Controls panel, click the Settings button.
2. Under the Render Effects heading, disable Shading, Reflections, and Shadows.