Model Movie Sequence Dialog

Movie Segments and Sequences

This dialog allows you to save a series of movie parameters that have been set up in the Model Movie dialog, then run all of the movies in sequence. The series of images produced by pressing the Make button in the Movie dialog is referred to as a movie segment, and a series of such movie segments is referred to as a movie sequence. Each time that a segment is saved in the Sequence dialog, the parameters governing that segment are stored internally, and the segment is represented by a new row in the table.

Several pieces of information are stored for each segment in addition to all of the values shown in the Movie dialog. They are:

View number. Different model views can be created with the View Editing dialog. The current view number is stored for each segment, and that view is switched to when playing that segment. Having different views for different segments provides the most powerful control over the display, and is necessary if you want to change object color, transparency, clipping planes, or most other object properties. However, it is not necessary if you just want to turn some objects on or off, or change global clipping planes.
Object On/Off states. The current On/Off state of each object is saved when a segment is saved. When the segment is run, objects will be turned on or off as appropriate. This occurs after the change in view (if any) and thus overrides the On/Off states stored in the view.
Object transparencies. Transparencies are saved for each object that changed transparency during the segment. When the segment is run, these objects will change transparency linearly between the two limits. The starting transparencies are set after the change in view (if any) and thus override the object properties in the view.
Global clipping planes The rotation angles and on/off states of all global clipping planes are recorded when a segment is saved, as well as the positions of the plane at the start and end of the segment. Again, these parameters are imposed after the change in view, if any.
Image display settings If image display is turned on, all of the parameters in the Image View dialog are recorded, including which image planes to display, whether the model is clipped to show up just near a plane, the size in each dimension, the black and white levels, and whether to use false color.
Long way and Reverse settings These two settings started being stored in IMOD 4.12.31, so that the direction of rotation could be controlled independently in different segements.

Controls in the Movie Sequence Dialog

The controls are organized in 3 sections. The top row of buttons modify the segments stored in the table by taking information from the Movie dialog or by deleting a segment. The second row of buttons operate in the reverse direction, applying settings in the currenly selected segment either to the Movie dialog or directly to the display. The bottom row of buttons operates on all segments, running them, saving them to file, or loading from a file.

Add After. This button adds a segment based on the current parameters in the Movie dialog and other display settings. It is added after the segment selected in the table, or simply added if the table is empty.
Add Before. This button adds a segment before instead of after the segment selected in the table.
Replace. This button modifies the segment selected in the table based on the current parameters in the Movie dialog and other display settings.
Delete. This button removes the segment selected in the table.
Use as Movie. Press this button to restore the settings needed to play the selected segment as a movie again from the Movie dialog. The Start and End fields in the Movie dialog will be filled in with these settings, but these settings will not be applied to the display. However, the view number, On/Off states, and image display settings will be changed, and clip planes will be set to their starting positions. This feature is useful for revising a movie segment, or just for previewing it. To preview a segment, press the Make button in the Movie dialog with Write files turned off.
Set to Start. Press this button to change the display to match the start of the selected segment. All settings in the segment will be applied, but the fields in the Movie dialog will not be modified. The feature is useful for setting the endpoint of a segment to be added before the selected one.
Set to End. Press this button to change the display to match the end of the selected segment. Again, fields in the Movie dialog will not be modified. The feature is useful for setting the starting point of a segment to be added after the selected one.
Table Fields. Each row has 3 columns: the number of frames, the view number, and a text label. Any cell can be edited by clicking in it and typing new text, or double clicking and editing the existing text. A row is selected by clicking on a cell or by pressing one of the numbered buttons on the left.
Run All. This button plays the full sequence of movie segments. Files are written only if the Write checkbox is turned on in the Movie dialog. The sequence can be stopped with the Stop button in the Movie dialog. If a segment produces no change in the display, the frames will be saved without your having to confirm it, unlike when running Make for the segment itself from the Movie dialog.
Save. Press this button to save the table to a file. The data are saved in a text file in the BL3DEMC autodoc format, which consists of key-value pairs.
Load. Press this button to read a sequence back from a file. If the table contains unsaved information, you will be asked whether you want to save it first.
Done. Press this button to close the dialog. If the table contains unsaved information, you will be asked whether you want to save it first. The table will be empty when the dialog is reopened.
Help. This button brings up this help page.
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