LearningtoWorkwithTemporalDatainArcGIS

AnimationinArcMap

Objective
AnimationscanbecreatedinArcMap,ArcSceneorArcGlobe.Animationsallowyoutoeffectively
visualizeandanalyzeyourdatabychangingdisplaypropertiesoflayers,thecamera,orthemapextent.
Byalteringlayerproperties,suchasthetimeslicethatisdisplayedorlayervisibilityandtransparency,
youcancreateinterestinganimationsthatcanbeusedtoanalyzedatathroughtimeortoview
informationinvariouslayers.Byalteringtheextent(ArcMap)orthecameraposition(ArcSceneor
ArcGlobe),youcancreateananimationthatmovesaroundamap,sceneorglobe.

Inthistutorial,youlllearnhowtocreateananimationthatshowslayerattributeschangingwithtimein
thedisplayandinagraph.Thestepsinthistutorialcanbeappliedtoanysupporteddatatype(feature
class,rastercatalog,NetCDF)andasaguidewhenanimatingyourownlayersortablesthroughtime.
TimelayeranimationscanbecreatedinthesamewayinArcSceneandArcGlobe,soyoucananimate
yourlayersthroughtimeinthoseapplicationsaswell.

Locatingdataandmapdocuments
Datafolder:TDinArcGIS\Exercise1\Data
Featureclasses:PopulationData.gdb\County_Population,PopulationData.gdb\State_Population
Backgrounddata:BackgroundData.gdb
Mapdocuments:Population_Change_Start.mxd,Population_Change_Final.mxd
Videofile:Population_Change.avi

A:ViewinganAnimation
Inthisexercise,youllanimatefeatureclasslayerstoexaminepopulationchange.Youllopenanexisting
mapdocumentcontainingananimationandplayit.Youllexaminechangesinrecordedcountyand
statepopulationfiguresovertimeforanumberofstatesintheUSA,fromtheyear1800totheyear
2000.YoullexaminecountypopulationdataintheArcMapdisplayandstatepopulationdatainagraph.
InexercisesBandC,youllcreatetheanimationfromscratchtolearnthesequenceofstepsthatare
involved.

A1:Openinganexistingmapdocument
1. StartArcMapbyusingtheProgramslistonyourStartmenu.
2. IftheArcMapstartupdialogboxappears,checkAnexistingmap,thendoubleclickBrowsefor
maps.IfyoupreviouslycheckedDonotshowthisdialogagainontheArcMapstartupdialogbox,
openthemapdocumentbyclickingOpeninstead.
3. NavigatetotheTDinArcGIS\Exercise1\Datafolderonyourlocaldrive,click
population_Change_Final.mxd,thenclickOpen.Amapofpopulationfigurespercountyandagraph
displayingpopulationfiguresbystatearedisplayed.

A2:Playingtheanimation
Youllnowplaytheanimationtogainanunderstandingofwhatcanbeachievedbyanimatingdata
throughtime.
1. ClickView(ortypeAltv),pointtoToolbars,thenclickAnimation.
2. ClicktheAnimationdropdownarrowandclickAnimationManager.

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3. ClicktheTimeViewtab.TheTimeViewtaballowsthetimeslicesofananimationtobepreviewed.
4. ClickintheTimeViewdisplayarea(inthepositionshownbytheredtimesliderinthegraphic
below)toviewthepopulationfiguresrecordedinthe10yearperiodafter1800.

5.
6.
7.
8.

ResizeormovetheAnimationManagersoyoucanseethecountiesinthedisplayandthestatesin
thegraphthatwererecordingpopulationfiguresatthistime.
ClickintheTimeViewdisplayarea(inthepositionshownbytheredtimesliderinthegraphic)to
viewpopulationfiguresrecordedinthe10yearperiodafter1990.
ClickCloseontheAnimationManager.
ClicktheOpenAnimationControlsbutton.

9. ClickOptionsandcheckthatyourPlayOptionsarethesameasthoseinthegraphicbelow.

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10. ClickOptionstocollapsethedialogbox,thenclickthePlaybuttontoseetheanimationplayinthe
ArcMapdisplayandinthegraph.
11. ClickClose(X)ontheAnimationControlsdialogbox.
12. ClicktheNewMapFilebutton.
13. ClickNowhenaskedtosavethemapdocument.

Inthisexercise,youopenedanexistingmapdocumentcontainingananimation,previewedtimeslices,
andplayedtheanimationtoexaminecountypopulationdataintheArcMapdisplayandstate
populationdatainagraph.InexercisesBandC,youllcreatetheanimationfromscratchtolearnthe
sequenceofstepsthatareinvolved.

B:Creatingatemporalanimation
TheprocedureforcreatingananimationthroughtimeisthesameinArcMap,ArcScene,andArcGlobe.
Inthisexercise,youllworkinArcMapandcreateananimationtoviewchangesinrecordedcounty
populationovertimeforanumberofcountiesintheUSA,fromtheyear1800totheyear2000.Youll
usetheCountyPopulationfeatureclasslayer,andyoullanimateitintheArcMapdisplay.

B1:Openingthemapdocument
1. ClickFileandclickOpen.
2. NavigatetoyourTDinArcGIS\Exercise1\DatafolderanddoubleclickPopulation_Change_Start.mxd.

Themapcontainsbackgroundlayers,andtwolayerscontainingpopulationinformation:State
PopulationandCountyPopulation.Thesetwolayerscontainpopulationfiguresrecordedfromtheyear
1800to2000,in10yearincrements.

B2:Creatingatimelayeranimation
Featureclass,netCDF(featureandraster)andrastercataloglayerscanbeanimatedinthedisplayof
ArcMap,ArcScene,orArcGlobe.Allthatisrequiredisafieldwithtimevaluesintheattributetable,ora
timedimensionfornetCDFlayers.HereyoullusetheCreateTimeLayerAnimationdialogboxtocreate
atimelayeranimationinthedisplay,usingafeatureclasslayerasinput.

1. IftheAnimationtoolbarisntpresent,clickView,PointtoToolbarsandclickAnimation.
2. ClickAnimationandclickCreateTimeLayerAnimation.

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3. ClicktheSourceLayerorTabledropdownandclickCountyPopulationsincethisisthelayerthatwill
beanimated.

4. ClicktheFielddropdownandsetDATE_STasthetimefieldtouseintheanimation.

Sincethisisadatefield,theFormatdropdownisdisabled.Ifthefieldspecifiedwasastringornumeric
fieldthatcontaineddatestringssuchas2000/01/01youwouldneedtospecifythefieldformat.
NotethatsincethetimestepsintheCountyPopulationlayerareevery10years(regularlyspaced),an
EndTimeFieldisnotnecessary.Forirregularlyspacedtimesteps,youmayneedtospecifyanEndTime
Field.ThiscanbecreatedasapreprocessingstepusingtheCalculateEndDatetoolintheFieldstoolset
undertheDataManagementToolsintheArcToolboxwindow.
5. LeavetheEndTimeFieldoptionblank.
6. Settheintervalandunitstousetodisplaytimeslicesto10years.
7. LeavetheAnimatefieldscumulativelyoptionunchecked.

TheAnimatefieldscumulativelyoptionenablesyoutoretaindatainthedisplaythathasbeendrawn,
enablingyoutoseeprogression,suchastheaccumulationintheextentofawildfire.

8. CheckShowtimeinthedisplay.Thetimetextforeachtimeslicewilldisplayastheanimationis
playedorpreviewed.

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9. Typealabelthatwillappearbeforethetimetextinthedisplayastheanimationisplayedor
previewed.
10. ClickCreatetogeneratethetimelayeranimation.
11. ClickFileontheMainmenuandclickSave.

B3:Playingtheanimation
Beforeplayingtheanimation,youllsetthetextfontandsizeforthetimetextthatwilldisplay.
1. IftheDrawtoolbarisntpresent,clickView,pointtoToolbars,andclickDraw.
2. SetthetextfonttoArial,26pt,bold.

3. ClicktheOpenAnimationControlsbuttonontheAnimationtoolbar.

4. ClickOptions.

5.
6.
7.

8.
9.

ClickBynumberofframesandclickCalculate.
SettheFramedurationto0.1.
UncheckRestorestateafterplayingsothattheoriginalstateofthedatabeforetheanimationwas
playedisnotrestoredaftertheanimationhasplayed.Thefinaltimesliceandtimetextwillbe
retained.
ClickOptionstohidetheplayandrecordoptionssoyoucanseetheanimationinthedisplay.
ClickthePlaybutton.

Examinetheincreaseinrecordedpopulationovertime.

10. ClickFileontheMainmenuandclickSave.

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C:Animatingdatainagraphthroughtime
Inthisexercise,youlluseagraphfromtheStatePopulationlayertoexaminetotalpopulationfigures
perstateovertime.Youllattachthelayerasasecondarysourceforthetrack.Thedatainthegraphwill
thenanimatealongwiththedatainthedisplay.Youllbeabletospotgeneraltrendsbyviewingthe
statepopulationfiguresinagraph.

C1:Examiningtheattributetable
1. RightclicktheStatePopulationlayerandclickOpenAttributeTabletoexaminethepopulation
figures.
2. RightclicktheState_NamefieldandclickSortAscending.
3. Scrolldownthetableandnoticethatthepopulationforallstatesisbeingrecordedduringthefirst
halfofthe1800s.
4. Closethetable.

C2:Displayingagraph

InArcMap,featureclasslayers,netCDFfeaturelayersandtables,dBASE tables,andgeodatabasetables

inapersonal,file,orArcSDE geodatabasecanbeanimatedinagraph.Hereyoulldisplayagraph
createdfromtheStatePopulationlayer.

1. ClickToolsontheMainMenu,pointtoGraphs,thenclickPopulationchange.

Examinethebargraph.

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C3:AttachingtheStatePopulationlayertothetimelayertrack
YoullnowaddtheStatePopulationlayerasanotherattachedobjecttothetimelayertrackyoucreated
inexerciseB.Doingsowillenablethedatainthegraph(theStatePopulationlayer)toanimateatthe
sametimeasthedatainthedisplay(theCountyPopulationlayer).Anotherwaytoachievethisresultis
tocreateanothertimelayertrackandattachtheStatePopulationlayertoit.

1. ClickAnimationandclickAnimationManager.

2. ClicktheTrackstabandclickthetracktoselectit.
3. ClickProperties.

4. ClicktheGeneraltab,clickStatePopulationfromtheAvailableobjectslist,thenclickAttach.

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5. ClicktheTimeTrackPropertiestabandclickStatePopulation.
6. ClicktheStartTimeFielddropdownarrowandclickStart_Date.
7. ClickOK.

8. ClickCloseontheAnimationManagerdialogbox.
9. ClickFileontheMainMenuandclickSave.

C4:Playingtheanimationinthegraphandthedisplay
Youranimationisnowreadytoplayinboththegraphandthedisplay.

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1. ClickOptionsontheAnimationControlsdialogboxtoexpandthePlayoptionspartofthedialog
box.
2. EnsurethatRestorestateafterplayingisuncheckedsothelastframewillberetainedafterplaying
theanimation.Alsocheckthenumberofframesthatwilldisplayis21,andtheframedurationis0.1.
3. ClickthePlaybutton.

Examinetherecordedpopulationchangesovertimeinthedisplayandinthegraph.

Thisbringsyoutotheendofthisexercise.Youvelearnedhowtocreateananimationthatshowslayer
attributeschangingwithtimeinthedisplayandinagraph.Thesestepscanbeappliedtoanysupported
datatypesousethistutorialasaguidewhenanimatingyourownlayersortablesthroughtime.Time
layertrackscanbecreatedinthesamewayinArcSceneandArcGlobe,soyoucananimateyourlayers
throughtimeinthoseapplicationsaswell.

Othertypesofanimationscanbebuiltbycreatingdifferenttracktypes.Youcanbuildamapviewtrack
tocreateananimationthatmovesaround,andzoomsinon,themap.Youcanbuildalayertrackto
createananimationthatalterslayertransparencyorvisibility.Ascenetrackallowsyoutoanimate
sceneproperties,suchasthebackgroundcolor.Thesetrackscanbebuiltandanimatedalongsideatime
layertracktocreatevisuallyinterestinganimations.Tolearnmoreaboutcreatinganimations,seethe
AnimationsectionoftheArcGISDesktopOnlineHelpsystem.

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D(Optional):Exportingtheanimationtoavideofile
Manytimes,youllneedtopresentyouranimationtoothers.Ratherthanplayingtheanimationinthe
displayoftheArcGISapplication,youcancreateavideoofyouranimationbyexportingtoanAudio
VideoInterleaved(.avi)orQuickTime(.mov)file.Thisisespeciallyusefulwhenworkingwithlarge
datasetswheretherefreshratecanbeslow,anditenablesyoutoshareyouranimationswithothers.
Videoscantaketimetocreate,especiallywithlargedatasets,butoncecreated,thevideorunsquickly.
Thevideowillplaytooquicklywiththecurrentlysetframedurationof0.1.

1. SettheFramedurationontheAnimationControlsdialogboxto1.0second.
2. CheckPlayonlyfromandtype17to21frames.Youllonlyexportthetimerangefrom1950
2000.
3. ClickOptionstocollapsetheAnimationControlsdialogbox.
4. Ensurethatthegraphislargeenoughtoshowallthestatenames,butsmallenoughsothatallthe
countiesandthetimetextcanbeseeninthedisplay.
5. ClicktheAnimationdropdownarrowandclickExporttoVideo.
6. NavigatetoyourAnimationinArcMapfolderandtypeMy_Population_ChangeintheFilename
textbox.
7. LeavethedefaultintheSaveastypedropdownlistasAVI(*.avi).
8. ClickOptions.

TheEnableOffScreenrecordingoptionisusefulifyouwanttocontinueworkingwhiletheanimationis
exporting.Withtheexceptionofgraphs,windowsopenedontopoftheArcMapapplicationwillnot
appearintheexportedvideo.Thegraphyoucreatedwillbeexportedandincludedinthevideofileif
youcheckEnableOffScreenrecording.

9. CheckEnableOffScreenrecording.
10. ClickOK.
11. ClickExportontheExportanimationasvideodialogbox.TheVideoCompressiondialogboxopens.
12. ClicktheCompressordropdownarrowandchooseacompressor.

Compressor/decompressors(codecs)arethirdpartysoftware,whichgreatlyreducefilesizewhile
maintainingoptimumquality.Thereareusuallydifferentcodecsondifferentmachines,dependingon

thetypesandversionsofvideocreation,editingandviewingsoftwareinstalled.ForMicrosoft Audio
VideoInterleaved(AVI),FullFrames,Uncompressedisarguablythebestcodec,givingahighquality
videooutput.

NotethatyoucanexportanimationsfromlayoutviewinArcMap,enablingyoutoexportnotonlythe
displayandthegraphbutalsolayoutelements,suchasthelegendforthedatainthedisplay,anorth
arrow,scalebar,andsoon.
13. Sinceitmaytakesometimetocreatethevideo,clickCancelandnavigateondisktoyour
TDinArcGIS\Exercise1\Datafolder.DoubleclickPopulation_Change.avitoplayavideothathas
previouslybeencreated.
14. ClickFileandclickSavetosavethemapdocument.
15. ClickFileandclickExittoexittheArcMapapplication.

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