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LiveMotion Version 1 Getting Started: Looping Animations

Looping - What is it?

From time to time you may want to have your animation loop continuously well this tutorial will show you how to create a looping animation. For this tutorial we are going to look at two different ways of creating a looping animation. There are more than likely other ways of creating a looping animation but we are going to focus in on just two methods.

Method 1: Repeat Loop

The first method is great if you are going to have the whole composition loop. Of course this this method you can be modified by using it in a TIG and is great if you just want a simple looping animation. Basically this method is using a series of behaviors to make the looping happen. For the sake of calling it something let's call it the Repeat Loop.

Well to start with here is what the timeline and canvas looks like for the beginning of the animation.

Timeline at the Beginning

Canvas at the Beginning

We will now add a behavior at the beginning of the timeline. This behavior needs to be labeled, we labeled it 1 and put a Play Behavior targeting the Composition timeline. If you choose to use it in a TIG you would target the TIG instead.

Timeline at the Beginning

Canvas at the Beginning

Here we show that we added a Play Behavior with a Label 1 at Keyframe 00

Adding the Play Behavior

Now moving on we will now look at the timeline at the end of the animation.

Timeline at the End

Canvas at the End

We will now add a behavior at the end of the timeline. This behavior does not need to be labeled, but we labeled it 2 and put a GOTO Label Behavior going to Label 1 on the Composition timeline. If you choose you use it in a TIG you would target the label in the TIG instead.

Timeline at the End

Canvas at the End

Here we show that we added a GOTO Label Behavior with a Label 2 at Keyframe 22

Adding the Play Behavior

Well this is how you can create a looping animation using the method of using behaviors. This method is OK to use but it does have major limitations to it use. If the whole animation is to loop this would be a way to do it very simply. But if this loop is just over a portion of the composition or you want it to run independently of the composition timeline then this method will not really work without lots of work.

The second method for the most part is the best way to create a looping animation. This method will allow you the most freedom in the way you can use it. It is also really simple to do and you will need the knowledge of creating a TIG. We will call this method the TIG Loop.

Method 2: TIG Loop

We know what you are thinking. This doesn't look any different than the Repeat Loop method. The way the movie plays is the same and if you think about it this is what you want. The difference is in the way the looping is created.

Since basically this is the same identical animation used in the Repeat Loop method we will begin looking at what makes this method different. First we need to create a TIG and we will briefly look at creating a TIG.

To start you will need to select all the objects you want to include in the loop.

Timeline Showing the Selected Objects

From the drop down menu create the TIG. Timeline => Make Time Independent Group

Timeline Showing the TIG

After creating the TIG there is only one other thing that you need to do and that is to click on the Looping button or select Looping from the Pull Down Menu. Timeline => Loop

With that you now have two methods to create a looping animation. One final note that we would like to add is the Repeat Loop method is better if you are creating an animated GIF in our opinion.

There is actually a third method of creating a looping animation and this method will be discussed in a separate tutorial. This looping method is used in one very special case, this being the looping of a preloader.

Timeline Showing the TIG