FAQ: Playing animations
Release 9.3 Last modified May 29, 2009

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  Why do all the time slices redraw after the animation has played?

  
  
To select the appropriate time slice from a layer or table, a definition query is applied to the layer as it is played in the display or in a graph or previewed on the Time View tab of the Animation Manager. By default, the definition query that is applied will be cleared after the animation has finished playing or after a time slice has been previewed on the Time View tab of the Animation Manager. This means that all the time slices within the layer or table will be redrawn in the display or graph (tables can only be animated in a graph) after the animation has finished playing or after the Animation Manager is closed after previewing a time slice. If you want to retain the last time slice in the display or graph after the animation has finished playing or after you have previewed a time slice, uncheck Restore state after playing on the Animation Controls dialog box or uncheck Restore state after preview on the Time View tab of the Animation Manager.
Learn more about playing an animation


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  Why does the time text go back to the default position after playing or previewing an animation?

  
  
If the option to restore state after playing (on the Animation Controls dialog box) or the option to restore state after previewing (on the Time View tab of the Animation Manager) is checked, layers in the animation will be restored to their state before the animation and the time text will be removed. The next time the animation is played or a time slice is previewed, the time text will be restored back to its default position in the display. If you want the time text to remain in a certain position, uncheck the restore state options. At the end of the play of the animation, the time text will remain in the same position in the display.


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  Why is the format of the time text in the display different than my field format?

  
  
What you see as the format of the date/time text when the animation is played may not be the same format as the time field you selected to use in your animation. This is because the format you see in the display and on the Time View and Keyframes tabs of the Animation Manager shows a date/time string, based on the date and time formats set in your Operating System's regional settings dialog (Control Panel/Regional and Language Options/Customize). The field selected as the time field is the data that the date/time string is generated from. You can customize the short date format in your system's regional settings dialog if you want the date/time string in your animation to be formatted a certain way.



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  Why are time slices skipped when my animation is played?

  
  

By default, the animation will play using a set duration, so time slices can be skipped in order to play the animation within the duration set. This can be changed on the Animation Controls dialog box. You can increase the duration so there is more time to display more time stamps, but the best way to ensure all time stamps are displayed is to check the option to play by number of frames, and click Calculate to determine the minimum number of frames necessary to draw all the time slices. The number of frames calculated is based on the minimum interval and units (for example, one day), within the range set on the Keyframes tab of the Animation Manager. For instance, for a time layer track with two keyframes, a time for the start keyframe of 12:00:00 PM, a time for the end keyframe of 6:00:00 PM, and an interval of one hour, the minimum interval will be one hour, so the number of frames that will be drawn in the display is six.
Learn more about playing an animation


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  Do I need a start date field and an end date field to animate data?

  
  
You only need a start date field if your data is regularly spaced. If you have irregular time stamps you will see gaps where nothing is displayed since there will be times where there is no data available.
See 'Why are their gaps in my animation' below for more details.


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  Why are there gaps (times with no data displayed) in my animation?

  
  
You may have irregularly spaced time stamps (for instance, you don't have data recorded every hour; some hours are skipped) and you are using only a start time field to animate through. Use the Calculate End Date tool to create an end time field. The time value in the end time field for a particular feature is the start time value of the next feature. By setting the end time field on the Create Time Layer Animation dialog box, there will be no gaps where nothing is displayed when the data is animated.
Learn more about the Calculate End Date tool
Learn more about table format issues

When you use a start time field only, all features where the start time field value is greater than or equal to the current display time and less than the display time of the next time slice to be displayed will display. The next time slice that will display is based on the keyframe interval and units that will be set on the Keyframes tab of the Animation Manager.
The definition query applied to the date field (Date_) in the layer or table (for a particular time slice that is displayed) might look something like:


"Date_" >= date '1988-07-01' and "Date_" < date '1988-07-02"


If a start time field (Date_) and an end time field (END_DATE) is set, all features where the start time field value is less than or equal to the current display time and the end time field value is greater than the current display time will draw.



"Date_" <= date '1988-07-01' and "END_DATE" > date '1988-07-01"




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  How can I control the flashing of annotation and labeling when animated in ArcMap?

  
  
Annotation and labels tend to flash when animated in the display or layout of ArcMap. Annotation and labeling will not flash in a video, only when played in the map, so export your animation to video and play that instead.


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  How do I fix the variable range that is displayed for my netCDF layer so each time slice uses the same range of values?

  
  
When animating netCDF data, you may notice that the range of values for the variable being displayed changes for each time slice. To compare time slices relative to one another, you need to set the range so it encompasses the entire range of values for all time slices. You can do this by setting a Minimum-Maximum stretch for the renderer. Right-click the netCDF layer in the table of contents and click Properties. Click the Symbology tab and choose Minimum-Maximum for the stretch type. Check Edit High/Low values and type in the minimum and maximum values contained within the netCDF layer. If you don't know the minimum and maximum values, you can find this out by either using any third party netCDF utility or the ESRI sample tool GetNetCDFVariableMinMax.

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