[Visualize Professional] Model is not Turning around Its Own Axis or Around the Center of the Turntable Animation

This article discusses how you can narrow down and address a non-centered Turntable animation.

One of the output options provided by SOLIDWORKS Visualize is the Turntable animation, allowing you to create high quality renders of the models rotating 360º around their own centers. Turntable animations are oftentimes desired to have the model turn within the center of the animation, however, there can be cases where you find your turntable video output showing your model rotating around a different axis or off of the center of the animation. 

A centered turntable animation usually has the model rotate around its own axis at the center of the video output, as seen below. 

Non-centered Turntable Animation Scenario #1

If you find your Turntable output to show the model turning in the center of the video but not around its own vertical axis, the output might look like the animation below. To address this issue, make sure that the model's pivot point is actually at the model! Simply use the Pivot object manipulation tool and highlight the model. This will highlight the transformer tool, allowing you to adjust the pivot point to the model.

Non-centered Turntable Animation (More Common) Scenario #2 

If your model rotates around its own axis but is not located in the center of your Turntable animation, the output might look as shown in the video below. This can be caused if the model is not at the origin of the Visualize project, which can go unnoticed if you work with multiple components that you moved. To fix this, use the Move tool to highlight and move the model to the project's origin. Please note that you can only see the project’s origin when the Preview render mode is active.

Non-centered Turntable Animation Scenario #3

When you plan to create a turntable render from several top-level components or assemblies in a Visualize project, you might find that the output only rotates one single component.

In order to rotate the you will need to merge all the top-level components by multi-selecting them while holding CTRL, and selecting "Merge Models" in the palette. Adjust the model's pivot point and model location as needed. 

In conclusion, in order to assure that the model is rotating around its own axis and at the center of the Turntable animation, the model's pivot point and the model itself need to be centered at the model's center and project's origin, respectively.

If you have any questions or concerns regarding the information above, please contact Hawk Ridge Systems Technical Support at 1-877-266-4469 (US), 1-866-587-6803 (CAN), or support@hawkridgesys.com.