Exporting an animation to video

Animations can be exported to Audio Video Interleaved (.avi) or Apple's QuickTime (.mov) video files.

1. Click the Animation drop-down arrow and click Export animation.
2. Click the Save in drop-down arrow and choose a location.
3. In the File name text box, type the name of the video file you want to create.
4. Click the Save as type drop-down arrow and choose the type of video file you want to create.

   You can export to .avi or .mov file formats.

5. Optionally, click the Help button to understand the different properties you can set for defining the quality of the exported video.
6. Click Export and choose the compressor and compression quality you want to use.

   Depending on the export format (AVI or QuickTime), the compression dialog boxes may appear different. On these dialog boxes, you can specify the compression properties. Learn more about the compression properties. The two most important compression properties to consider while exporting videos are the following:

   • Picking the right codec for applying compression to the output videos.
   • Specifying the frame rate of the output video. The frame rate defines how many frames are captured in one second of the output video.

7. Click OK.

A video file of the given name and type is created in the specified location.

Tips for creating exporting videos

Tip:

• Press and hold the ESC key to cancel the video export. You need to hold the button until the export cancels.
• To access frame rate and video quality properties, click Options on the Export animation dialog box.
• When you export your animation to a video file, make sure you move other windows away from the application or the viewer that is playing the animation to prevent them from appearing in the exported file. To enable the continuation of your work while the animation is exporting (allowing windows to be opened in front of the application and to prevent your screen saver from appearing in the exported video), it is recommended that you click Options on the Export animation dialog box and check Enable Off-Screen recording. This option is only available if the application is maximized. Graphs still appear in the exported video with this option checked.
• To create a high-quality video with clear text and data, use a codec that doesn't apply lossy compression, such as Full Frames (Uncompressed) for exporting AVI files.
• If the animation fails to export, this could be because the default compressor is not installed on your machine. Choose an alternative compressor from the list on the Video Compression dialog box.
• After exporting to an .avi or .mov file, you can choose to use third-party software to convert to a different video format.

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