Animate a Data Series

The Band Animation and Series/Animation Manager options have a similar functionality that enables you to animate through a series of images.

Band Animation

1. With a raster open, select Display > Band Animation from the menu bar, or right-click on an image in the Layer Manager and select Band Animation.

2. Select one of the following animation methods from the context menu:

   • Using Xtreme Viewer: Loads the bands of the selected layer in the Xtreme Viewer to animate them. This option provides faster animation when many bands are involved. See Animate MIE4NITF Series in Xtreme Viewer for details on how to use the player.

   • Using Raster Series: Overlays an animation layer on the view to animate the bands in the series. The Band Manager dialog opens, with controls to manage the animation. See the tips in the next section for how to use the animation controls.

Series/Animation Manager

With a .series file open, select Display > Series/Animation Manager, or File > Open As > Series from the menu bar and select a .series raster series file. The Series Manager dialog opens, with controls to manage the animation.

Band Manager/Series Manager Player Controls

The top of the dialog lists the currently displayed image (layer). The Series Manager dialog also lists the date and time of the layer if it contains acquisition time metadata.

Here are some tips for animating through a series of images:

• Click the Forward and Back buttons, or click and drag the wheel, to step through the series one frame or band at a time. The image updates at each frame.
• Click the Play forward and Play backward buttons to animate the series. While the series is animating, choose a delay time in seconds (between frames) using the drop-down list next to the play button.
• Click Pause to stop the animation.
• Click and drag the slider needle to move to another point in the series, without updating each image. This allows for a quick selection of a particular frame since you can see the dates or band names in the series. The associated image will load once you release the mouse button.
• Click on any point along the slider to move to a known date or band in the series. The associated image will load.
• To view selected metadata for each frame on the screen, click the Options drop-down list next to a layer name, select Annotate, and choose Date and time, Frame number, Filename, or Band. Move the selected annotation item to a new location by clicking and dragging it.
• To create a video animation of a band animation or spatiotemporal series, click the Options drop-down list next to the respective layer name and select Save video animation. In the Save Video dialog, provide a name and location for the video file, along with the video duration (in seconds). The default format is AVI. Click the Advanced button to select a different video format and coder-decoder (codec) format used for video compression. If a layer is linked by time to another layer in a different view (in the Series Manager only), the video will include all of the views in the display.
• To plot the pixels of a specified band of a spatiotemporal series, click the Options drop-down list and select Series Profile. See Series Profile for more information.
• The maximum number of image frames to display in a spatiotemporal series is 250. You can change this value in the Maximum Time Series Frame Buffer Size preference.

View Multiple Layers

This section applies only to the Series Manager, not Band Animation. You can view specific images within a spatiotemporal series in multiple views for visual comparison. An example is viewing an atmospheric pressure image in one view and a relative humidity image in another view. Or, you can compare the same variable (atmospheric pressure) from two different dates, as the following figure shows:

1. Use the Views menu bar option to select a multiple-view layout. One layer should be already listed in the Layer Manager and displayed in one of the views. Each layer is associated with a numbered icon in the Layer Manager and Series Manager.
2. Click and drag a layer from the Layer Manager to a separate view.
3. Use the slider needle or wheel to change the image for that view.
4. Click the Show all sliders option in the Series Manager to view controls for all of the open layers.
5. Here are some additional tools for working with multiple spatiotemporal layers:
   • To create a time link between any two layers, click the Options drop-down list next to a layer name in the Series Manager and select Link to. Choose the layer to link to. The controls are no longer independent of one another; the dates are linked when you use the controls to move through the spatiotemporal series. If three or more layers are available and you want to link all of them, choose Options > Link to > Link All.
   • You can optionally link the views by geographic or pixel location. See the Link Multiple Views topic.
   • To make any layer the selected layer, click the Options drop-down list, choose Select layer, and select a layer name. Each layer is represented by a numbered icon in the Layer Manager and Series Manager.
   • The order of layers in the Series Manager matches the order in the Layer Manager.
   • To load the image that is currently displayed in a series to a new view, click the Options drop-down list and select Load Current Raster. This is helpful if you want to use ENVI's display and processing tools on individual images. You can also right-click on the corresponding layer in the Layer Manager and select Load Current Raster.

See Also

Spatiotemporal Analysis, Image Window Views, Landsat Time Series Tutorial, Raster Layers