SIMA uses the open source tool ffmpeg for exporting simulations to video.

The export-to-video functionality is testet with ffmpeg version 7.0 which can be downloaded from the official ffmpeg.org website (https://ffmpeg.org/download.html), or from our site (https://simapublicfiles.blob.core.windows.net/ffmpeg/ffmpeg-7.0-full-win32.x86_64.zip).

Download the full (GPL) version of ffmpeg since it contains codec for mpeg video files. After downloading and unpacking in an appropriate place, SIMA must be set up to point to the ffmpeg executable file.

Select Tools > Preferences > General > 3D Graphics. The field FFMPEG executable will then have to be pointed to the location of the ffmpeg.exe file.

After running an analysis, open the 3D view, and select either static or dynamic result type. Navigate the camera to the location where you want to record the video, click the right mouse button somewhere in the 3D view and select Export 3D Scene animation to images/video in the pop-up menu.

A window will now open. In Export folder, select a folder where you want images and video to be stored. You can select vertical resolution for the video in the Image size dropdown menu, but if you leave it as it is (Use actual size), the video will have the same dimensions as the 3D view in SIMA.

When clicking OK, SIMA will first export all the individual frames of the video as PNG files, followed by running ffmpeg to stitch the images together to a final video file.