To produce a time history animation:

Use the File menu to open the output database containing your analysis results.

To plot variables other than those ABAQUS selects by default, use the Result menu.

For animation of a deformed or material orientation plot, select the deformed field output variable for which ABAQUS obtains values over time.

For animation of a contour or symbol plot, select the primary field output variable to display. If you want to display your animating contour or symbol plot on the deformed shape, select the deformed field variable. For more information on field output variable selection, see “Overview of field output variable selection,” Section 24.3.1.

From the main menu bar, select OptionsAnimation; then click the Time History tab in the dialog box that appears.

Select the steps to include in the animation.

To customize the frequency at which ABAQUS reads frames, click either:

Read all to read all available frames or

Skip, then enter the number of frames to skip in the frames between reads box. For example, if you enter 1, every second frame is read.

Use the Options and View menus to select the customization options that you want. These may include deformed, contour, symbol, orientation, and view options.

To initiate the animation, select AnimateTime History from the main menu bar.

Tip:  You can also produce a time history animation using the tool in the toolbox.

Animation begins in the current viewport, and the animation controls appear in the prompt area. ABAQUS is now in the time history animation plot mode. In this mode ABAQUS automatically refreshes your plot each time you click Apply or OK in the Results, Options, or View menu dialog boxes. The current viewport remains in the time history animation mode until you produce a plot in some other (for example, undeformed, deformed) mode. To learn how to control the animation, see “Controlling animation playback,” Section 34.4.