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How to insert SolidWorks Composer Animation into a PDF
This work flow was developed in response to GoEngineer customer requests for a universal, semi-interactive,
SolidWorks Composer document that could be opened by nearly every computer with Adobe Acrobat Reader
installed. This is one of many options for distributing rich 3dvia Composer content. The following steps
illustrate the simple journey from the SolidWorks Composer smg file type, to Flash FLV file type required for
insertion into a PDF document/template. The following instructions were put together with the help of many
blogs, personal experience and Adobe help files, with special thanks to Matt Morgan A.E., GoEngineer. Most
of the following steps, while outside of standard Technical Support, have successfully generated rich PDF
documents that have been viewed on very dated computers to robust work stations.
Software required;
-
SolidWorks Composer
VirtualDub (Free) or similar
Windows Movie Maker or similar (Camtasia)
Adobe Acrobat PRO
In SolidWorks Composer;
Open the file that has the smg animation.

Set paper size aspect size=16x9 set in file,
properties, doc properties, paper space
reference the locations within the
Tools\Options\File Locations dialog box.
Rocky Mountain
Boise:
208.377.9901
Salt Lake City: 801.359.6100
Denver:
303.495.2451
Central U.S.
Dallas:
972.395.2138
Houston: 713.735.3295
Ft. Worth: 972.395.2138
Austin:
512.293.4881
Alabama: 877.395.2100
Louisiana: 877.395.2100
Northern California
Santa Clara:
408.213.1580
Sacramento: 916.797.9177
Petaluma:
408.213.1580
Oklahoma
Tulsa:
918.491.1800
Oklahoma City: 972.395.2138
Duncan:
580.470.9312
1.800.688.3234|www.goengineer.com
Southern California
Santa Barbara: 818.716.1650
Woodland Hills: 818.716.1650
San Dimas:
714.438.1401
Torrance:
310.328.3075
Costa Mesa:
714.438.1400
San Diego:
858.753.0006
Hawaii:
800.688.3234
In SolidWorks Composer (continued);

Go to high resolution image work shop, set
resolution to 1280x720 dpi 70(HD), select
the multiple tab and check animation, set at
30FPS.

Save to png file type in a clean folder, this can
take some time based on size.
*From this point forward the process is outside the standard Support/Maintenance Agreement.*
Rocky Mountain
Boise:
208.377.9901
Salt Lake City: 801.359.6100
Denver:
303.495.2451
Central U.S.
Dallas:
972.395.2138
Houston: 713.735.3295
Ft. Worth: 972.395.2138
Austin:
512.293.4881
Alabama: 877.395.2100
Louisiana: 877.395.2100
Northern California
Santa Clara:
408.213.1580
Sacramento: 916.797.9177
Petaluma:
408.213.1580
Oklahoma
Tulsa:
918.491.1800
Oklahoma City: 972.395.2138
Duncan:
580.470.9312
1.800.688.3234|www.goengineer.com
Southern California
Santa Barbara: 818.716.1650
Woodland Hills: 818.716.1650
San Dimas:
714.438.1401
Torrance:
310.328.3075
Costa Mesa:
714.438.1400
San Diego:
858.753.0006
Hawaii:
800.688.3234
*Use VirtualDub(free software) to stitch the images together to make the animation
VirtualDub settings;

Options, preferences,
images = 30(same as what’s set in
SolidWorks).

Video, frame rate=30FPS.
Rocky Mountain
Boise:
208.377.9901
Salt Lake City: 801.359.6100
Denver:
303.495.2451
Central U.S.
Dallas:
972.395.2138
Houston: 713.735.3295
Ft. Worth: 972.395.2138
Austin:
512.293.4881
Alabama: 877.395.2100
Louisiana: 877.395.2100
Northern California
Santa Clara:
408.213.1580
Sacramento: 916.797.9177
Petaluma:
408.213.1580
Oklahoma
Tulsa:
918.491.1800
Oklahoma City: 972.395.2138
Duncan:
580.470.9312
1.800.688.3234|www.goengineer.com
Southern California
Santa Barbara: 818.716.1650
Woodland Hills: 818.716.1650
San Dimas:
714.438.1401
Torrance:
310.328.3075
Costa Mesa:
714.438.1400
San Diego:
858.753.0006
Hawaii:
800.688.3234

Open the first image file from
the folder (set to image
sequence) that the png's are in.

File, save as AVI when done
(takes time).
Rocky Mountain
Boise:
208.377.9901
Salt Lake City: 801.359.6100
Denver:
303.495.2451
Central U.S.
Dallas:
972.395.2138
Houston: 713.735.3295
Ft. Worth: 972.395.2138
Austin:
512.293.4881
Alabama: 877.395.2100
Louisiana: 877.395.2100
Northern California
Santa Clara:
408.213.1580
Sacramento: 916.797.9177
Petaluma:
408.213.1580
Oklahoma
Tulsa:
918.491.1800
Oklahoma City: 972.395.2138
Duncan:
580.470.9312
1.800.688.3234|www.goengineer.com
Southern California
Santa Barbara: 818.716.1650
Woodland Hills: 818.716.1650
San Dimas:
714.438.1401
Torrance:
310.328.3075
Costa Mesa:
714.438.1400
San Diego:
858.753.0006
Hawaii:
800.688.3234
Adding further compression;
Use Windows Movie Maker; (or Camtasia)

Open avi, save as wmv, one
fifth the size when done.

Then saveas FLV file type.
Rocky Mountain
Boise:
208.377.9901
Salt Lake City: 801.359.6100
Denver:
303.495.2451
Central U.S.
Dallas:
972.395.2138
Houston: 713.735.3295
Ft. Worth: 972.395.2138
Austin:
512.293.4881
Alabama: 877.395.2100
Louisiana: 877.395.2100
Northern California
Santa Clara:
408.213.1580
Sacramento: 916.797.9177
Petaluma:
408.213.1580
Oklahoma
Tulsa:
918.491.1800
Oklahoma City: 972.395.2138
Duncan:
580.470.9312
1.800.688.3234|www.goengineer.com
Southern California
Santa Barbara: 818.716.1650
Woodland Hills: 818.716.1650
San Dimas:
714.438.1401
Torrance:
310.328.3075
Costa Mesa:
714.438.1400
San Diego:
858.753.0006
Hawaii:
800.688.3234
To add video to a PDF document;

Start Acrobat and open the PDF document. If the document is in a PDF portfolio,
right-click (Windows) or Ctrl-click (Mac OS) the document and choose Open.

Open the Tools pane and expand the Content panel.
The lower section in the Content panel includes options
for adding and editing interactive objects.
Rocky Mountain
Boise:
208.377.9901
Salt Lake City: 801.359.6100
Denver:
303.495.2451
Central U.S.
Dallas:
972.395.2138
Houston: 713.735.3295
Ft. Worth: 972.395.2138
Austin:
512.293.4881
Alabama: 877.395.2100
Louisiana: 877.395.2100
Northern California
Santa Clara:
408.213.1580
Sacramento: 916.797.9177
Petaluma:
408.213.1580
Oklahoma
Tulsa:
918.491.1800
Oklahoma City: 972.395.2138
Duncan:
580.470.9312
1.800.688.3234|www.goengineer.com
Southern California
Santa Barbara: 818.716.1650
Woodland Hills: 818.716.1650
San Dimas:
714.438.1401
Torrance:
310.328.3075
Costa Mesa:
714.438.1400
San Diego:
858.753.0006
Hawaii:
800.688.3234
To add video to a PDF document (continued);

Click Multimedia to open the pop-up menu.
You can add video, sound, animation, and 3D objects to
the PDF.

Click Video.

Drag or double-click to select the area on the page where you want the video to appear.
The Insert Video dialog box appears.
If you double-click the page, Acrobat places the upper left corner of the video where you
clicked. If you drag an area on the page, the media is placed within the area.

Add a URL in the File field, or click Browse to find the video file.
For URLs, use the full file address, including the video filename extension, such as .flv, .f4v,
or mp4.

(Optional) To specify which playback controls will be displayed for the video, click
Show Advanced Options. Then select the Controls tab. In the Skin menu, select which set
of controls to use.

Make sure that Snap to Content Proportions is selected in the Insert Video dialog box.
This adjusts the size of the video object to maintain the proportions of the source video.
The video object will be approximately the size of the box you draw, but will preserve the
source video’s height to width ratio.
Note: Deselecting this option will result in a video object that is the exact size and shape of
Rocky Mountain
Boise:
208.377.9901
Salt Lake City: 801.359.6100
Denver:
303.495.2451
Central U.S.
Dallas:
972.395.2138
Houston: 713.735.3295
Ft. Worth: 972.395.2138
Austin:
512.293.4881
Alabama: 877.395.2100
Louisiana: 877.395.2100
Northern California
Santa Clara:
408.213.1580
Sacramento: 916.797.9177
Petaluma:
408.213.1580
Oklahoma
Tulsa:
918.491.1800
Oklahoma City: 972.395.2138
Duncan:
580.470.9312
1.800.688.3234|www.goengineer.com
Southern California
Santa Barbara: 818.716.1650
Woodland Hills: 818.716.1650
San Dimas:
714.438.1401
Torrance:
310.328.3075
Costa Mesa:
714.438.1400
San Diego:
858.753.0006
Hawaii:
800.688.3234

the box you draw, which may cause the video to appear distorted.
Click OK to add the video. The video may take a few seconds to process before it appears in the
location you specified.

Click in the video to activate it. The video plays.

To position the video in the PDF, click Select Object in the Content panel, and drag the video object.

(Optional) To delete a multimedia object, use the Select Object tool to select the object and press
Delete.
Rocky Mountain
Boise:
208.377.9901
Salt Lake City: 801.359.6100
Denver:
303.495.2451
Central U.S.
Dallas:
972.395.2138
Houston: 713.735.3295
Ft. Worth: 972.395.2138
Austin:
512.293.4881
Alabama: 877.395.2100
Louisiana: 877.395.2100
Northern California
Santa Clara:
408.213.1580
Sacramento: 916.797.9177
Petaluma:
408.213.1580
Oklahoma
Tulsa:
918.491.1800
Oklahoma City: 972.395.2138
Duncan:
580.470.9312
1.800.688.3234|www.goengineer.com
Southern California
Santa Barbara: 818.716.1650
Woodland Hills: 818.716.1650
San Dimas:
714.438.1401
Torrance:
310.328.3075
Costa Mesa:
714.438.1400
San Diego:
858.753.0006
Hawaii:
800.688.3234