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What is ProcessMind? Explore Key Features of ProcessMind What is needed to run ProcessMind?
Create your account ProcessMind onboarding Create, upload or generate your process model How to Upload Your Dataset Build Your Process Model manually
Quick Reference Guide Navigating Dashboards Understanding the Process Graph Process Animation Using Filters Element & Connection Menus Case Explorer
What is BPMN 2.0? BPMN Diagram Construction Guide How to Import and Export BPMN Files
Events Start Event End Event Intermediate Event Activities Additional Activity Types BPMN Gateways Connecting Objects Pools and Swimlanes Artifacts
Where to Source and Structure Data for Process Mining Supported Data Formats for Event Logs 7 Common Process Mining Data Challenges Configuring Your Dataset Dataset Attributes Dataset Activities Dataset Data Data Cleaning and Preparation for Process Mining Extracting Data from SAP for Purchase-to-Pay (P2P)
Data Mapping Overview Mapping datasets Mapping / Unmapping activities
Process Charts Process Filters Metrics Expressions Visual Simulation for Better Process Understanding Customizing Dashboards Markdown Notation Process Bookmarks
What is Process Simulation? Running a Simulation What-If Analysis with Simulation How the Simulation Engine Works Statistical Distributions Periodicity and Time-Varying Parameters Resources and Capacity Planning Simulation Interface Reference
Organization Settings Environments (Tenants) Themes / White labeling Billing and Payments Single-Sign-On (SSO) with ProcessMind
The Importance of Continuous Improvement Lean Six Sigma / DMAIC
FAQ Troubleshooting Clipboard Access for Copy-Paste Functionality Troubleshooting Data Issues
Data Management Guide for Optimal Insights Best Practices for BPMN 2.0 Modeling in ProcessMind How to Optimize Performance in ProcessMind
API Overview API Keys API Reference: Organizations API Reference: Tenants API Reference: Data API Reference: Processes
Example Process Mining Event Logs Template Event Log Files Example BPMN Files
Roadmap 2026-2027 ProcessMind 2025.12 ProcessMind 2025.10 ProcessMind 2025.09 ProcessMind 2025.07 ProcessMind 2025.04 ProcessMind 2025.01
Download the BPMN 2.0 Poster in your language Supported BPMN Elements in ProcessMind Overcoming Process Mining Challenges What is needed to run Process Mining? Glossary of Terms
ProcessMind Brochures ProcessMind Presentation Logos and Brand Assets ProcessMind Product Screenshots and Visuals Videos and Demos
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Process Animation

Process Animation

Process animation brings your data to life by showing how cases move through your process over time. Instead of looking at static numbers, you can watch the flow and immediately spot where things slow down, pile up, or take unexpected paths.

What Is Process Animation?

Animation visualizes each case as a dot traveling through your process diagram. The dots move according to real timestamps in your data, showing you:

  • How cases flow through different activities
  • Where cases accumulate (bottlenecks)
  • Timing patterns across the process
  • Path variations different cases take

It’s like watching a time-lapse of your entire process.

Starting the Animation

Play Controls

The animation controls are in the bottom bar of the dashboard:

ControlAction
Play ▶️Start the animation
Pause ⏸️Pause at current point
Stop ⏹️Stop and reset to beginning
TimelineDrag to jump to specific time

Keyboard shortcut: Press Space to play/pause.

Timeline

The timeline shows the date range of your data. As the animation plays, a marker moves along the timeline showing the current point in time.

  • Click anywhere on the timeline to jump to that point
  • Drag the marker to scrub through time manually

Animation Settings

Customize the animation using the controls on the right side of the screen.

[IMAGE: AnimationSettings.webp]

  • Content: Screenshot of animation settings panel showing speed and tail options
  • Alt text: “ProcessMind animation settings with speed and visual options”

Speed

Adjust how fast the animation runs:

  • Slower: See details of individual cases
  • Faster: Get an overview of patterns quickly

Use faster speeds for initial exploration, then slow down when you spot something interesting.

Show Tail

When enabled, each dot leaves a trail showing its recent path. This makes it easier to:

  • Follow individual cases through the process
  • See which paths cases are taking
  • Spot loops and rework patterns

Performance Tip

For large datasets, disable Show Tail if the animation feels sluggish. This reduces visual complexity and improves performance.

Dataset Colors

If you have multiple datasets attached to the process, each one animates in a different color. This helps you compare different time periods or data sources.

Combine datasets: Assign the same color to datasets and enable Combine Datasets with Same Color to merge them into a single animation stream.

What to Look For

Bottlenecks

When dots pile up at a specific activity, that’s a bottleneck. Cases are arriving faster than they can be processed.

What it looks like: A growing cluster of dots at one activity while other parts of the process are empty.

Rework Loops

When dots travel backwards through the process, that indicates rework: cases returning to earlier steps.

What it looks like: Dots moving against the main flow direction, especially with Show Tail enabled.

Timing Patterns

Notice when cases move quickly versus slowly:

  • Fast movement: Activities with short processing times
  • Slow movement or pauses: Long wait times or processing times
  • Bursts: Periodic batch processing

Path Variations

Different cases may take different routes through your process. Animation makes this visible:

  • Main highway: Where most cases flow
  • Side roads: Less common paths
  • Unexpected detours: Deviations worth investigating

Exporting Animations

You can export the animation for presentations or reports.

Recording the Animation

  1. Start the animation playing
  2. Click the Export or Record button (if available)
  3. Choose your format and quality settings
  4. The recording captures the animation as a video file

Screenshot Approach

For static presentations:

  1. Pause the animation at an interesting moment
  2. Take a screenshot using your system tools
  3. Annotate the screenshot to highlight key observations

Export Availability

Export features may vary based on your ProcessMind subscription. Contact your administrator for details on available export options.

Tips for Effective Animation Analysis

  1. Start fast, then slow down - Use high speed to get an overview, then slow down when you spot patterns

  2. Use with filters - Filter to specific case types or time periods before animating to focus your analysis

  3. Pause and investigate - When you see something interesting, pause and click on the accumulated cases to investigate further

  4. Compare time periods - Use different dataset colors to compare how flow changed between periods

  5. Show stakeholders - Animation is powerful for communicating findings to non-technical audiences

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