Right-click on a Container Name

Right-click on the Container name to show these context menu options (dependent on the Container contents):

• Add Info Text: Makes it possible to add text-based information on a Container. Also available as a plug-in by clicking Built Ins and then double-clicking the Container plug-ins tab.

• Add Material: Adds a Material to the selected Container. See also Working with Material and Material Advanced Items.

• Rename: Makes it possible to change the name of the selected Container.

• Delete Container: Deletes the selected Container.

• Show/Hide Container: Indicates if the selected Container and all its Sub-Containers are visible/invisible in the Scene Editor.

• Lock/Unlock Container: Disables or enables the ability to modify the transformation of the selected Container in the Scene Editor.

• Create Sub Container: Creates a new empty Sub-Container for the selected Container.

• Merge Container: Merges the selected Container and all its Sub-Containers into one compound object, or extracts an already merged object.

• Merge Container to Sub Container: Merges the selected Container(s) and all the respective Sub-Containers into one compound object and creates a new sub director for the merged animation.

• Merge Container w/ Actions & Events to Sub Director: Merges the selected Container(s) and all the respective Sub-Containers into one compound object, including actions and events and creates a new sub director for the merged animation.

• Merge Container w/ Actions & Events to Sub Container: Merges the selected Container(s) and all the respective Sub-Containers into one compound object, including actions and events.

• Merge to Material Advanced: Merges multiple objects to one, creating advanced material(s). See Working with Material and Material Advanced Items.

• Change Color: Applies a color to the selected Container. Colorized Containers make the Scene Tree more organized. For example, all font Containers can be colored red, while all Containers that hold images can be colored blue. Four active colors are configured by default.

  Tip: To modify the color of multiple containers, multi select the required Containers and click on in the tree .

Right-click on a Container Property

Right-click on a Container property to show these additional menu options:

• Delete property: Deletes the property from the Container.

• Tree Search for property: Selects the Search Button, and searches the Scene Tree for instances of this property.

• Database Search for property: Searches for the property in the database, and shows the result in the Server Panel.

  Note: This menu option is only available for images.

• Reference Search for property: Searches for the property in the Graphic Hub database, and shows the result in the Search window.

  Note: This menu option is only available for images.

Right-click on a Container Media Asset Property

Do a right-click on a Container Media Asset property, to show these additional menu options:

• Delete <Media Asset>: Deletes the Media Asset from the Container.

• Tree Search for <Media Asset>: Selects the Search button, and searches the Scene Tree for instances of this property.

• Show settings of <Media Asset>: Opens the Texture View (Media Asset Manager) and the Media Assets tab of the Scene Settings in the Property panel (see Media Asset Workflow).

To Add Root or Sub-Containers

items that are dragged onto the Scene Tree can be positioned in various ways, and create either root or Sub-Containers.

• Sub-Container: Dropping an item at the right side of a Container in the Scene Tree creates a Sub-Container.

• Root Container Below/Above: Dropping the item at the left side of a Container in the Scene Tree creates a root Container at the same hierarchy level, either below or above the selected Container.

To Add Empty Containers

Clicking the Create Group button (CTRL + INSERT) adds an empty Container above the selected Container. If a Container is not selected, it adds the new Container to the root level. The Create Group button is only available if Basic is selected from the Scene Tree menu.

To Add an Empty Container

Click the Create Group button from the Display area.

To Add a Container at a Specific Location in the Scene Tree

Drag the Create Group icon and place it as a above or below of an existing Container, or as a Sub-Container.

To Select Multiple Containers

Press CTRL and click on each Container.

To Select All Containers

With the cursor over the Scene Tree, press CTRL + A.

To Select a Range of Containers

1. Click on a Container.

2. Press SHIFT and click the last required Container.
   All Containers in between are selected.

To Copy a Container within a Scene

• Hold CTRL and drag the Container to its new position, or

• Use CTRL + C and CTRL + V to copy and paste the Container. Copied Containers are placed as Sub-Containers of the selected Container.

To Copy Multiple Containers at Once

Hold CTRL and the left mouse button and drag the Containers to their new position, and then click the right mouse button to release.

To Move a Container within a Scene

• Drag it to the new position, or

• Use CTRL + X and CTRL + V to cut and paste the Container(s) to the new position.

To Retain Transformation Properties While Moving a Container within a Scene

Pressing the ALT button while moving a Container (or group of Containers) within the Scene retains the transformation properties. This lets a Container, which is part of a Group, to be moved to another group while the absolute transformation of the Container does not change, although the parent Containers (Groups) have different transformations.

For example:

1. Group 1: The Group position is X 100.0 and Y 100.0. The Container position is X 0.0 and Y 0.0.

2. Group 2: The Group position is X 0.0 and Y 0.0.
   When a Container is moved from Group 1 to Group 2, while pressing the ALT button, the moved Container inherits its former Group’s position values (i.e. X 100.0 and Y 100.0), so its absolute transformation stays the same.

Moving it back, while holding the ALT button, its transformation properties are readjusted. Meaning, if you adjust the moved Container’s position X to 200.0, before moving it back to its original Group, its position X is 100.0 and position Y 0.0 after the move.

1. Add two group Containers to the Scene Tree.

2. Rename the groups to Group 1 and Group 2.

3. Open Group 1’s transformation editor and set Position X and Y to 100.0.

4. Add a geometry (e.g. Cylinder) as a Sub-Container of Group 1.

5. Add material to the Cylinder.

6. Press and hold the ALT button and place the Cylinder as a Sub-Container of Group 2. When the Container is moved a letter R shows in the drag and drop window.

7. Release the ALT button.

8. Open the Cylinder Container’s transformation editor and set Position X to 200.0.

9. Press and hold the ALT button and place the Cylinder as a Sub-Container of Group 1 and check that the transformation properties are:

   • Group 1: Position X 100.0 and Y 100.0.

   • Cylinder: Position X 100.0 and Y 0.0.

To Rename a Container

• Double-click the Container name, or

• Right-click a Container. Click on Rename in the Container context menu.

To Rename Multiple Containers

1. Multi select the required containers.

2. Rename one of the selected containers and add # to the end of the text:

   • Example 1: Container#

   • Example 2: group#

     

3. Press ENTER.

4. All selected Containers are renamed.

   • Example 1: Container1, Container2, Container3, etc.

   • Example 2: group1, group2, group3, etc.

     

To Edit the Properties of a Container

Select the Container in the Scene Tree, or in the Scene Editor. Its editor shows in the Properties Panel (see Modify Container Properties).

To Copy a Property from One Container to Another

Drag the property from the source Container to the target Container, or use the context menu.

To Delete a Container from a Scene

1. Drag a Container to the trash can, or

2. Right-click the Container, and in the context menu select Delete Container [Name], or

3. Use the shortcut keys CTRL + DELETE.

   Note: If deleting a parent Container, all Sub-Containers are deleted too.

To Merge Containers into a Compound Object

1. Select a Container which contains Sub-Containers.

2. Merge the Container with all its Sub-Containers:

   • Click the Merge button, or

   • Press CTRL + M,

   • or right-click the Container and select Merge Container from the context menu.
     

     Note: The Merge button is only available if Tree is selected from the Scene Tree menu.

To Split a Merged Compound Object

1. Select a merged Container.

2. Split the Container:

   • Click the Split button, or

   • Press CTRL + SHIFT + M, or

   • Right-click the merged Container and select Split Container from the context menu,

     Note: The Split button is only available if Basic is selected from the Scene Tree menu.

To Save a Compound Object to a Graphic Hub

1. Right-click a Container (with or without Sub-Containers),

2. In the context menu select Merge Container.

3. Drag the compound object’s icon from the property editor or Scene Tree and drop it onto a folder/project in the Server Panel.

4. Type a descriptive name for the object in the dialog box

5. Click Ok. The object is now visible in under the Server Objects tab.

To Group Existing Containers

1. Select the Containers to be grouped.

2. Click the Group (CTRL + G) button from the Display area.
   This adds an empty group Container one level higher than the original Containers.

   Note: The Group button is only available if Basic is selected from the Scene Tree menu.

To Ungroup Containers

1. Select the parent Container

2. Click the Ungroup (CTRL + SHIFT + G) button from the Display area.

   Note: The Ungroup button is only available if Basic is selected from the Scene Tree menu. Also, tree structure further down in the hierarchy remains.

To Detach a Single Container From a Group

• Drag it from the group and place it somewhere in the Scene Tree.

See Also

• For more information about setting default merge and split behaviors, see the User Interface page in the Configuring Viz section of the Viz Engine Administrator Guide.

• For more information about how to configure colors, see the Colors page in the Configuring Viz section of the Viz Engine Administrator Guide.