The Studio Menu Bar
- David Avgikos
The menu bar is located at the top of the screen and has options for File, Edit, and Help. Clicking a menu option causes its associated drop-down menu to appear.
The center of the menu bar displays the course name, the name and number of the currently selected stage, and arrow icons for moving between stages.
To the right, is a readout of the distance between the active view and the currently selected object. Clicking the distance readout will toggle between feet, yards, and meters.
Exiting the Program
Pressing the ESCape key will exit the program. If there are no unsaved changes to the course you are working on, the program will close without any notification. However, if there are unsaved changes, the program will show a dialog and three options.
Don’t Save - no changes are saved and the program closes immediately.
Cancel - the dialog closes and you are returned to the program.
Save - a Save Course As dialog will open, allowing you to save your course before the program closes. If you click Cancel in the Save Course As dialog window, the save and exit windows will close and you will be brought back to the program.
File
New Course removes all objects and resets all course settings (stage count is set to 1) to their default values. Any unsaved changes to your course will be lost when you click New, so a warning box will appear asking you to confirm the action.
Open Course opens a dialog that shows all available courses. Loading a course will replace the current course you may be working on.
Open Stage opens a dialog that shows all available stages. Loading a stage will add the new stage as the last stage in a course. For example, if your course has three stages, loading a new stage will make it stage four. You can use the Stage Editor to change the position of stages if needed.
Save Course saves the current course, using the existing name, along with all its stages, objects, and options. Saved courses can be run in DART MAX or reopened and edited in MAX Studio or MAX Creator.
Save Course As opens a dialog that will allow you to name the course prior to saving it.
Save Stage As opens a dialog that will allow you to name the stage prior to saving it.
Import Course opens a window that will allow you to select a course (in zip format) that has been previously created with the Export option. Select the file for importing and click the Import button. After a few moments, the course assets will have been saved to the appropriate data folder and the course will open.
Export Course opens a dialog that will allow you to save all your course assets to a single zip file. Export is different than saving a course because it will gather all scene objects and supporting files, such as graphics and sound files that you may have created, and combine them into a single file that can be shared with colleagues anywhere in the world.
Import 3D Model MAX Studio Required opens a dialog that can load a 3D model in gtlf, gtb (preferred), and fbx formats directly into Studio. This is also used to loaded scanned objects and environments into your courses.
Exit closes the program.
Edit
If no object is selected in the viewport, the following options are available.
Undo undoes the last command or action.
Redo repeats the last undone command or action.
If an object is selected, these additional options are available in the Edit menu. Some options may not be visible at all times. For example, the Paste option will only be available if an object has been previously cut or copied.
Create Group creates a group from one or more selected objects.
Ungroup (available only if a group object is selected) breaks a group object apart into one or more objects.
Save to Library opens a save dialog that allows an object or group (with all of their settings and behaviors) to be saved to the Library.
Copy copies the currently selected object with its path and settings.
Paste pastes a copy of the last saved object to the scene. This option is only available if an object has been copied.
Replace pastes selected portions of a copied object or group and deletes the selected object at the same time. When replace is used, the pasted object assumes the transform settings as the object it is replacing. This option is only available if an object has been copied.
Cut deletes the currently selected object, group, path, etc. If the cut asset is an object, it is saved to memory and can be pasted into the scene.
Delete deletes the currently selected object, group, path, etc.
Isolate On/Off turns off all objects and groups except the selected object/group.
Zoom to Object if the current view is set to Overview, it will zoom into the selected object(s).
Help
Website opens a browser window to the DART website.
Documentation opens a browser window to the support section of the DART website.
Navigation Guide opens a window showing the mouse and keyboard shortcuts used for moving around the viewport.
About DART/MAX Studio opens a dialog with information about the program, including the version number.