The Studio Side Panel
- David Avgikos
The side panel shows a variety of options including stage controls, behaviors, editing targets, and the object library. The side panel uses three basic types of controls; buttons, multi-select buttons, and sliders.
Option Controls
Buttons with an ellipsis indicates that an additional choice must be made when the button is clicked - either selecting a file from a load dialog or choosing from a list of menu options.
Load buttons are used to open a separate selection window. For example, if the Ambient Audio button is clicked (under Stage Settings), it will open a window used to select and load an audio file.
Multi-select buttons will display a menu of available choices. Move your cursor to the desired option and left-click to select it.
Slider Controls
Sliders are used to select varying values in one of two ways. Left-click and drag the mouse anywhere in a slider to change its value.
Optionally, a left-click and release will allow a value to be entered manually.
In some cases, the default min and max values can be overridden by entering a lower or higher value. For example, if a slider normally has a range of 15 to 60, you may be able to enter 100 and have the slider control adjust to the new max value. Not all sliders allow this action. The min and max values can be reset by clicking the reset icon to the right of the slider. The reset icon will also reset the control to its default value.
Slider Limits
Clicking the + icon next to a slider (if available) will open a dialog window that will allow you to set the minimum and maximum values of the control. If you enter an invalid value, the program will use the closest valid value instead. For example, if a negative number is entered where one is not allowed, the program would use the value 0.
Other Considerations
If there are more options than can be seen in the side panel (for example from the Library), it can be scrolled vertically by left clicking on the side scroll bar and dragging the mouse up and down.
Clicking the hamburger menu at the top left of the side panel opens the side panel menu. The name of the selected panel appears under the hamburger icon.
Favorites
Controls that you use frequently can be marked as a favorite by clicking the heart icon next to the control. When the heart is solid, the control is considered a favorite. Clicking the icon again will turn unselect the icon and turn off the favorite status.
Click the hamburger menu at the top left of the side panel and select the Favorites option (Shift Z) to show your favorite controls.