Adding Items

Overview

Being able to add your Prop shapes to the Preview allows you to visualize what the actual Prop will look like when your sequences are running.

Adding a Shape to the Preview Window

There are two ways to add any item to the preview… automagic linking and manual linking. Automatically linked items can always be edited later in the Element Links Screen.

Automatically Linked Shapes  Automatic linking can only happen when a prop is initially added to the screen. If a prop already exists on the screen, you can either delete it and re-draw it or link it manually. To link a shape to an element or elements automatically, first, select the element in the Element Tree, then click on the shape in the toolbar and the left-click and hold the mouse button in the preview window and drag the mouse to the lower left of the shape you are adding.

Manually Linked Shapes  Shapes can be drawn without pre-linking them to an element. This is useful if you have not defined elements and want to “play around” with different ideas for your show. I use it all the time to try different placement of props and to try out props I may be considering for next year.

To manually link a shape to an element, click on the […] next to the Linked Elements item in the properties box. Use the Element Links Screen to setup the links to the prop.

Viewing Linked Shapes

To see what prop, string or pixel is linked to an element, find the element on the Element Tree and left-click. If the element or element group is linked to an item in the preview, it will be highlighted. This helps with debugging props, finding string and light rotation, etc.

Notes on Adding and Editing

• Pressing Shift when drawing new objects lets you draw items over and over without selecting them on the toolbar each time.
• Use the arrow keys after selecting an item to move it by single pixels.
• Copy (Ctrl+C) and Paste (Ctrl+V) work and save a lot of time.
• Pasting with Ctrl+V will leave the shape in the “move” status. just move the mouse around and left-click when you get it where you want. This lets you very quickly place mini-trees, for example.