Creating and Modifying Layouts
A layout is a rectangular area on the Mapping field within which effects play. Layouts let a single composition run different animations on different parts of an object at once: a running text on a building's frieze, color washes on the columns, flashes on the roof. Layouts are created once for the whole project and are immediately available in all of its compositions, but which effects lie inside each layout is set separately in each composition.
Main and Additional Layouts
Every project always has a main layout — the Main layout. It coincides with the entire Mapping work field: it cannot be deleted, dragged, or resized with the mouse, and its width and height are exactly the size of the field (how to change it is described below, in the "Work Field Size" section). If no other layout is selected before adding an effect, the effect ends up in the Main layout.
There can be any number of additional layouts. They can be any size — from the entire field down to a single pixel — can overlap each other, lie one inside another, and be positioned anywhere on the field. New layouts are named Layout001, Layout002, and so on; the name can be changed.
An effect always fills its entire layout: its image stretches to the layout's width and height and never goes beyond its boundaries. This is why the same effect looks different in a narrow layout than in a wide one, and fixtures only "see" the layouts whose boundaries they fall within.
Creating a Layout
- In the Mapping window, select the Create Layout tool.
- Left-click at the point where the first corner of the layout will be.
- Move the mouse aside — a green frame will show the future boundaries — and click a second time. The layout is created on the second click.
The boundaries are rounded to whole pixels of the field, and the minimum layout size is 1×1 pixel. Right after the second click the program automatically switches to the Select and Move tool, and the new layout is selected: its parameters are already open in the Properties window, where you can set exact coordinates and size.
The new layout appears not only on the Mapping field but also as a separate row in the Timeline window — in all compositions of the project at once.
There is also a second method: the Edit → Create Layout menu item. It doesn't require drawing and immediately creates a layout the size of the entire work field — convenient when the boundaries will be set numerically afterward anyway.
If you miss while drawing, it's not a problem: both the position and the size of the layout can be changed at any time.
Selecting, Moving, and Resizing
A layout is selected by clicking its row in the Timeline window. The selected row is highlighted, and on the Mapping field the layout is outlined with a red frame; its name marker in the top-left corner turns orange. Clicking the field itself does not select the layout, so you can't accidentally move fixtures instead of the layout.
After that, the selected layout is edited on the field with the Select and Move tool:
- Move — drag the orange marker with the layout's name.
- Resize — drag the green square in any of the four corners. Under the cursor the square is highlighted orange, and while dragging — red; next to it the program shows the current X Position, Y Position, width, and height.
- Shift while dragging — makes the horizontal and vertical offset equal.
- Ctrl+F — stretches the selected layout to the entire work field.
- Set exact values — in the Properties window (see the next section).
When a layout is resized, all effects inside it are automatically recalculated for the new size.
The Main layout has neither a marker nor corner squares on the field: it cannot be moved or resized with the mouse — its size is set only with numbers.
If the layout frames get in the way of viewing the fixtures, uncheck the Layout checkbox on the Mapping window toolbar — the layouts will stop being drawn while continuing to work.
Layout Properties
The parameters of the selected layout are shown in the Properties window, in the General section:
| Parameter | What it sets |
|---|---|
| Blend Mode | How the layout's content is composited onto what's beneath it. The list is the same as for effects — see Режимы смешивания. Set per current composition. |
| X Position, Y Position | The coordinates of the layout's top-left corner, in pixels of the Mapping field. |
| Width, Height | The layout's size in pixels. |
| Apply | Applies the specified size and recalculates the effects inside the layout for it. |
For the Main layout the position cannot be changed, and Width and Height change the size of the entire work field — this is the same as setting the main layout's size in the program's settings.
Layout Background Image
You can place a background image under a layout — for example, a photo of a facade or a construction drawing — to help position fixtures on it. The image is drawn within the layout's boundaries beneath the fixtures and does not participate in the animation: it has no effect on export to cue files.
The settings are gathered in the Background section of the Properties window:
| Parameter | What it does |
|---|---|
| Show Image | Turns the image display on and off. It turns on automatically when a file is selected. |
| File Name | The Open button — selects the image file. After selection, the path to it is shown on the button. Images with a transparent background are also supported. |
| Resampling Mode | How the image is scaled to the layout: Automatically — with smoothing, Nearest Neighbor (hard edges) — without smoothing, with sharp pixels. |
| X Offset, Y Offset | Shifts the image within the layout. |
| X Scale, Y Scale | Stretches the image horizontally and vertically. A value of 1 is the original size. |
| Refresh | Rereads the file from disk. Useful if the image was edited in an external editor without closing the project. |
Background images are only visible while the Background checkbox on the Mapping window toolbar is enabled.
The file itself is not embedded in the project — only the path to it is saved. If the project needs to be moved to another computer, build it with the File → Build Project command: the background images will be placed in the common folder together with the rest of the project's files.
Layouts on the Timeline
Each layout occupies a separate row in the Timeline window, and inside it lie the effects of that layout in the current composition. Working with layouts here works as follows:
- Selection. Click the layout's row — it will be highlighted. A new effect from the Effects Library is added to whichever layout is selected; if nothing is selected — to the Main layout. For more, see Adding an Effect to a Composition.
- Order. Layout rows can be reordered by dragging. The order determines the compositing: if a full-screen effect from one layout covers the others, swap the layouts. The order is shared across the whole project — it changes in all compositions at once.
- Enabling and disabling. The checkbox in the layout's row disables the layout in the current composition: the effects stay in place but do not play.
- Renaming. Double-click the layout's name or press F2; the same action is available in the context menu — right-click the layout → Rename. The name is shared across the whole project.
- Deletion. Right-click the layout → Delete. The effects lying inside the layout are deleted along with it, in all compositions. The Main layout cannot be deleted. The action can be undone with Ctrl+Z.
- Collapsed state. A layout's row can be collapsed with the triangle on the left so it doesn't take up space; the program remembers this state separately for each composition and saves it in the project.
An effect can be dragged from one layout to another right on the timeline — see Moving Effects Between Layouts.
Remember that layouts themselves are shared across the whole project: after creating a layout in one composition, you will see its row in all the others too — empty, until you place effects there.
Work Field Size
The size of the Mapping field is the size of the main layout. It is set as follows:
- Open Settings → Properties (Ctrl+P).
- In the Mapping section, click the Main Layout Size button — the current size in pixels is shown next to it.
- In the window that opens, set the Width and Height and click OK.
If the new field is smaller than the previous one and some layouts extend beyond its boundaries, the program will ask: "Crop layouts to the reduced size?". Yes — the layouts will be cropped to the new field boundaries; No — they will keep their previous size, but the part outside the field will not work. Fixtures placed outside the boundaries of the work field do not play animation.
The field size should be set at the beginning of work on the project, before placing fixtures and creating layouts: the larger the field, the more detailed the picture, but the greater the load on the computer when calculating effects.
Good to Know
- Layouts are shared across the whole project; the content of the layouts is unique to each composition.
- Fixtures are not bound to layouts: a fixture gets the color of the field pixel it stands on. It's enough for the layout to cover the needed fixtures.
- If the Main layout contains a full-field effect, the effects in the other layouts may not be visible — remove that effect, reduce its opacity, or change the order of the layouts.
- Layout boundaries are visible only in the program: they don't appear in the 3D view, in cue files, or on the fixtures.