Selecting a Layer

There are different ways of selecting the layers you want to reposition in the Camera view.

The topic is divided as follows:

Selecting a Layer from the Camera View using the Transform Tool
Bounding Box Selection Style
Finding the Selected Layer in the Timeline View
Finding the Selected Layer in the Network View
Selecting an Element from the Timeline or Xsheet View
Selecting all Elements Within a Group at the Same Time

Selecting a Layer from the Camera View using the Transform Tool

You can select your elements directly in the Camera view using the Transform tool. When you select the Transform tool, its properties and options appear in the Tool Properties view.

When using the Transform tool to select elements in the Camera view, always make sure that the Peg Selection Mode option in the Transform Tool Properties view is disabled or else it will limit the selection to peg only.

To select from the Camera view:

1. In the Tools toolbar, select the Transform tool or press [Shift] + [T].
2. In the Transform Tool Properties view, make sure that the Peg Selection Mode is deselected.
3. In the Camera view, select the element to be repositioned. You can select more than one element at a time.

The corresponding layers and columns are highlighted in the Timeline and Xsheet views.

Bounding Box Selection Style

You can change the display style of selected elements to Bounding Box. This will remove the normal selection coloured highlight and leave only the bounding box around your selected element.

To set the bounding box selection style:

1. Select View > Show > BBox Selection Style.

Finding the Selected Layer in the Timeline View

When you have several layers in your Timeline view, you may find it hard to locate which one is selected. Toon Boom Animate Pro has an easy solution to this problem, you can use the Centre on Selection feature to display the selected layer in the Timeline view.

To centre on the selected layer in the Timeline:

1. In the Camera view, select the desired layer.
2. Make the Timeline view the current active view.
3. From the Timeline menu, select View > Centre on Selection or press [O]. If your selected layer is in a group, or a child of one or more elements, continue to press [O] to expand the layers in the Timeline until your selected layer becomes visible.
4. You can also click the Centre On on Selection button in the Timeline View toolbar.
Refer to the Managing the Toolbars to find out more about customizing the toolbars.

Finding the Selected Layer in the Network View

Just as with the Timeline view and the many layers contained in it, when you have several modules in the Network view, you may find it hard to locate which one is selected. You can also use the Centre on Selection feature to focus on the selected module in the Network view.

To centre on the selected layer in the Network View:

1. In the Camera or Timeline view, select the desired layer.
2. Enable the focus in the Network view.
3. In the Network View menu, select View > Centre on Selection. You can also press the Centre On Selection button available in the Network View toolbar’s extra button or press [O].

Selecting an Element from the Timeline or Xsheet View

You can also select your elements from the Timeline or Xsheet view. This can be useful when there are too many objects in the scene or when an object is hard to grab.

To select from the Timeline or Xsheet view:

In the Timeline view, click the layer corresponding to the element you want to reposition.
In the Xsheet view, click the column header corresponding to the element you want to reposition.

The selected element will be highlighted in the Camera view.

Selecting all Elements Within a Group at the Same Time

There is an easy way to select all the elements within a group at the same time. You can do this via the Network or the Timeline view.

To select all elements within a group in the Network view:

1. In the Network view, navigate to the group you would like to completely select.
2. Hold down and click-drag a marquee selection around the group module.

3. All elements within that group will now be selected.

To select all elements within a group in the Timeline view:

1. With a group collapsed or expanded, hold down [Alt] and click on the group in the Timeline view.

2. All elements contained within the specified group will be selected.

Related Topics 

Transform Tool Properties