Pitch Mode

When pitching your storyboard, it is helpful to use Storyboard Pro to visually present your story or concepts. Storyboard Pro provides a workspace designed specifically for this called the Pitch Mode workspace.

This chapter includes the following topics:

Pitch Mode Workspace
Navigating in the Camera View

Pitch Mode Workspace

The Pitch Mode workspace contains a different set of views than the other workspaces, and occupies the entire display screen. Access is only given to a certain number of features. This maximizes the viewing space by removing any unnecessary distractions such as toolbars and buttons, allowing your audience to focus solely on the story being pitched. It also has an easy comment feature that is not available in the other workspaces. The views in this workspace do not have tabs or names. You cannot add or remove views. However, you can hide the side views temporarily to maximize the Camera view.

There is also a Pitch Mode view, that behaves in almost the same way as the Pitch Mode workspace, but provides access to the other views and menus—see Pitch Mode View.

This section includes the following topics:

Accessing the Pitch Mode Workspace
Exiting Pitch Mode
Camera View
Expanding the Camera View Width and Height
Onion Skinning
Thumbnails View
Caption View
Control Panel View
Adding and Deleting Comments
Grid

NOTE: For more information on the Thumbnails, Camera, and Caption views, see Discovering the Interface, Setting the Camera Frame, and Captions.

Accessing the Pitch Mode Workspace

The Pitch Mode workspace can be accessed in the same way as other default workspaces, but you must exit the mode in a different way —see Exiting Pitch Mode .

To load the Pitch Mode workspace, do one of the following:

From the View toolbar, click the Pitch Mode button.

From the Workspace toolbar, select Pitch Mode.
From the top menu, select Windows > Workspace > Workspace > Pitch Mode.
Press [8].

Exiting Pitch Mode

When in Pitch Mode, you do not have access to the toolbars, but you can easily exit by using the Exit Pitch Mode button at the bottom of the screen. This is useful when in full screen mode and you have no longer access to the top menu. To exit the workspace, you can also switch to another workspace using the top menu.

To exit the Pitch Mode workspace:

In the Control Panel view, click the Exit Pitch Mode button.

Camera View

The Camera view displays your drawings, camera moves and transitions. You do not have access to your layer list in this mode. All layers that are enabled are shown.

You can use the Pitch Mode workspace to add comments based on the given feedback. A special Comments layer can automatically be added to your drawing for making notes and corrections.

If you do not want to see the transitions or camera motions, deselect the Camera Preview button in the Control Panel view.

Expanding the Camera View Width and Height

The Camera view is the main area that your audience will want to see. You can enlarge this viewing area by expanding and collapsing the view.

To expand/collapse the Camera view: show or hide the side and bottom views:

In the Control Panel view, Thumbnails, or Caption view, click the Expand/Collapse Arrow button to hide the view.

You can also use the entire screen to optimize your workspace. To toggle full screen mode, click the Full Screen Mode button in the Control Panel view or press [Ctrl]+[Shift]+[F] (Windows) or [⌘]+[Shift]+[F] (Mac OS X).

Onion Skinning

In the Pitch Mode workspace, you can use the Onion Skin feature to see your previous and next panels—see Onion Skin.

To see the onion skinning, deselect the Camera Preview button in the Control Panel view.

Thumbnails View

The Thumbnail view is very similar to the Thumbnail view found in the other workspaces and the View menu. It allows you to see the scenes, panels, and transitions in your storyboard. The main difference is that you cannot see the drawing layers included in the panel, only the composited image of all your layers—see User Interface.

You can easily navigate through the thumbnails without clicking on them by using the default keyboard shortcuts [A] and [F].

Caption View

The Caption view displays the captions related to the current panel. You can see the dialogue, action notes or any other caption available in your storyboard. You can also add, remove or edit captions the same way as you do in the Panel view—see Captions.

Control Panel View

The Control Panel view is where you play back the storyboard, see the dialogue or selected caption for the current panel, and access the comments settings and tools.

This section includes the following topics:

Playing Back Your Storyboard
Scrubbing Scenes
Automatically Playing Camera Moves
Playing Back Your Storyboard

The Control Panel view contains the Playback toolbar for playing and navigating your storyboard—see Playing Back Your Animatic.

Scrubbing Scenes

You can scrub through your scene, view a specific point in the scene, see it in slow motion, or check a particular section.

This slider lets you scrub through all the panels in a scene. You will see the camera motions and the transitions at the speed you want by sliding left or right. Sliding left brings you to the beginning of the scene and sliding right brings you to the end. Note that transitions, camera moves, and all panels will be displayed.

NOTE: If you do not want to see the transitions or camera motions, deselect the Camera Preview button in the Control Panel view.

As you select or scrub through your panels and scenes, the name and number of the current scene and panel are displayed.

Automatically Playing Camera Moves

As you navigate through the panels of your storyboard, you can automatically play any camera motion encountered in the panels.

To automatically play camera moves:

In the Control Panel view, select the Auto-play Camera Moves option.
NOTE: You can also press [A] and [F] or simply select panels in the Thumbnails view to flip through your panels. When you select a panel that contains a camera move, it will automatically play.

Adding and Deleting Comments

When you present your storyboard, you will most likely receive comments and feedback about your work. The Pitch Mode workspace allows you to easily draw comments and corrections over your panels.

In Pitch Mode, you do not have access to the drawing layers included in your panels, so when you draw corrections on your panel, a new Comments layer is automatically added for you on top of the panel. You can use this new Comments layer the same way as any other drawing layer in your scene.

Adding comments and corrections in Pitch Mode is easy. As soon as you start drawing using the Brush tool, the Comments layer is added for you.

If you no longer require a Comments layer, you can easily delete it while you are still in the Pitch Mode workspace.

To add comments and corrections:

  1. In the Comments section of the Control Panel view, select the Brush tool or press [Alt]+[B].
  1. Click a colour swatch to select a colour for your brush. To change the colour, double-click the colour swatch to open the Colour Picker. Select a new colour—see Colours.

  1. Set the brush size.
  1. In the Camera view, draw your correction.

A Comments layer is added on top of your layers. To access the Comments layer, exit the Pitch Mode workspace and return to any of the other default workspaces.

To erase a correction, use Eraser tool or press [Alt]+[E].

To delete a comment:

In the Comments section of the Control Panel view, click the Delete Layer button.

The Comments layer is deleted. You cannot delete any other layers.

Grid

Displaying the grid can be useful as you draw corrections and comments. It will only be available for the Comments layer—see Setting Up the Drawing Space.

To display the grid, do one of the following:

Press [Ctrl]+[G] (Windows) or [⌘]+[G] (Mac OS X).

Navigating in the Camera View

If you want to zoom in and out or pan in the Camera view, you can use the View tools available in the Control Panel view.

To navigate in the Camera view, deselect the Camera Preview button in the Control Panel view.
Button Name Keyboard Shortcut
Zoom

[2] for zoom in

[1] for zoom out

When the Zoom tool is selected, hold Alt as you click to zoom out.

Zoom In [2]
Zoom Out [1]
Pan Spacebar