Stage View

The Stage view can be used to position elements as well as the camera within the stage for each of your scene.

When working on 2D scenes, the Stage view has the same functionality as the Camera view. However, if you are working on a 3D scene, the Stage view allows you to view the stage from any point of view in the 3D space, whereas the Camera view always displays the stage from the point of view of the Camera lens. For more information, see Camera View.

NOTE A status bar is located at the bottom of the Stage and Camera views, which contain toggle buttons to hide and display different kind of indicators as well as to adjust the zoom level of the view.
TIP You can hide the status bar in the Stage view by opening the Preferences dialog, selecting the Camera tab and disabling the Show Status Bar option.

Tool Name Icon Description

Thumbnail

Displays the thumbnail of a selected panel.

Grid

Displays a grid in the Stage and Camera views. The default size is the standard 12-field animation grid, but you can choose another.

You can also select View > Grid > Show Grid or press Ctrl + G (Windows) or ⌘ + G (Mac OS X)—see About Drawing .

Action Safe Area

Displays the Title Safe Area frame inside the camera frame. By default, this area is 20% smaller than the camera frame. It is used as a guideline of the area that CRT displays might crop out of the picture. Visual elements such as text and logos should be placed within this area.

NOTE The size of this area can be changed in the Camera tab of the Preferences dialog—see Camera Preferences..

Action Safe Area Mask

Displays a semi-transparent black mask covering the area between the camera frame and the Title Safe Area frame.

NOTE You can select the Action Safe Area Mask option by clicking and holding the Action Safe Area button and selecting it from the pop-up menu.
Title Safe Area

Displays the Action Safe Area frame inside the camera frame. By default, this area is 10% smaller than the camera frame. It is used as a guideline of the area that CRT displays might crop out of the picture. Characters and action should be placed within this area.

NOTE The size of this area can be changed in the Camera tab of the Preferences dialog—see Camera Preferences..

Title Safe Area Mask

Displays a semi-transparent black mask covering the area between the camera frame and the Action Safe Area.

Displays a semi-transparent black mask covering the area between the camera frame and the Action Safe Area.

NOTE You can select the Title Safe Area Mask option by clicking and holding the Title Safe Area button and selecting it from the pop-up menu.

4:3 Safety

Shows or hides the TV safety zone and the centre of the camera frame for a regular 4:3 resolution. If you are working on a widescreen project, for example, you can easily plan in advance the conversion of your project to a TV format. This way, you can create your project to fit both resolutions.

You can also select View > Extras > Show 4:3 Safe Area.

4:3 Area

Shows or hides the 4:3 resolution zone without the centre of the camera frame and TV safety zone.

You can also select View > Extras > Show 4:3 Area.

Camera Mask

Shows or hides a black mask around the scene’s frame to avoid seeing anything outside the Camera frame. This is handy when you are setting up the scene as it allows you to see the scene’s composition better.

You can also select View > Extras > Camera Mask.

Timecode

Displays the timecode of the current frame in the top-left corner of the view.

The timecode is displayed in the HH:MM:SS:FF format, where HH means hours, MM means minutes, SS means seconds and FF means frames.

Camera Label

Shows or hides the IN and OUT indications in the top-left corner of the camera frames, on the start and end position of a camera move for the current panel. When the Camera tool is selected, the labels switch to alphabetical labels that clearly show the different camera keyframes—see About the Camera.

Complete Camera Path

Displays all the related camera keyframes and paths in a scene. When this button is deactivated, the Stage view displays only keyframes that are contained in a panel.

You can also access this feature by selecting View > Show Complete Camera Path.

NOTE This option is not available in Camera by Panel Compatability mode.

Reset View

Resets any panning, zooming or rotation done in the Stage view and returns the display to its initial settings.

You can also select View > Reset View or press Shift + M.

NOTE This option works with the Stage View.

Reset Rotation

Resets any rotation done in the Stage or Camera view and returns the display to its initial rotation settings.

You can also select View > Reset Rotation or press Shift + X.

Look At Selected (3D Only)

When rotating 2D layers in 3D space, you may find that the Stage view is no longer perpendicular to a drawing layer, making it impossible to draw on it. This option makes the Stage view perpendicular to a selected drawing layer, allowing you to draw on it.

NOTE This option is used when working in 3D space—seeAbout 3D Objects.

Point of View

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The Point of View menu lets you determine the level at which the current position of the Stage view (zoom, pan and rotation) is remembered when you flip through the panels. The current Point of View mode will also affect the different Reset View commands’ behaviour as they will reset according to the Point of View mode.—see Point of View Menu.

Zoom Factor

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Lets you enlarge or reduce the Stage or Camera view display. If you want the camera frame size to always match the size of your Stage view, select the Fit to View option.

Layer Name

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Displays the name of the selected layer of the current panel.

Tool Name

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Displays the name of the selected tool. If you override a tool using an overriding keyboard shortcut, the tool’s name turns red—see About Drawing.

Colour Picker

Displays the currently selected colour in the Colour View . You can click the colour swatch to open the Colour view and select a new colour.

Layer Panel -

The Layer panel is where a scene’s layers are superposed to form the final image.

When you import an image or draw in a panel, you are actually adding artwork to one of its layers. By default, each panel has two layers; a background layer (BG) and a foreground layer (A). As you add layers, they are automatically assigned subsequent letters in alphabetical order, but you can rename them. They are also placed on top of the selected layer or at the very top of other layers if there is no layer selected in the panel.

Add Vector Layer

Adds a vector layer to the Layers list.

Add Bitmap Layer

Adds a bitmap layer to the Layers list.

Duplicate Selected Layers

Duplicates selected layers so you can quickly copy and paste in one operation. Unlike copying a layer, you cannot paste multiple copies of a layer on other panels. Duplicating layers is only available within one panel. Duplicated layers retain their names and are appended with a number.

Group Selected Layers

Groups selected layers. The grouped layer is named Group and appended with an underscore and a number. For example, Group_1. Each time you creat a group, the number is incremented.

Delete Selected Layers

Deletes the selected layers.