Viz Artist User Guide
Version 5.1 | Published October 31, 2023 ©
Stage Tree Area
The Stage Tree area shows a representation of all animated items in the current scene.
This section contains information on the following topics:
Stage Tree
The Stage Tree shows an overview of all Directors, Actors, and Channels that are used to create the animations in the current scene.
Expand or Collapse Stage Tree Branch
Click on the arrow to the left of the item to expand or collapse a branch.
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Expand a Stage Tree Branch: Click the Expand
icon. -
Expand all Stage Tree Branches: Click the top Expand
button or press ALT and click the Expand icon to the left of the branch name. -
Collapse a Stage Tree Branch: Click the Collapse
icon to the left of the branch name. -
Collapse all Stage Tree Branches: Click the top Collapse
button.
Stage Tree Bar
The Stage Tree bar is located above the Stage Tree.
The Stage Tree bar contains of these options:
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Expand / Collapse: Expands or collapses all branches in the Stage Tree. -
Add New Director: Adds a new Director to the Stage Tree. The icon can also be dragged to add a new Director on a specific position. -
Add New Action: Adds a new action to a Director. -
Jump to Next / Previous Animation: Selects the next or previous channel in the Stage Tree if an Actor (Container) has multiple animation channels placed on various Directors.
Stage Tree Menu
This section contains information on these topics:
Directors
Right-click a Director to open a context menu. For more information about Directors, see Directors.
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Rename: Renames the Director.
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Delete "DirectorName": Deletes the Director.
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Scene: Adds a camera channel for camera cuts.
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Live: Adds any of the eight Live Video Inputs.
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Clip: Adds a Clip Channel.
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Gfx: Adds a GFX Channel.
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Super Channel: Adds a Super Channel.
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Image Channel: Adds an Image Channel.
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Sequence: Adds a Sequence.
Note: Directors can be grouped and ungrouped by using CTRL + D and CTRL + SHIFT + D.
Actors
Right-click an Actor in the Stage Tree to open its context menu (see also Actors).
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Delete Actor: Deletes the actor.
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Transformation:
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Position: Creates a position channel for the actor, and automatically adds two default Key Frames.
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Rotation: Creates a rotation channel for the actor, and automatically adds two default Key Frames.
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Scaling: Creates a scaling channel for the actor, and automatically adds two default Key Frames.
Note: If a transformation channel is disabled (grayed out), the channel is already available for the actor in this Director.
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-
Container
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Active: Creates an active channel for the actor, and automatically adds two default Key Frames. The active status can be modified in the Key Frame Editors. If an active Key Frame is set to Value=Off, the whole actor (container) including all animations are hidden in the Scene Editor. The action remains hidden until another Key Frame shows in the time-line with Value=On.
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Material: Creates a material channel for the actor, and automatically adds two default Key Frames. The material can be modified in the Key Frame Editors.
Note: The material option is only available if a material is added to the container.
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Texture: This option varies according to the item that is available on the actor.
Example: If an image is added to the container, various texture options become available. If a built-in geometry is added, for example a cube, various cube options become available. If a font is added to the container, various text options become available. For details about options for the various items, see the respective editor sections, for example Image Editor and Fontstyle Editor.
Channels
Right-click a channel, in the Stage Tree, to open the channel context menu (see also Channels).
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Rename: Not available.
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Delete Channel: Deletes a channel.
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Split/Unsplit Channel: Shows or closes Transformation Channel parameters.
Action Channels
Right-click an Action Channel, in the Stage Tree, to open the Action Channel context menu (see also Action Channels).
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Rename: Makes it possible to rename an Action Channel.
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Delete Action Channel: Deletes an action channel.