Customizing the User Interface

Use

You can easily rearrange the components of the user interface. Components can be resized, moved, floated, docked, and closed to place the most frequently used components close to hand, similar to the functionality in most Windows applications. Components are displayed as docked by default, and have a Windows-type interface. Some panels snap together, and produce a tabbed display for easy access.

For example, the Parts panel, Scene Components panel and the Layers panel can be grouped together to form one tabbed panel. You can also customize the display of toolbars and customize the colors used in the scene display. Customization of the user interface can help to maximize the work-space for greater productivity, and to establish your corporate usage standards and the look and feel of the application.

Features

The functionality includes the following:

  • Viewports can be resized.

  • The File and Folders Explorer can be resized.

  • The menu bar and toolbars can be docked at the top, bottom, left, or right of the viewports.

  • All panels can be docked.

  • Customizing toolbar button display; using the vertical move bars to the right of the toolbars, you can display only the tools you need.

  • Panels and toolbars can be displayed automatically when a file is opened if the component relates to the file’s structure. For example, if you have a model view saved in a .rh file and the Model Views control is set to Automatic, the Model Views panel displays when you load the file.

  • Specific functions can be grouped by tab, with each tab containing relevant toolbars. These are called custom tabs.

  • Various panels including the Information bar, Scene tree, Animations, Parts panel and Display Settings can be individually floating, or docked together in a single tabbed display.

  • Setting components to display automatically if a file includes functionality that relates to the component. For example, if a file includes animation and the Animation Timeline control is set to automatic, the timeline is displayed when the file is opened.

  • Customizing menu commands, toolbars, ScreenTips, and shortcut keys. These procedures are identical to Windows functionality and as such, are not described here.

  • Customizing the layout (see Layout Manager).

Note that many customizing conventions are identical to Windows functionality and are not described here.