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Layout Controls


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The interface of modo is made up from a flexible number of windows called 'viewports', that can each have their own contents. Outside of the controls of the 'Layout' option of the menu bar, a couple of interface elements exist to easily control these viewports. They are called the 'Thumb' (also known as the Dimple) and the 'Widget'. They appear in the upper corners of each viewport.

Thmb and Widget

RMB+clicking on either icon opens a context menu with a variety of options for controlling viewports. The 'Thumb' is used for manipulating the viewport frame, meaning the viewport itself can be split, deleted and otherwise customized using its commands, while the 'Widget' controls the contents of the viewport, where users can choose from the entire array of possible options. Users can open either menu by way of a RMB (right mouse button) click on the icon. Any of the various menu options van then be chosen with a LMB+click.

Thumb

Controlling the viewport
LMB+click-dragging on 'Thumb' icon allows users to detach the viewport into a floating 'Window'.
Shift+LMB+click-dragging on 'Thumb' icon will clone the current viewport into a floating 'Window'.
Ctrl+LMB+click-dragging on 'Thumb' icon will split the viewport in the direction of the drag (either horizontally or vertical).
LMB+click-dragging on a viewport divider will scale/resize the associated viewports.

Thumb menu--
Thumb MenuDuplicate: Creates a copy of the selected viewport and deposits it as an embedded viewport on the right hand side of the layout, leaving the original in place.

Copy: Creates a detached copy of the selected viewport leaving the original in place.

Detach: Removes the embedded viewport and floats it in its own Window.

Delete: Removes the current viewport from the interface.

Save Viewport: Saves any changes made to the current viewport preset.

Save Viewport As: Saves a new viewport Preset allowing the user to set the name and category.

Save Viewport Group: Saves any changes made to the current viewport as well as any child viewports to the current preset. Child viewports are defined as those that are nested within an overall viewport frame, such as the Mod-Quad layout.

Save Viewport Group As: Saves a new viewport group Preset allowing users to set the name and category.

Delete Saved Viewport: Provides users a means to remove custom-made viewport presets.

Revert: Restores the viewport to its default preset settings.

Maximize/Restore: Fills the viewport group frame with the current viewport, this option is highly dependant on the viewports layout. This is mostly useful in the case of maximizing a 3D viewport inside a collection of 3D views, as in the case of the Mod_Quad preset.

Min Header: Removes the viewport header, leaving mini versions of the Thumb and Widget in their respective corners, preserving screen real-estate when necessary. This is convenient when using viewports for simplified data displays, such as the coordinates viewport in the bottom left hand side of the default modo layout.

Lock Height: Fixes the viewport height at the current setting. Subsequent resizing of the interface won't affect any particular window that have their size locked, allowing for fixed size viewports.

Lock Width: Fixes the viewport width at the current setting. Subsequent resizing of the interface won't affect any particular window that have their size locked, allowing for fixed size viewports.

Split Horizontal: Evenly splits the current viewport into two viewports of the same type, next to each other.

Split Vertical: Evenly splits the current viewport into two viewports of the same type, one on top of the other.

 

Widget

Widget Menu--

Widget MenuThe Widget menu is content sensitive, changing the menu options based on the category of the currently loaded viewport preset. The sections are separated by thin shaded lines. The upper most section will change to the most common types of viewports for any given category. The next section down provides all the defined categories and their related viewport types.

Viewport Settings: The 'Viewport Settings' menu contains all the viewport specific options. For 'Form View' viewports, this will be a long list of the various forms available, such as the mode options buttons. For the Shader Tree, this will be 'Filter' and 'Preview Icon' options. The settings of many of the viewport options are covered in their respective documentation pages under the 'modo Viewports' section of the interface page of the documentation.

Viewport Controls: The 'Viewport Controls' menu duplicates the functionality (and therefore the menu) of the Thumb context menu as a convenience.

Layout Controls: The 'Layout Controls' sub-menu provides the same functionality of the options available in modo's menu bar under the '"Layout" menu as a convenience. The options available are as follows--

Layout ControlsLayout Presets: Users can choose from the various preset layouts, and can load custom saved layout from this menu as well. These layouts (referred to as Legacy Layouts) are covered on the Legacy Layouts page of the Documentation.

Save Layout: The 'Save Layout' command will let users save any interface customization into the currently loaded preset (which by default is the 'modo 601 Default'). This action will overwrite the original layout replacing it fully.

Save Layout As: The 'Save Layout As' command will let users save any interface customization into a new modo Default Layout that will appear at the bottom of the 'Layout Presets' list. When invoked, a menu will open requesting a name for the new preset.

Revert Layout: The 'Revert Layout' options provides users a means to reset any layouts to 'Factory Original' should one be mistakenly modified.

Clear Layout: Removes all viewports from a layout, leaving only a single empty "(none)" viewport form. A tutorial on building a viewport from an empty frame can be found on the 'Customizing the Layout' page of the documentation.

Delete Layout: The 'Delete Layout' command opens a popup window allowing users to remove any custom created interface layouts. It is not possible to remove the default layouts.

 

Additional controls for the layout are available in the 'Layout' menu of the modo menu bar that are not part of the 'Layout Controls'.

Lock Thumb Dragging: Users can interactively modify viewports using several combination actions when dragging the mouse pointer over the 'Thumb' icon. Users may find from time to time they mistakenly modify the layout inadvertently and may wish to disable the 'Thumb Dragging' functionality by toggling this option.

Lock Divider Dragging: Users can interactively resize viewports by LMB+click and dragging the mouse pointer when over the frame dividers. Users may find from time to time that they mistakenly modify the layout and may wish to disable the 'Divider Dragging' functionality to avoid doing so, by toggling this option.

Windows/Palettes: While all the default layouts all have viewports that are embedded, it is also possible to have floating viewports. When viewports are floating (or detached) they can be 'Window' or 'Palette' style. The only difference between them is that 'Palettes' have a thinner header with a single control for closing the Palette, whereas Windows provide full OS specific controls for minimizing/maximizing and closing the viewport. The menu bar command "Layout > Windows/Palettes" provides additional options to open custom pre-made viewports or varying types.

Window Palette

Toggle Palettes: Users can toggle the visibility of floating Windows and Palettes using this command or the keyboard shortcut for the ' ` ' (accent grave key, same as the ~ tilde).

 

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