Buttons on the left hand side of the main window can be used to add new figures to the editing area and modify the current selected figure or figures. A figure can be selected by clicking any of its handles. Multiple figures can be selected by holding shift while clicking a figure or by dragging a box around the origin handle of figures.

 

  The selected figure can also be changed by holding down the Ctrl key while pressing the left or right arrow keys or by using the mouse wheel. The selected figure will then step through the figures. This can be useful if a figure has been moved outside the screen area and so cannot be clicked.

 

From top to bottom the figure controls include:

 

 

Add Figure

Add a figure to the animation. If there's more than one figure type in the animation then the figure type selector window will appear (see below).

 

Delete

Delete the selected figures.

 

 

Edit

Open the selected figure in the figure builder window.

 

 

Centre

Move the selected figures to the centre of the animation area.

 

 

Flip

Flip or mirror the selected figures horizontally. A vertical flip is the same as a horizontal flip followed by a 180° rotation.

 

 

Raise

Move the selected figures in front of all other figures. If the Ctrl key is held then the selected figures will be raised by one layer only.

 

Move the selected figures behind all other figures. If the Ctrl key is held then the selected figures will be lowered by one layer only.

 

 

Colour

Change the colour of the selected figures using the Windows colour selector.

 

 

Duplicate

Create an exact copy of the current figures and add it to the editing area. All properties of the figures are duplicated where possible.

 

 

Join / Unjoin

Join the selected figure to another figure. The button is disabled if multiple figures are selected. The origin handle of the selected figure can be joined to any other joint if it doesn't result in a closed loop of joined figures. After clicking the button, click one of the white handles to join the figure. Select the figure again and click the button again to unjoin them.

 

 

Scale

The percentage scale change of the figure from its default size. If multiple figures are selected, then the value shown is that of the first selected figure and all selected figures will be scaled to maintain their relative proportions.

 

Opacity / Transparency

The percentage opacity / transparency of the selected figures.

 

 

 

The figure selector can be accessed by clicking the 'Add Figure' button when there is more than one figure type in the animation. It displays images of all figure types in the animation that have been created using the figure builder or loaded from STK files. By clicking a figure type image, a figure of that type will be added to the frame editing area. Hover the mouse cursor over an image to read the full name of the figure type. The figure selector window is resizable.

 

  Hold the Ctrl key while clicking a figure type to keep the figure selector window open to add more figures.