| ThingMaker Documentation Chapter 7) Windows and Palettes

| Windows and Palettes Windows and Palettes comprise the ThingMaker workspace. ThingMaker's Scene Window is where you create and arrange Things. The Gallery Palette is where you import the media that ThingMaker turns into Things, and store Things until you want to use them in a Scene. The Settings Palette is the center of interactivity in ThingMaker. The Settings Sheets adjust the parameters of Things, as well as change the appearance of Things.

The Scene Window
Scenes are constructed from Things. The Scene Window is where you build and arrange Things you want to appear on your web page. Use the Scene Window to:

- Drag and drop source material from the Gallery
- Draw shapes that respond like media you import
- Add paths and change the color of Things
- Attach actions and attributes

  The Scene Window

  The Scene Window consists of the content design or work area. It is surrounded by the Scene Frame which, in turn is surrounded by a work area. The Scene Frame shows you what portion of the Scene Window will be displayed in the HTML page by ThingViewer. You can store Things that you want to move in and out of Scenes outside the Scene Frame in this holding area. These Things will remain "invisible" on a web page and will not be "seen" by ThingViewer unless you "program" them to move into the Scene. (To learn how to do this see Tutorial 4, "Paths and Draggable Things," and also, "Path Tool," "Location Action," and "Switch Action.")

  The size of your Scene file will be affected by the amount of material you have in the Scene window.

  Working with the Scene Window

  Resizing the Scene Window
  To change the size of the Scene Window, move the cursor to the edge of the Scene Window. It will change into a diagonal arrow. Click and drag at the borders of the Scene Window to enlarge or reduce the Scene Window to the size you want.

  Adjusting the Scene Frame
  The Scene Frame can be resized by clicking and dragging any of the Control Points on the Frame. The Scene Frame can be moved by clicking and dragging the Frame itself.

  Adjusting the Scene
  You can also adjust your view of the Scene inside the Scene Window by clicking on the scroll bars at the bottom and right sides of the Scene Window. As the scroll bars move, the entire Scene including all the Things in that Scene will move inside the Scene Window.

  Things in the Scene Window
  Adding Things to the Scene
  A Scene can contain a single Thing or multiple Things. When you want to add a Thing to the Scene you must drag it from the Gallery Palette to the Scene Window. Click on the icon representing the Thing in the Gallery, then drag from the Gallery to the Scene window.

  To add media to the Gallery, see Add to Gallery

  Once you have moved a Thing to the Scene, you can add actions to it by dragging Action Icons from the Actions Palette to the Thing's Setting Sheet. You can add a Path to a Thing by clicking on the Path Tool and dragging the Thing around the Scene Window. (A Path Tool icon automatically appears in the Thing's Setting Sheet.) You can add color to a Thing by selecting the Color Tool. To add color, click the desired color in the Color Palette, then click on the Thing.

  Deleting Objects from a Scene
  There are two ways to delete a Thing from the Scene: you can drag it to the Trash Can at the bottom right of the Scene Window, or you can click and select the Thing and press the Delete key.

  Returning Things to the Gallery
  To move Things between Scene Files or to save Things, you need to put them in the Gallery. To move a Thing from the Scene Window to the Gallery, simply click and drag the Thing to the Gallery. The Thing will disappear from the Scene and reappear in the Gallery. To make a copy of the Thing - but not remove it from the Scene - hold down the Control Key and drag the Thing to the Scene. ThingMaker will make a copy of the Thing in the Gallery but leave the original in the Scene. (To learn more about the Gallery, see "Gallery" in this Reference.)

  Previewing Scenes
  Click on the Play Button for a real-time preview anytime you want to see what the Scene will look like on an HTML page. The Things in the Scene will act as if they were in a web browser: move along Paths, respond to the mouse, and otherwise do what you planned. Notice, too, that the Play Button you clicked has become the "Edit Button." When you click on the Edit Button to return the Scene to its original (edit) state, the Edit Button reverts back to the Play Button. Toggle between Edit and Play to preview how your Scene will look and work on your Things.

  You can also switch between Play and Edit modes using commands in the Control Menu, the Alt Key shortcuts (Play = Alt+P, Stop = Alt+S), or by right mouse clicking in the Scene Window which brings up a menu that includes Play and Stop.

  Publishing the Scene
  ThingMaker lets you publish a Thing in a Scene File when you have completed it. Use the Publish command to create an HTML file or tag which you can add to an existing web page immediately, or if you have Microsoft Internet Explorer 4.0 installed, place it on the Active Desktop, or preview it in your web browser.

  The Palettes
  Use ThingMaker's array of Palettes to mix and manipulate media. Think of the Palettes as drawers in a Tool cabinet. Go to a specific drawer when you need a specific kind of Tool or media. Learning how the Palettes work will help you progress more quickly.

  Gallery Palette

- Houses all the media you need to create Things.

  Settings Palette

- Describes a Thing's characteristics, as well as other actions or attributes.
- Holds the Setting Sheets for a Thing.
- Center of creating interactive Things.

  Tools Palette

- Modify a Thing's characteristics in the Scene Window.

  Actions Palette

- Lets you add interactive attributes to a Thing.
- Add Action Setting Sheets to the Settings Palette.

  When ThingMaker is first launched, the Tools and Actions Palettes appear on the left hand side of your screen "docked" to the Scene Window. You can undock these Palettes and move them to other locations on your screen with the Preferences dialog in the Edit menu. To do this, find "Dock Tools and Actions Palettes" and unselect it.

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