Use the Stage Editor

Use Windows > Editors > Stages to work on different models or scenes simultaneously.

To change the stage name in the Stage Editor

1. Double-click the file’s name in the name field of the Stage Editor.
2. Type the new stage name and press (Windows) or (Mac). The new stage name appears.

To change the order of stages in the Stage Editor

1. Hold down the over the name of the stage that you want to move. The stage name appears as a label under the cursor.
2. Drag the cursor towards the new location. A red arrow shows the direction of movement, and a red border is drawn around the stage that the label is over.
3. Release the middle mouse button when the label is where you want to put the stage. The stage appears in its new location.

To open a stage set in the Stage Editor

1. Click Open stage set; The File Requestor appears. Either:
   • Type the name of the stage set in the File field and then click the Retrieve StageSet button.
   • Click the Show List button. Click to select a stage set from the list, Select one or more stage sets from the file list. (To select more than one item, hold down the key and click again. The picture shows an example.)
2. Click the Retrieve StageSet button.
3. If a stage set is already loaded, Alias asks if you want existing stages to be deleted before the new stage set is loaded:
   • To remove the stages from the Stage Editor, leaving them unchanged as files, Click YES.
   • To add the new stage set to the existing stages, click NO.
   • To stop retrieving stage sets, click CANCEL.
     Note:

     Selecting File > Open stage set in the Stage Editor is the same as selecting File > Open Stage Set from the Alias main menu.

To edit stage sets in the Stage Editor

1. Click Open stage set; The File Requestor appears.
2. Click the Show List button. Select one or more stage sets from the file list. (To select more than one item, hold down the key and click again.)
3. In the file Browser, select .

   A special version of the Stage Editor appears, as shown in the next diagram. The File, Edit, and Delete menu buttons have been replaced by Save and Exit buttons.

   If more than one stage set was selected, you can click the arrows in the top left corner of the editor to browse through the stage sets. The browser field shows the name of the stage set currently displayed in the Stage Editor.

4. You can change the status of the columns by toggling the check marks ON or OFF.
5. To save the changes, in the Stage Editor click the Save button.
6. To retrieve the stage set with the new settings, click the Retrieve StageSet button in the File Requestor.

To retrieve a wire file as a new stage in the Stage Editor

Use File > Open to retrieve a wire file as a new stage, making the wire file the reference for that stage.

A File Requestor appears to select a file (stage) to retrieve:

• Type a file name in the File field or click the Show List button to list your saved wire files and double-click to select one from the list.
• To retrieve the file as a new stage, select the Retrieve New Stage button.
  Note:

  Selecting File > Open Stage in the Stage Editor is the same as selecting File > Open from the Alias main menu.

To save the stage set under a different filename

1. Specify a name in the File Requestor. Do one of the following:
   • Type a new file name in the File field.
   • Click Show List and double-click a stage set icon in the list. Any existing file that you select is overwritten with the current file.
2. Click the Save StageSet button.

   Each stage is saved to its referenced wire file, if its Wire Store option is checked in the Stage Editor. If Wire Store is not checked for a stage, that stage is not saved.

   If a stage does not have a referenced wire file, the File Requestor appears.

   Note:

   If you have not named the stage, the File Requestor supplies a default name for the wire file.

To rename a wire file

1. Double-click in the File field and type a new name.
2. Click the Save Wire button.

To delete stages in the Stage Editor

1. Select the Delete button to display the Delete pop-up menu.
2. Select Delete > All Stages or Delete > Selected Stage.
3. A dialog box appears asking you to confirm the deletion.
   • To delete, click YES.
   • To cancel the deletion and close the dialog box, click NO.

To create a new stage in the Stage Editor

1. Select Edit > New in the Stage Editor.

   A new stage appears in the list as NewStage.

2. Double-click in the name field and type a name for the new stage. The new stage is the working level, and all objects that you create are now placed in this stage.

To use a wire file as a new stage

To use a wire file as a stage:

1. Select File > Open Stage in the Stage Editor. The File Requestor appears.
2. Click the Show List button to display the File Lister and select the first stage wire file.
3. Click the Retrieve New Stage button to load the file into Alias. The name of the wire file is used as the stage name.
4. Continue opening stages using File > Open Stage until all the required stages are loaded. Stages are listed in the order in which they are created.

Alternatively, from the main Alias menu use File > Retrieve Stage.

To create stages

1. Create a wire file that includes some of the geometry for an object (for example, the body of a car).
2. Create another stage that includes a different set of the object’s geometry (for example, the wheels of a car).
3. Create a third stage that includes an alternate set of the object’s geometry (for example, an alternate set of wheels).
4. Create a fourth stage that includes an environment background and camera view (for example, use the Ramp texture as a background with a blue to white ramp).
5. Select File > Save Stage Set to make a set of all the stages. You will be prompted for file names for each of the new stages. Later, you can select Open stage set and all the wire files associated with the stage set will be retrieved.

To cycle through your stages

Assign hotkeys to the Toggle Stage and Toggle Stage Exclusive functions in the Special > Display Functions section of the Hotkey Editor (Preferences > Interface > Hotkeys/Menu Editor).

Toggle Stage lets you cycle through all your stages, making each stage the working stage in turn.

Toggle Stage Exclusive makes each stage the working stage in turn, and sets the Window Source and Background Source to match that stage. It also makes all other stages invisible. The visual effect is equivalent to having a single stage present.

Hints and tips

• All files are saved as wire files only (for example, IGES files can not be saved as stages).
• If your referenced file is a data transfer file (for example, IGES) but does not have a suffix such as “.iges” or “.igs”, the system adds the suffix “.wire” before prompting for a name.
• If the referenced file has no write permissions, the stage can not be saved and you are not prompted to save it.
• To create a rendered icon for the wire file, click the Create Icon button in the File Browser. A small representation of the stage appears instead of the Store icon. This “thumbnail sketch” icon also appears in the Stage Editor.
• Selecting File > Save stage set in the Stage Editor is the same as selecting File > Save stage set from the Alias main menu.
• Lights from all visible stages illuminate the scene.
• Lights cannot be linked across stages.
• Image planes are associated with the window source stage and, as such, work across stages.
• When you render a scene composed of several stages, one SDL file is created for each stage. The SDL files are named according to the name of the stage set in the Stage Editor. Object names are prefixed with the stage name in the SDL file.
• Objects on inactive stages are displayed in pale green.
• Stages are not templates but may include templates.
• If you save a new stage that has no associated windows, the icon beside its name will not be displayed.