Action Interface Overview

Action is divided into a number of menus and sections designed to help you quickly create your composites.

Accessing Action Menus

The left side of the Action menu houses a number of buttons that allow you to switch between the various Action sections and menus. Clicking any of these buttons opens the specific Action section, such as the Action Bin or Output menu.

Changing Views

You can change the orientation to view a scene from many angles. This can help you set up motion paths, light sources, and camera angles more easily.

From the View box (on the viewing/layout toolbar under the viewports), select an option to set the view in the image window.

Here are some tips for changing views in Action:

• Most of the View box options have keyboard shortcuts displayed in the expanded list. Some of these keyboard shortcut options are also cycle options. For example, pressing F5 repeatedly cycles through the animation channels, tracks, and info views.
• You can toggle ` (on the Tilde key) to alternate between the Schematic view and the previous view.
• Working views are useful, in that they provide you with the ability to view your scene using a working camera, through which you can experiment without saving anything while preserving your camera setups. Working views are available in the Action 3D Views, Sources, and Analyzers sub menus.
• An Action Object Solo view (F8) is available for a number of objects (such as Lights, Projectors, and GMasks). The Object Solo view allows you to see the scene through the point of view of the selected object, as if it was a camera. When in Object Solo view, you can use camera manipulation tools, such as Dolly, Roll, Tilt, and Orbit (available from the Tools box).
  Note: You can even use the Object Solo view on a Camera node, allowing you to see the scene through the point of view of the Camera, without actually making the camera active.