Multiple shelf sets

We expanded shelf functionality in Alias so that you can now have more than one shelf open at any time. We've also made the workflow for creating and editing shelves more intuitive.

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In Alias 2024 you can have multiple shelf sets including custom shelves in the Alias environment at the same time.
This provides more flexibility when creating your own preferred arrangement of tools.
The Shelves menu displays the list of default and custom shelf sets.
The blue checkmarks indicate which shelves are currently in the viewport.
To add one, select it from the menu.
There are a few ways to create a new custom shelf set.
You can select New from the Shelves menu, select New from the menu of a tool palette or shelf that's already in the scene or you can middle-mouse-button, drag a tool or shelf item outside the palette or shelf window and drop it on the new shelf drop zone.
Adding an item this way creates a copy of the original shelf item.
As with previous versions of Alias, you can middle-mouse drag tools, menus, and tabs to your new shelf.
Note that middle-mouse dragging a shelf item onto a new shelf moves rather than copies that item.
To edit shelf items, middle-mouse drag the item outside of the shelf window and then drop it on the edit drop zone.
Or, like in previous versions of Alias, press control and double-click.
In addition to renaming the item, you can assign a hotkey to it or change the icon.
Options for editing the shelf set such as adding a new tab, renaming, deleting and exporting can be found in the menu here.
When you export a shelf, it gets saved to a JSON file.
You can then load these files at any time using the import command in the Shelves menu.
To remove an active shelf set from the viewport deselect it in the Shelves menu.
Permanently delete it by clicking the trash can icon.

For more information, see Custom tool shelves.

Tool palette improvements

The newly designed Tool Palettes improves interaction and usability when its resized and provides quicker access to tool tabs and controls.

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As part of Alias modernization, we've made some updates to the Tool Palette.
For example, it's now easier to switch between the view modes.
Icon View like you see here, and List View.
In this mode, you can toggle the tool name labels on and off.
When off, the label for the tool only appears when you hover over the tool icon.
Resize the Tool Palette window like this to change to List View.
In List View, all tools in the palette are displayed vertically.
Use the scroll bar to see all the tools in the palette.
Access sub palettes by clicking the blue triangle or by right clicking the top level tool.
Click again to collapse.
Switch back to Icon View by clicking the Toggle View Mode icon or by resizing the palette window.
Note that tool labels display with an I icon.
Click the label or the icon to show a tooltip, which provides a description of the tool.
Click anywhere outside the area to close the tooltip.
You can access tooltips in Japanese and Simplified Chinese.
When you set the Help Language option in the Help Preferences.
Click Learn More to access the tools help topic.
The behaviors you are accustomed to in previous versions of Alias have been preserved in the new design.
For example, open and close a tool palette by clicking its tab.
Open or close all the palettes by shift-clicking.
Or, press Alt and right mouse button click to display the tools in a flyout.
You can access both Icon View or List View when the palette is docked.
When docked at either the bottom or the top border, you can resize the window so that only the tabs are visible.
Right-click a tab to access a tool.
Click the menu icon to access options for creating and editing shelves.
You can also start a new shelf by dragging a shelf item outside of the palette, and then dropping it on the New Shelf drop zone.
As in previous versions of Alias, you can fit the tool palette window to its contents.
Access options for collapse and expand as well as Auto Hide and the Help button.

For more information, see the following: