MacroSystem Slivers - Manual (Page 6)

6
3. Operation
This chapter will first describe the general functions.
3.1 Control elements
The toolbar of the main menu is subdivided into five panels.
Each panel contains several buttons and functions:
3.1.1 General buttons
The Info button opens a window containing the
version number of the program.
This button minimizes the toolbar in the way you
already know from the Casablanca.
This button moves the toolbar to the opposite side of
the screen.
3.1.2 Parts
Parts preview
The “Parts preview“ displays the currently
selected setting for the parts. The currently
active part is highlighted with a light gray
color. When a part contains a white
rectangle, this indicates that the part has already been as-
signed a scene. Red markings around the rectangle symbolise
that the dimensions of the chosen scene do not completely fill
the part. An incomplete rectangle symbolizes that the selected
scene has a shorter duration than the background scene.
Type
Click on Type to open the selection window with all available
templates for parts. There is a selection of 38 different tem-
plates with 2 through 9 parts.
Part
Click on this slider to activate the Part selector. Move the slider
to its desired position and confirm your choice by clicking on
the left trackball button or cancel your selection by clicking on
the right trackball button. The currently active part is highlight-
ed with a bright gray color in the parts preview, while currently
inactive parts are dark gray.
You can also switch between parts by clicking on the corre-
sponding part in the video scene or on the corresponding part
in the small preview image.
Scene
Clicking this button will bring you to the scene selector of your
main program, offering you the opportunity to select a corre-
sponding scene for the active part.
X button
Click on the X button to delete a previously inserted scene
from an active part. It will then be replaced by the scene that
was active at the time Slivers was started.
3.1.3 Bars
Size
This is activated by clicking on the Size slider. The thickness
of the bar between the parts can be set to a value within the
range of 0 through 100. The 0 value stands for no bar at all
while 100 stands for a very large bar.
Color
Click on this button to open the Palette window. Slivers fea-
tures an extended palette that includes a color selection tool, a
pattern selection tool and a color bleed (gradient) tool.
The selected color or pattern is displayed in the palette button.
Please refer to subchapter “3.4.1 Palette“ for more information.
3.1.4 Edit
Scale
This is activated by clicking on the Scale slider. The size of the
scene in the active part can be changed to a value within the
range of 10 through 200%. 100% corresponds to the original
size. Scenes can be reduced to up to 10% or enlarged to up to
200%.
Alpha
Click on the Alpha slider to activate it. The alpha value (trans-
parency) of the scene in the active part can be set to a value
between 0 and 100%. 100% corresponds to no transparency
at all. At 0%, the active scene is not visible.
Anchorpoint
Click on this button to set the scene‘s anchorpoint in any ac-
tive part. You may choose between 9 different, automatic posi-
tions. The centre position is the default value. This means that
the centre of the scene is located in the centre of the part. The
automatic anchorpoints can, for example, also set an align-
ment of the top left corner of the scene with the top left corner
of the part through a single click.
X and Y sliders
Using the X and Y sliders, the position of the scene inside the
active part can be corrected. The values can change between
-50 and +50 and are always relative to the current anchorpoint.
Instead of using the X and Y sliders, the position of the scene
can also be changed by moving the trackball pointer in the
active part. As soon as you reach the active part, the track-
ball pointer changes into a hand symbol. After clicking the
left trackball button, you will be able to use the trackball to
move the active scene in the active part. Another click on the