Views Pane

The Views pane lets you manage the views of the active document.

To display the Views pane, click Window > Show/Hide > Views.

This page discusses:

See Also
About Views
Views Workshop

Toolbar Commands

Toolbar commands let you manage views.

IconCommand NameDescription
Create ViewCreates a view that captures the entire viewport state. This command is equivalent to creating a view in the Views workshop with all items captured ( Zoom fit all and BOM Description settings do not matter).
Tip: To change the order of views in the Views pane, drag a view to a new location.
Create Camera ViewCreates a custom view that captures camera position only. This command is equivalent to creating a view in the Views workshop with only Camera selected.
Update ViewUpdates all captured items in the selected views using the current scene. This command is equivalent to updating a view in the Views workshop after clicking Retrieve View Settings.
Note: Only the properties of visible objects are stored in views.
Update Views with Selected ActorsUpdates the selected views with all properties and visibility of the selected actors. This command is equivalent to updating views in the Views workshop with the following settings:
  • Actors
  • Apply to: Current selection
  • Visibility
  • Properties: All
Note: Only the properties of visible objects are stored in views.
Create View Collection Creates collections to organize views in the Views pane.
Redraw All ViewsRefreshes all view thumbnail images, which is useful after updating a model.
Go to Previous ViewDisplays the previous view.
Play ViewsDisplays views one by one. To stop, click Stop Views or press Esc.
Stop ViewsStops playing views.
Go to Next ViewDisplays the next view. You can also press Space Bar to display the next view.

Right-Click Commands

Right-click a view to display additional commands.

IconCommand NameDescription
Update View See toolbar command.
Update Views with Selected Actors See toolbar command.
N/A Delete Unused Properties Removes all properties that duplicate the neutral (default) values from all normal views. This command does not affect custom views. Use this command before publishing documents to reduce file size and increase performance.
Notes: Using this command during document development can affect view behavior. For example:
  1. Start with an actor with blue neutral color.

    Neutral properties are part of the actor definition and are not stored in view definitions.

  2. Make the actor red.
  3. Create a view.

    The view stores the non-neutral red color property. The neutral color is still blue.

  4. Set red as the neutral color ( Set as Neutral Properties command).
  5. Right-click in the Views pane click Delete Unused Properties.

    Because the view's color property matches the neutral value (both red), the red property is deleted from the view definition.

  6. Make the actor green and set green as the neutral color, but do not update the view definition.
  7. Make the actor purple without updating the view definition.
  8. Activate the view (for example, drag it into the viewport), and click No when prompted to create a new view.

    The actor turns green because the view does not define a color to override the neutral value set in step 6. However, if you skip step 5, the actor turns red because the view captured the non-neutral red property in step 3.

N/A Add Collection Creates a new collection.
N/A Delete Collection Deletes the selected collection. When you delete a collection, all the views inside the collection are added to the collection above it.
N/A Rename Collection Renames the collection.
N/A Activate Collection Activates the collection. Any new view created through Create View, Create Camera View, or through the Views workshop is added to the active collection.
N/A Deactivate Collection Deactivates the collection. If any collection is deactivated, then the first collection is activated by default. There is always one active collection in the Views pane.
Note: Deactivating a collection does not delete any views.
N/A Expand All Expands all collections.
N/A Collapse All Collapses all collections.
N/A Copy Views Copies the selected views, which you can then paste to create new views.
N/A Paste Views Pastes the previously copied views.
Note: You cannot paste views outside of Composer.
N/A Merge Views Creates a new view by merging the selected views. If two views have the same properties with different values, the values of the first selected view are used. To create a new view by merging views, select two or more views, right-click the selection, and then click Merge Views. Merging normal and custom views follow the same rules.
Tips:
  • You can also merge views by dragging one view onto another. When you drag View A onto View B, View B is renamed View B + View A.
  • Use empty views as a starting point for creating merged views.
Create Empty View Creates a blank view to use as a starting point for merging views. Create an empty view and then drag views onto the empty view.
Delete Views Deletes the selected views.
N/A Delete All Views Deletes all views.
N/A Rename View Renames the selected view.
N/A Export Views Exports the selected views to a .smgView file for reuse in other projects.
N/A Import Views Imports views into the active document. Actor identification is based on GUIDs (as specified by Ident in the .smgView file). In the Import Views dialog box, select Force resolution to match with some portion of the GUID. For example, if the a view GUID is a.b.c, you can apply it to the sub-product "c" only.
N/A Lock Views Locks the selected views. You cannot modify the View properties if the view is locked.
N/A Unlock Views Unlocks the selected views.
N/A Go to View Displays the selected view in the viewport.
Tip: You can also go to a view by double-clicking it or dragging it into the viewport.
N/A Create Image 2D Panel Creates thumbnail images linked to the selected views by creating Image 2D panels with view:// event links. Panels are placed in the upper-left corner of the viewport or paper space. To update the panel image when the view changes, select the panel and click Update in the High Resolution Image workshop. See High Resolution Image Workshop.

To specify a completely different image, change the panel's Map path property (Properties pane).

Tip: You can also create an Image 2D panel by Ctrl+dragging a view into the viewport.

N/A Create Link to View Links the selected actors to the selected view by creating view:// event links.
Tip: You can also link to a view by Ctrl+dragging a view onto an actor.
View Mode Switches between view and animation modes.
Tip: You can also change modes by clicking the icon in the upper-left corner of the viewport.
N/A Enlarge Thumbnails Makes the view thumbnails larger. You can also press + to enlarge thumbnails.
N/A Reduce Thumbnails Makes the view thumbnails smaller. You can also press - to reduce thumbnails.