3D Compositing with Action > Action: Surfaces > Reordering Surfaces >
Accessing the Priority Editor

Each entry in the Priority Editor indicates the object's name, the order of the object in the stack, and the location of the object in its branch. There is also a proxy showing what the object looks like in Schematic view.

To access the Priority Editor, swipe the bar at the bottom of the Media or Object menu.

NoteIf a source node is selected in the schematic, the Priority Editor that is displayed is that of the source node (the source node name is prepended to the branch name).

(a) Drawing order of objects in the scene(b) Priority Editor controls

Use the Priority Editor controls to analyse the scene for changes in rendering priority, to change the rendering priority, and to cut, copy, and paste priority information from one frame to another. The Priority Editor controls are described as follows.

Action Layers Selection box
  Based on the object selection in the Action scene, select an option to determine which Priority Editor to display.
Analyze and Z-Sort buttons
  Analyse the entire scene (Analyze) or the current frame (Z-Sort). A mark appears in the timebar if there is a change in drawing order. See Analyze, Z-Sort, and the Z-Buffer.
Bring To Front button
  Click to move the selected object one position higher in the stack, in front of the next higher object.
Push To Back button
  Click to move the selected object one position lower in the stack, behind the next lower object.
Undo button
  Undoes the last operation. You can undo Cut, Copy, Paste, Reset, and Reset All, but not Z-Sort and Analyze.

Use the Undo List to view a list of recent operations and revert to a prior state. Select an item in the list to return to that state. All actions that occurred after the selected item are undone.

Auto Key button
  Enable to create keyframes when reordering media priorities. See Creating Keyframes Using the Priority Editor.
Group button
  Click to create groups of selected media. Use this to analyze, Z-Sort, or manage several media at once. See Grouping Media.
Cut, Copy, and Paste buttons
  Cut, copy, and paste priority information between frames.

Note that a mark indicates when a change in priority occurs. If you copy and paste a mark that does not change the priority, no mark appears on the timebar.

Reset box
  Select whether to reset priority information for the current frame or for all frames.