3D Compositing with Action > Action: Basics > Setup and Processing Options >
Preferences Tab

Surfaces Settings

Default Resolution field
  Displays the default geometry resolution (number of polygons) of all surfaces. You can also change the geometry resolution of specific surfaces in the Surface menu. For projects with resolutions of 1920X1080 HD and higher, the default in this field is 12. For projects with resolutions lower than 1920X1080 HD, the default is 6.

The lower the value, the better the resolution and the greater the processing time required to interact with the image. A value of 1 creates one polygon per pixel on a surface, affording accurate displacement and lighting.

Use this field when exploding a surface with a particle generator and when using hardware texture mapping. See Exploding Objects and Surfaces.

Apply Resolution To All button
  Click to apply the geometry resolution in the Resolution field to all surfaces. Since you can change the resolution of specific surfaces in the Surface menu, you can use this button to re-apply the default resolution to all surfaces.

Filtering Settings

Default Filter box
  Select the type of filtering to be set as the default when creating surfaces and maps.
Apply To All button
  Click to apply the default filter to all existing surfaces and maps.

Miscellaneous Settings

Animation Update button
  Enable to update properties such as position, rotation, and colour in the scene. This button is enabled by default.

When disabled, animated objects do not move, but keep the position of their current value. Disable when you want to copy keyframe values from one frame to another.

Play Lock button
  Enable to update the animation settings according to the frame or timebar position as you move through the clip while keeping it locked at the current frame.

When Play Lock is disabled and you use > or < to play the resulting clip, each frame is loaded and displayed in sequence in the image window.

Undo Levels field
  Displays the number of operations you can undo. The Undo and Redo buttons each have a list allowing you to select the most recent operations to undo or redo. You cannot undo a Delete operation for media.

Setting the undo levels to a large number uses more memory. The default is 10.

Backup button
  Enable to back up your Action setup automatically. A backup copy of current Action settings is saved in the _action.bak file in the Action directory.
Backup field
  Displays the number of minutes between backups.

NoteThe Action backup button is not available when accessing Action through Batch. If a backup is needed, you can use the Batch backup.

Show Front Only button
  Enable to display only the front media in the Media menu. Disable to display both the front and matte media.
MK As Default button
  Enable to set the Modular Keyer as the default keyer when accessing the Keyer from the Media menu.
Auto Image option box
  Select an option for creating nodes in the schematic when new media is added.

Select: | To add to the scene:
--- | ---
Auto Image | An image node and axis.
Auto DVE | A DVE Layer Object
Auto Image Off | No nodes are automatically added to the scene.

Use Proxies button
  Enable to use proxies for media in Action. Using proxies increases interaction speed, especially when working with high-resolution images.

TipYou can also toggle proxies by pressing Ctrl+P.

Proxy Media option box
  Select which media proxies are used for. Press Shift+P to toggle the proxy media behaviour.

Select: | To:
--- | ---
All Media | Work in proxy resolution for all media loaded into Action.
Full Res Media | Use the full resolution clips for the current media. This option is useful when accessing modules such as the Keyer or Colour Corrector from Action. When you go into a module with media selected, the full resolution clips for the selected media are loaded into the module.

NoteWhen you enter the Colour Corrector or Keyer from media in proxy mode for a 12-bit clip, a message warns you that there will be a precision loss if you have already worked on a media using the full-resolution 12-bit clip. You can confirm, or switch to Full Res Media before reentering the module.

When you are ready to process your final output, disable Use Proxies. If you process with Use Proxies enabled, the processed clip will be rendered using the proxies.

Display Settings

Icons box
  Select object (axes, borders, control points) display options. The selected option displays icons only for the object currently selected in the scene.

TipYou can also display the axis icons in 2D to increase your interaction speed. You can set the setenv DL_ACTION_2D_AXES 1 in the .cshrc file.

Icon Transparency field
  Displays the transparency for icons that represent axes, lights, motion paths, and 3D geometry in the scene.
Ruler button
  Enable to display the ruler in the scene area.

Use the arrows at each extremity of the ruler to place the beginning and end of the ruler anywhere in your scene view.

TipUse the Shift key to snap the ruler into place either horizontally or vertically.

Ruler Define button
  Enable to define real unit measurements, such as feet, metres, or inches, instead of pixels. All camera distance or axes measurements thereafter use the defined scale.
Ruler Length field
  Displays the length and measuring unit (feet, metres) to use.

When you enter a length, click Define again to apply the new scale to the ruler and all pertinent fields, such as position, rotation, and scale.

TipHold the Ctrl key and click Define to reset the ruler’s scale.

Grid Colour pot
  Displays the custom colour for the grid.
Grid box
  Select the type of grid to display in the scene. Use to position objects in the scene more accurately.

Select: | To:
--- | ---
Grid Off | Disable the grid.
Grid XY | Use a grid constructed on the X and Y planes.
Grid XZ | Use a grid constructed on the X and Z planes. The XZ grid is visible only when the camera is moved from its default position.
Grid YZ | Use a grid constructed on the Y and Z planes. The YZ grid is visible only when the camera is moved from its default position.

NoteThe Action grid is independent from the global grid in the Grids and Guides menu.

Resize Back box
  Select a resize setting for the background media. Affects Colour Corrector and Keyer operations on media, to temporarily provide them with the proper resolution when you enter these modules. This option does not affect the render.
Back Fill Quality box
  Select the quality of the resize defined in the Resize Back box.
Ortho Near field
  Displays the value of the near view in the image window when using Camera or an orthographic view.
Ortho Far field
  Displays the value of the far view in the image window when using Camera or an orthographic view.

Schematic Settings

Display Info box
  Select what clip information is displayed in the schematic.
Schematic Transparency field
  Displays the level of transparency of unselected nodes in the schematic.
Auto Parent button
  Enable to automatically parent nodes in the schematic. Press Alt and drag a node in the schematic to disable Auto Parent temporarily.
Proxy Update button
  Enable to automatically update proxies in the Schematic view. Interaction is slower when this button is enabled.

When Proxy is disabled, Action updates proxies when you switch views. You can also update proxies by clicking Update.

Snap To Grid button
  Enable to position objects with precision in the scene. When you move an object in the scene, the object is automatically aligned to the snap grid.

NoteWhen enabled, this snap only applies to the grid defined in Action. The grid defined from the Grid & Guides menu remains visible, but its snap is overridden as long as the Action Snap is enabled.