Work with slide properties

The Slide Properties dialog box is a graphical representation of the elements of a slide, such as shots and alternatives, in chronological order. It enables you to arrange elements sequentially and position them so they help you tell a story about your design. You can add multiple elements of the same type, such as alternatives from the same lineup.

Read the following sections to find out more.

View slide properties

Open the Storyboard interface, create a slide, and add elements to it, as described in Set up a storyboard.
Right-click the slide and select Properties to open the Slide Properties dialog box.

Tip: You can also double-click a slide (in authoring mode) to open the properties dialog box.

On the left side of the dialog box are the types of elements present in your slide, such as lineups, shots, and so on. On the bottom is the time grid of the slide.

At the core of the dialog box is a series of rows, each of which contains occurrences of element types in relation to the time grid. Each element appears as a swatch.

Navigate and select items in the Slide Properties dialog box

To zoom in and out of the Slide Properties dialog box:

Hold down the Alt key and drag the right mouse button across the dialog box, or click the zoom buttons on the lower right of the dialog box.

To pan right and left inside the properties dialog box

Hold down the Alt key and drag the middle mouse button across the dialog box.

To display the name of an element:

Hover over the element. Its name appears in a tooltip.

To select multiple items in the properties dialog box:

Use standard Windows Ctrl+ and Shift+click behavior to select multiple items.

To preview a slide from the Slide Properties dialog box:

Click the navigation buttons on the lower right of the dialog box.

Modify slide properties

You can make the following changes in the Slide Properties dialog box. For details on guidelines to follow for each type of element, see What you can and cannot do in the Slide Properties dialog box.

To add a new element to the dialog box:

Click Choose.
Select a scene element from the menus that appear. Only elements already in the scene are available.

To display the time at which the element appears in slide sequence:

Click the element. A vertical line appears beside the element, leading down to the time grid position.

A time box also appears, displaying the exact value.

To move an item to a different position on the time grid:

Drag it to the new position. As you drag, the time box is updated; or,
Click the left edge of the item. A text box appears in which you can enter the exact start time.
Tip: For duration items such as animations, you can also click the right edge of the item and define a new end time.

To move a multiple selection to a different position on the time grid:

Drag the double arrow that appears in the middle of the selection.

Tip: Drag the left- or right-most arrow to resize the selection. This affects the duration of the group of elements; the durations of the individual elements within the selection remain the same.

To delete an element from the dialog box:

Right-click the item and select Delete.

To open the properties dialog box for a behavior or shot:

Right-click the item.
Select Properties from the right-click menu.

What you can and cannot do in the Slide Properties dialog box

This topic describes what you can and cannot do with all scene elements from the Slide Properties dialog box.

Alternatives

When you add an alternative to a slide, a row is created for that alternative’s lineup. Multiple alternatives added from that lineup appear in the same row, and are placed immediately after the last alternative in the row.

You can add many different alternatives, but only one instance of each.

Behaviors

You can add multiple behaviors, including keyframe animations and turntables. Each is represented by its own row in the Slide Properties dialog box.

You cannot add triggers to the Slide Properties dialog box.

You cannot add an action for a behavior more than once; for example, if you add “Play forward from start” for Turntable1, you cannot add this action again for that turntable in the current slide. All other actions can still be added and are available from the Choose menu.

Environments

Only one environment can be added to a slide, and it is always loaded at the start of the slide, for the duration of the slide.

Shots

Multiple shots can be added to a slide, but they cannot overlap. You cannot add the same shot to a slide more than once.

Cross-sections and lights

You cannot add cross-sections and lights to slides directly; instead, add an alternative containing one or both of these elements. Or, create a behavior containing lights and cross-sections, then add the behavior to the slide.