Opens the Stage Editor.
To change the stage name in the Stage Editor
To change the order of stages in the Stage Editor
To open a stage set in the Stage Editor
To edit stage sets in the Stage Editor
A special version of the Stage Editor appears, as shown in the next diagram. The File, Edit, and Delete menu buttons have been replaced by Save and Exit buttons.
If more than one stage set was selected, you can click the arrows in the top left corner of the editor to browse through the stage sets. The browser field shows the name of the stage set currently displayed in the Stage Editor.
To retrieve a wire file as a new stage in the Stage Editor
Use File > Open to retrieve a wire file as a new stage, making the wire file the reference for that stage.
A File Requestor appears to select a file (stage) to retrieve:
To save the stage set under a different filename
Each stage is saved to its referenced wire file, if its Wire Store option is checked in the Stage Editor. If Wire Store is not checked for a stage, that stage is not saved.
If a stage does not have a referenced wire file, the File Requestor appears.
To create a new stage in the Stage Editor
A new stage appears in the list as NewStage.
To use a wire file as a new stage
To use a wire file as a stage:
Alternatively, from the main Alias menu use File > Retrieve Stage.
When a stage is referenced to a wire file, it displays the wire file’s icon next to the reference path or stage name. The icon is updated each time that the stage is saved or retrieved:
To change the size of the icons in the Stage Editor, click the round buttons in the title bar of the Stage Editor.
If you see a padlock icon instead of a check mark or dash, you do not have write permission for the wire file.
The difference between selected and working stages
The stage that is highlighted across all six columns is the selected stage. It can be saved using File > Save (selected) Stage in the Stage Editor or merged with the working stage.
The stage that has a check mark in the Working Level column (which appears in yellow) is the working stage. Its wireframe model is accessible for the changes you want to make. Its geometry appears, in the regular colors, in the modeling windows.
You can make changes to a wireframe model only if the Working Level stage is checked ON for its stage. The Working Level stage is highlighted in yellow. This helps you to organize your scene, especially if it contains a lot of information or library objects that are used in a number of different scenes.
The modeling window source can be any stage. If Keep Windows is ON in the Open File Options window and you open a file, Alias imports the wire file and its windows to the working stage. It does not matter which stage is selected. You can use File > Open, File > Open Only or File > Open Always.
If you create a perspective or orthographic window, it belongs to the stage that is the current Window Source, which might not be the working stage.
Each stage can have its own set of modeling windows.The windows that are displayed always belong to the current Window Source stage. If that stage is stored, its windows are also stored.
The stored windows do not have to match the visible ones, just as the current Working Level does not have to match the current Window Source.
You use Background Source to choose which background (environment shader) you want when you render a scene. To edit the Background Source, set the Working Level to the same stage as the Background Source and open the Multi-Lister.
This toggle shows which stages are visible. Making a stage invisible is like making objects invisible (ObjectDisplay > Invisible ). The entire stage and all its objects become invisible.
To make a stage visible or invisible without affecting other stages, click in its Visible box.
All stages can be invisible except for the Working Level. You can remove the Visible check mark, but the stage remains visible.
If you render a scene when all its stages are invisible, the image produced is completely black.
The header at the top of the Visible column is also a button. Click the Visible button to make all the stages at once either visible or invisible.
To make all the stages visible, select ON.
To make all the stages invisible, select OFF.
In the following example, all stages are visible.
If you check Auto Retrieve ON beside a stage name, when you retrieve a stage set, its wire file is retrieved. If you remove the check mark, the file will not be retrieved.
This takes effect only when the stage set is saved. That is, if you click Auto Retrieve during a session but you have already changed the file, it is not retrieved.
Auto Retrieve lets you control which of the files listed in the stage set file are loaded when the stage set file is retrieved.
More than one user can be working on a common stage set, each one owning one or more of the referenced wire file and their own copy of the stage set files. They can not use everything at once, but multiple users likely want to retrieve a combination of their own files and a few from other users as reference files.
The header at the top of the Auto Retrieve column is also a button. To set all stages to be retrieved automatically, click this button and select ON.
If you place a check mark in the Wire Store column beside a stage name, this stage is saved when the stage set is saved. If you remove the check mark, the stage is not saved. Therefore, it will not be overwritten accidentally, and any changes made to the stage are not saved.
More than one user can be working on a common stage set, so if you make changes to one of your own stages and want to use it as a default each time you start (such as reference geometry or windows), turn the Wire Store column OFF for that stage.
The header at the top of the Wire Store column is also a button. To set all stages so that the wire files will be stored, click this button and select ON.
Three menus are included at the bottom of the Stage Editor: the File menu, the Edit menu, and the Delete menu.
You use File > Reload (selected) stage to replace the selected stage with its the last saved version. You can use it to change a stage reference and update your model to the latest copy of someone else’s file or go back to an earlier, saved version of a file. If you use this option, it writes over any changes you have made in your current work.
For instance, if you want to update someone else’s file information for a stage, you can return to the last saved version of that stage, make the updates, and save the stage. Anyone retrieving that file now sees the new version.
A File Requestor appears so that you can select a file (stage) to retrieve:
You use File > Save stage set to save a single stage set. A File Requestor appears to let you save the stage set under a different name if you wish. To save the file, click the Save StageSet button.
You use File > Save (selected) stage to save a stage as a wire file. If you create a new stage and it has no wire file, the File Requestor shows only the new file.
If you have not named the stage, the File Requestor supplies a default name for the file. To change its name, in the File field double-click the name and type a new one.
If there is a referenced file, the File Requestor shows the referenced file.
To save the stage, Select the Save Wire button. Notice that the icon in the Stage editor is updated to display the icon saved with the wire file.
Select the Edit button to display the Edit pop-up menu.
You use Edit > Merge All to merge all the stages in the Stage Editor into the working level stage.
You use Edit > Merge to merge the selected stage into the working level stage.
You use Edit > New to create a new, empty stage called NewStage.
Select Delete > All Stages to delete all stages, including the root stage.
Select Delete > Selected Stage to delete only the highlighted stage.
When you delete a stage, you delete all objects, windows, shaders, lights, cameras, and anything else that it contains.
Because there must always be a stage in Alias, when you delete all stages, a new stage is created. It is called Stage# and includes a sequential number indicating how many stages you have opened during your current session.