Create a user profile to manage your preferences. When you create a user, you have the option of copying preferences from an existing user. If the user whose preferences you want to copy was created on the same version of the application, you can copy all preferences. If the user was created on an older version of the application, you can only copy hotkey preferences.

Users do not persist when upgrading from one version of Smoke to another. You need to create new users for the new version. Also, users are not shared between Autodesk Visual Effects and Finishing products.

You can create a user on start-up from the Project Management menu, or during a session from the Preferences menu. By default, a user's preferences are created in the directory /usr/discreet/user/editing/<user name>.

To create a user profile:

1. Do one of the following:
   • If you are creating a user on start-up, select <create new user> from the User box in the Project Management menu.

   
   

   • If you are creating a user in the middle of a session, select <create new user> from the User box in the Preferences menu.

   
   

   The Create User menu appears.

   
   

   (a) Name field  (b) Preferences Directory Host box  (c) Preferences Directory field (d) Creation Mode box (e) User Profile Copy From options 

   TipTo reset all user settings to their default values, click Reset at any time.
2. Enter a name for the user in the Name field.
3. The user's default home directory appears in the Preferences Directory field. If you logged in to a remote system, select whether to save the preferences in the default home directory of the remote or local user by selecting an option from the Preferences Directory Host box.
4. Do one of the following:
   • To create a user without copying existing preferences, select New Prefs in the Creation Mode box and then click Create User.
   • To copy the preferences of an existing user, select Copy From in the Creation Mode box, and then select the options for the user profile that you want to copy. Click Create User.
     NoteIf you are copying a user profile from a different version of the application, you can only copy hotkey preferences.

   The user is created, and you are returned to the Project Management or Preferences menu.

5. To load the user into the current work session, click Load from the Preferences menu. From the Project Management menu, click Start.