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CHAPTER 1 GETTING TO KNOW VIZ
Getting to Know Scrolling Panels and Rollouts
Autodesk VIZ 2008 has a rich set of creation and editing tools—so many, in fact, that VIZ’s program-
mers had to come up with a way to get to them easily without making the program too arcane. Two
of these tools help you navigate its interface: the scrolling panel and the rollout . A scrolling panel is an
area that can be scrolled up or down using a hand cursor. A rollout is a set of tools that can be opened
or closed, much like a drawer in a dresser. Let’s start by looking at how a scrolling panel works:
1. Click the Create tab of the command panel. Notice the row of icons just below the title of the
tab. These icons are buttons, or tools, that offer different categories of objects.
2.
Place the cursor over the tool that looks like a movie camera. Notice that a tooltip displays,
offering the name of the tool.
3.
Click the Camera tool. You see the options change below the tools.
4.
Click the Target button. A set of additional options appears. Although it may not be obvious,
these options extend beyond the bottom of the command panel.
5.
Move your cursor down to a blank spot in the command panel. The cursor changes to a hand.
6.
Click and drag up with your mouse. Notice that the options in the command panel scroll up,
following the motion of your mouse. This is an example of a scrolling panel. This scrolling
action exposes the rest of the options in the lower portion of the command panel. Release the
mouse button at any time once you’ve seen how this scrolling action works.
7.
Place the cursor on a blank area again so that the hand cursor displays. Then click and drag
down to view the Target and Free buttons under the Object Type bar.
8.
You can also scroll the command panel by rolling the wheel on your mouse or by dragging
the dark gray slender vertical scroll bar on the right side of the command panel. Try both of
these methods.
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