Objects, working with

Available objects

Each object in DISE has a number of object specific settings. To read more, follow the links below:

Object Properties

Some of the settings for objects in DISE can be set on any object. Timing, angle, position and transparency for example. All these “common” settings are collected on an easy-to-use palette called Object Properties.

Selecting objects

To select an object in the edit area, just click on it. A selected object will be rendered with small "handles" and a black-and-white rubber band around it.

If you hold down the Alt key while clicking, the selection will toggle between the objects currently under the mouse pointer (if more than one).

Selecting multiple objects

If you hold down the Ctrl key while clicking, you are able to select several objects at the same time. Operations you perform, such as rotations and resize will be performed on all the selected objects as a group. You can also click and drag a selection with the select tool.

The individual selected objects are surrounded by the black and white rubber band, and the group of selected objects is surrounded by the handles.

In the Timeline View, you may hold Shift to select ranges of objects.

Moving objects

The selected objects can be moved around freely by just dragging them around with the mouse. Finer adjustments (pixel by pixel) can be done with the arrow keys on the keyboard.

Holding down the Shift key while moving objects will lock the X position if you are moving it in the Y direction, and the Y position if you are moving it in the X direction.

Sizing objects

The small black handles around the selected objects can be used to resize them. The way the objects resize is dependent on which handle you use. If you hold down the Shift or Ctrl key while resizing, the objects will keep their aspect ratio (height-width-relationship). The size center can be moved if you hold down the Shift key while you drag it to the new position with the mouse.

Rotating objects

Objects can be rotated in an easy way. If you select the rotate tool or double-click on one of the selected objects, the handles will change appearance. Then the object(s) can be rotated freely around the rotate center (the small x with a round ring around it, in the middle of the selection).

The rotate center can be moved just by dragging it with the mouse. If you double-click on the rotate center, it will reposition itself to the center of the object.

Note: The rotate center is also the center around which an object rotates when you add rotating movements to it.

Aligning Objects

There are 8 options on the ribbon to help you align objects.

The function of the menu option is different depending on how many objects that are selected and can also be altered with the Shift and Ctrl keys. The normal function for this menu option is to adjust the objects position, width and height so that it fills the complete screen or area defined with guidelines. If several objects are selected, they will all be expanded to fit the screen.

With Shift: If one object is selected, the object will be centered to the middle of the screen. If more than one object is selected, the objects will be centered within the selection.
With Ctrl: Will adjust all the selected objects to the screen width. The height of the objects and the vertical position is left unchanged.
With Ctrl and Shift: Will adjust all the selected objects to the screen height. The width of the objects and the horizontal position is left unchanged.

Align objects to left, top, bottom or right If one object is selected, these four buttons will align the object to the nearest guideline, or to the border of the screen. If more than one object is selected, then the buttons will align the selected objects to one side of the selection.

With Shift: Instead of aligning the object(s) to one side by moving them, the object is aligned by stretching them to the selected side.

Distributing Objects

If you have selected several objects and want them to be distributed evenly over the page, there are four functions on the menu Arrange > Distribute.

Positions > Horizontal Positions will distribute the selected objects according to their left borders. This is good for example if you want several text objects to form columns with equal widths.

Positions > Vertical Positions will distribute the selected objects according to their top borders. This is good for example if you want several text objects to form rows with equal row heights.

Spacing > Horizontal Spacing will distribute the selected objects so that the spaces between them are equal in the horizontal direction.

Spacing > Vertical Spacing will distribute the selected objects so that the spaces between them are equal in the vertical direction.

Locking Object Positions

The menu Lock > Position will lock the position and size of all selected objects. Locked objects cannot be accidentally moved or resized.

You can see that an object is locked by the small lock icon in the lower-right corner. While locked objects cannot be selected in the edit area, you can still select it and perform changes to the object in the timeline. To un-lock an object, select it in the timeline and click the menu Lock > Position again.

Object Order

When objects overlap, you might want to decide which object should be on top of the other. There are four functions which helps you to do that. They are in order: “To back”, “Back one step”, “Forward one step” and “To front” and can be found under the menu Arrange > (Order objects).

The order of objects is shown in the Timeline View below - the object furthest back is topmost in the timeline view.

Note: If you have selected "Use Object as Background" on one or more of the objects, these objects will always be in the background. “To back” will then send the object behind all other objects except the background objects.

Hiding objects

Group Objects

With multiple objects selected, you have the option to group them together. There are three basic ways to group: merge, combine, or make list.

Access the grouping options in the Group section in the top ribbon or simply right-click the selected objects. The Merge objects option will create a single object while retaining the objects' prior properties, Make list creates a new list object from the selected objects whereas the Combine objects option will use one of the objects as a mask for the other.

Use Object as Background

DISE has a feature to automatically guess what the background in a scene is. An object is assumed to be the background if the object to the furthest back (the first object in the timeline) is expanded to exactly fit the screen and is locked.

There is a quick function to make this on the menu Edit, or right-click > Use Object As Background. The function will place the object at the back, expand it to fit the screen and lock it.

The background is then also assumed to include all objects that are locked on top of the background until the first unlocked object.

The background objects will remain behind other objects even if you use the Arrange > (Order) Send to back function.

If you to use the background functionality, but you want all or parts of your background to be transparent, place a completely transparent square as the first object, expand it and lock it.