Vertical vs. Horizontal Props

[bbrescia]

My roofline is divided up into 5 sections, from left to right - about 100 feet long. Each individual section is either a gable or a straightline section. When I make props corresponding to these sections, the software allows me to apply effects to them as if they were "vertical" props, such as chasing from top to bottom.

 

However, when I group them together into one single prop, "Whole House Roofline", I can only seem to apply "horizontal" effects, I guess, because the program considers it as a primarily horizontal prop. Is there anything I can do to be able to directly apply both vertical and horizontal effects onto this whole house prop?

 

Bob

[MattBrown]

Let me describe how I model my roof-line and maybe it will help answer your question...

 

A picture of my roof-line as shown in Preview Design is attached. The RGB parts are selected and shown in yellow. It is broken into 4 segments. Each segment is modeled as a "Matrix-Horizontal" of height 1. For effects, I use things that move left and right. When grouping, I use a horizontal stack arrangement, as this places the horizontal matrices end-to-end. I actually have 2 prop groups:

1. a prop group that contains the 2 segments that make up the gable - in case I just want the gable displayed
2. a prop group that contains all 4 segments, so I can display an effect across the entire roof-line.

I also have a prop group that includes every RGB element in my display - a "whole house" group if you will. The arrangement setting for the whole house prop group is "use preview" - so the preview becomes the grid the effects are applied to. For this prop group, I can use effects that move in any direction.

 

Hope that helps,

 

Matt

[bbrescia]

Hi Matt - thank you for sharing your own personal house example. While I understand conceptually, where exactly is the "arrangement setting" located for these props?

 

Thanks - Bob

[MattBrown]

The "arrangement" setting is part of creating or modifying a "prop group". When applying an effect to a prop group, the effect gets applied to all of the props in the group. To create a group, go to the Preview Design window, select the props you would like to sequence as a group (use Ctrl-Click and/or Shift-Click within the list of props), then select Prop > Create Group. In the Prop Group window you can modify the list of selected props by selecting or deselecting the checkboxes next to each prop, and the "arrangement" setting is on the right. I have attached an example.

 

Prop groups are a powerful feature of the Pixel Editor.

 

Matt