Using the Menu Commands

The menu commands that are displayed in combustion are context sensitive—only the commands that apply to the selected operator are displayed. If the option you require is not available, make sure to first select the appropriate operator in the Workspace panel (or Schematic view).

There are several possible menus in combustion including: the basic menu, the Composite menu, and the Paint menu.

The Text, Mask, and Selection operators have menus similar to the Paint menu.

Edit Menu

The following options are available in the Edit menu.

Undo

Erases the last action. You can customize the number of undo levels available. See Setting General Preferences.

Redo

Performs the last action again.

Select All

Selects all objects in the current viewport, including lights, layers, and the camera.

Select None

Deselects all selected objects.

Cut

Removes a selected object and pastes it to the clipboard. The object remains on the clipboard until you choose Cut (or Copy) again.

Copy

Makes a copy of the selected object. The object remains on the clipboard until you choose Copy (or Cut) again.

Paste

Pastes the contents of the clipboard into the selected location.

Duplicate

Creates a copy of the selected object and pastes it in the viewport.

Delete

Deletes the selected object.

Delete All

Deletes all objects.

Window Menu

The following options are available in the Window menu.

Schematic

Displays the Schematic view in the active viewport.

Footage Library

Displays the Footage Library view in the active viewport.

Back

Navigates like an Internet browser through previously displayed and/or used operators, whether in the viewports or the Controls panel.

This option does not navigate back through the Workspace hierarchy.

Forward

Navigates like an Internet browser through the next displayed and/or used operators, whether in the viewports or the Controls panel.

This option does not navigate forward through the Workspace hierarchy.

Zoom In

Increases the zoom factor in the current viewport. See Zooming and Panning the Viewport.

Zoom Out

Decreases the zoom factor in the current viewport. See Zooming and Panning the Viewport.

Home

Cycles between 100% zoom, Fit in Viewport, and the most recent zoom and pan settings.

Fit in Window

Zooms the image so that the widest or tallest aspect ratio of the image fits in the current viewport exactly.

Always on Top

Prevents any other applications from being displayed over combustion. This option is available only in Windows.

View LUT

Applies Lookup Tables (LUTs) to map colors when using a bit depth higher than 8 bits per channel.

View Mode

Choose which channel to display in the current viewport. See Using View Modes.

Field Mode

Selects upper or lower field dominance.

Show Safe Zones

Displays safe zone boundaries in the viewport. See Setting Safe Zone Preferences.

Show Wireframe Icons

Displays the icons in the viewport including: motion path, wireframe outline around selected layers, keyframes, light and camera icons, Paint object handles, and so on.

Use Aspect Ratio

Displays the pixels using the aspect ratios of the operators. When this is disabled, pixels are displayed with a 1:1 aspect ratio, even if an operator has a different setting. Enable this option to use non-square aspect ratio settings and display the viewport accordingly.

Onion Skin

Uses onion skinning. See Animating with Onion Skin.

Onion Skin Settings

Sets onion skinning options. See Animating with Onion Skin.

Use Screen Color

Shows the screen color (the color surrounding the image in the viewport) as a background for layers with alpha channels.

For example, when you display a layer that has an alpha channel in Layer view, the transparent areas show the black background. When Use Screen Color is enabled, the layer appears on the color of the empty viewport area (for example, gray).

Show Marquee

Shows or hides selection marquees in the viewport.

Show Mesh

Displays the mesh for 3D objects when using combustion with 3ds max.

Palettes

Shows and hides various interface elements (such as the Timeline or Toolbar).

Help Menu

The following options are available in the Help menu.

combustion Help

Launches the Online Help system.

Authorize combustion

Use a wizard to authorize the software.

About combustion

Displays information about the installed version of combustion.

Note: The Online Help system requires Internet Explorer 4.0 or later, or Netscape 4.0 or later.

For information on the other menu options, refer to the following table.

Menu:	See:
File	Building Workspaces.
Selection	Paint: Drawing Selections.
Object (in the Paint menu)	Paint: Drawing Selections.
Object (in the Composite menu)	Compositing.
Operators	Filters.
Effects	Filters.
Movie	Using the Playback Controls.