Objects

The assets for Scene Composition are organized by their object types. The 1 through 5 tag numbers on the left of Asset Bin correspond to the tag-spaces for blloon, cast, prop, SFX, and user objects respectively. Clicking the square 'retract' button on any of these object tabs will tug the Asset Bin away into the Compose window. This is for user to regain the whole Compose stage for better maneuverability. A second click of the button will bring the Asset Bin back in view. The 5 types of composition objects are described as follow:

 

blloon
This tag-space contains 16 dialog balloon objects. You use them to compose dialogs for your characters. In addition to the general attributes of a composition object (as described in Bounding box), the balloon object comes with a text field where you can type and compose your dialog much like working in a common text editor. Later when you record your scene, your dialog will appear in your movie exactly as you composed it. This is the only object that includes a text variable.

Note: Do not use 'Delete' key in editing your text, use the 'back space' key instead. Since the 'Delete' key is the designated shortcut for removing an object from stage.

 

cast
This tag-space contains 22 animated objects that are of cycling nature. The control variables for these objects are the same as those described in Bounding box.

 

prop
This tag-space contains 18 still pose objects that can be used as compositional elements for staging scene and/or as "talking heads" for building dialog. The control variables for these objects are the same as those described in Bounding box.

Hint: some of the cast and prop items can work together for carrying out sequential action. For instance, a still pose police 'prop' can be worked into the animation of the same police 'cast'. So that he can first hold his stance yelling, "Freeze!" (with a balloon object), and then start shooting with his pistol.

 

SFX
This tag-space contains 19 sound effect objects that can be used to highlight the dramatic impact(s) of a scene. These objects are made of animation that accentuates the particular aspect of a sound track. Most of them are designed to be played once (from start to end) and their animation will stop at the last frame. But a few of them can be played continuously (with cycling animation and sound) until they are removed from the stage, such as the machine gun SFX. In any case, you can apply these SFX objects to a scene in any length and/or as many times as you'd like. The control variables for these objects are the same as those described in Bounding box.

 

user
This tag-space is reserved for your own creation of composition objects. This is another unprecedented aspect of Comixware to empower user with full customizability. Any movie or static image you place in "elements" folder (Comixware > user > elements) will show up in this tag-space. Just like user BG in Timeline Assets, user objects can be practically of any presentation nature (static picture, animation, or live action, either with or without soundtracks) and in any media format (JPEG, GIF, PNG, BMP, PCT, PSD, TIFF, SWF, QuickTime, AVI and etc.). And you can have as many objects stored in this space as you'd like. The possibilities are endless. All you need is a bit of imagination and creativity.