Viewport Window

Overview

The Viewport window displays the scene which is rendered by the Engine, but viewports are more than passive observation points. This is where a large majority of the level design tasks take place, such as object placement, terrain editing, and in-editor play testing. They are also dynamic and flexible tools for a user to understand the 3D relationships among objects in a level.

It is possible to split the main viewport into several sub-viewports. Using the Viewport Context Menu, users can customize the layout and set viewing options. Access the Viewport Context Menu by right clicking on the Viewport Header.

Viewport Header

The Viewport Header displays the name of the active viewport, allows you to open the viewport context menu by right clicking, use the Viewport Search, toggle helpers on/off or maximize an active viewport.

From left to right:

  • Active Viewport Name.
  • Viewport Search.
  • Field of View Setting.
  • Screen Ratio Setting.
  • Viewport Resolution setting.
  • Information Toggle (r_DisplayInfo).
  • Helpers On/Off Toggle.
  • Maximimize Viewport Toggle (only used when multiple viewports are active).

You can right click on the Viewport Header to access the ViewportContextMenu.

The Viewport Search provides an accessible search field, allowing user to quickly find interested objects and filters out the rest.

  • You can move the focus to the search input field by using the hot key combo of Ctrl+Shift+F.
  • You can search by type or by name, and choose a boolean logic among 'AND' and 'OR'.

  • You can hide/freeze not-matched objects or just select matched ones.
  • By clicking the 'x' button, you can clear the input field and quickly restore the viewport to the original state.

Viewport Resolution

You can pick a Viewport Resolution from this menu or set your own Custom resolution by manually entering values:

Helpers Toggle

This button allows you to hide all helper objects or turn them back on (Shift+Space).

Every object in the game has a bounding box or an icon, which shows where it is and what its function is. With hundreds of objects in a level, this can become confusing.

You can also toggle helpers via the Display menu with Show/Hide Helpers.

Show Pivots

With show helpers turned on, holding the spacebar key and hovering the mouse over the object will show all the pivots for the object. If you hold down the spacebar key, you can also easily select objects.

Maximize Viewport Toggle

The Maximize Viewport Toggle switches any active viewport between its normal size and fullscreen size.

Viewport Context Menu

The Viewport Context Menu provides numerous options for configuring the viewport, such as activating wireframe, showing icons, camera selection, etc.

Menu Option

Description

Wireframe

Renders the scene in wireframe mode.

Point mode

Renders the scene in point mode.

Labels

Displays object names on objects close to the current camera view.

Show Safe Frame

Displays a Target Aspect Ratio frame to show what is visible in game mode.

Show Construction Plane

Show Trigger Bounds

When helpers are enabled, show Trigger Bounding Boxes of certain entities, even when they're not selected.


Left: Default behavior, BB only visible for selected entities. Right: BB always shown.

Show Icons

When set, helper icons for objects will be shown.

Show Size-based Icons

Alternative method of rendering helper icons. Icons will dynamically scale size based on distance.

Show Helpers of Frozen Objects

Option to hide helpers completely for frozen objects, as opposed to the default icon dimming.

Target Aspect Ratio

Sets the target aspect ratio which can be used with the Show Safe Frame function.

Create Camera from Current View

Create a Camera entity based off the current perspective camera position and rotation.

Default Camera

Selects the default perspective camera, as opposed to cameras created by the Camera entity.

Sequence Camera

Selects the sequence camera for the active Trackview.

Lock Camera Movement

Locks camera movement for Trackview cameras.

Camera

Sets the current view to the view of a Camera entity within the level.

Maximized

Maximizes the currently selected view for multiple viewports.

View

Contains various view options. See below for more information.

Configure Layout

Choose from one of several preset layout configurations.

Note that only the 'active' viewport will update in real time. To update a viewport, simply select it by right clicking inside the window.

The View Menu

The View menu allows you to turn various windows and toolbars on or off as well as open the various Sandbox Editors and the Database View.

If you close a window and want to open it again, you can use the View -> Open View Pane menu.

Top

Shows a top down view of your level, consisting of bounding boxes and line based helpers. Terrain Geometry will not be shown.

Front

Shows a front view of your level, consisting of bounding boxes and line based helpers. Terrain Geometry will not be shown.

Left

Shows a view of your level from the left side, consisting of bounding boxes and line based helpers. Terrain Geometry will not be shown.

Perspective

Shows a view of your level using the default camera perspective, showing all level content. This is the most commonly used view mode.

Map

Shows a overhead map of the level with helper, terrain, and texture information.