The user interface is divided into two main sections: the mapping panels on the left and the content panels on the right. The content panels include all the content you can insert into your mapping shapes, while the mapping panels let you manage geometry, transformations, and the organization of your shapes.
This article will guide you through both types of panels. We will first look at the mapping panels, focusing on the layer list and properties panel, and then move on to the content panels, which include the group effects panel and the sources bin.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
The Mapping Panels
Located on the left of the interface, the mapping panels contain everything related to the geometry, transformation, and organization of your shapes.
The Layer list
Every time you add an object in your work area, it appears in the Layer list. Faces 
, Masks 
, and Players 
each have a specific symbol for easy identification.
Shapes are always placed in groups. Masks are always on top of the group, while Players and Faces are placed below. All Faces in a group share the same group effects. The order of layers also affects rendering: a group above another in the list will render in front of it in the output.
You can rearrange groups and objects by drag-and-drop or other methods. The Layer list lets you manage groups, shapes, and the hierarchy of layers in your sequence. Indeed, all the Faces in a specific group contain the same group effects.
Key functions include:
Add Group: creates a new Group. If Shapes were selected when you hit the button, they are directly added to this new group.
, 
Move Group Backward / Forward: moves the active Group (in light gray, here Group 1) one step down / up in the list.
Lock/Unlock Shapes: depending on the line in the list, you can either lock/unlock one Shape, all Shapes in a group, or all Shapes in the list at once.
Show/Hide Shapes: depending on the line in the list, you can either hide/show one Shape, all Shapes in a group, or all Shapes in the list at once.
Options: depending on the line in the list, you can either access options for one Shape, one Group or global options for the whole list.
Collapse/Expand: folds or unfolds the list of Shapes contained in a group.- Group name: double-click on it to rename the Group. This is also valid for Shapes.
- Subgroups titles: as we've said before, Masks always have to be at the top of the group and Faces and Players below them. To help you categorize better if you have a lot of objects, you can choose to display titlebars for "Masks" and "Shapes" subgroups, as seen in the screenshot above. This option is located in Edit → Preferences... → General → Interface.
- Group color: indicates the color that the Shapes of this group bear in the work area. Clicking on it will reveal a 30-color palette that you can choose from to change the Group's color.
- Group Blend Mode: allows you to choose which of the 26 blend modes to apply on the Group, defining how it is blended with the visuals below it.
- Group Preset: opens up the list of available Group Presets and associated actions.
- Display mode selector: allows you to choose how to display your Player. Either its content is displayed in the full Player area, or you can choose to display it only in the Faces of the group it belongs to.
Note
Some of these options are also accessible via right-click context menus.
The Properties panel
When selecting an object in the work area or Layer list, additional options related to its geometry or transformation may appear. The Properties panel gives quick access to these, which are sometimes hidden or only accessible via shortcuts.
Note
The Properties panel doesn't handle multi-selection (yet), so you'll only see options appear if you select one element with properties at a time.
Group properties
Group properties appear when a group is active and no other object is selected.
For full details, see the dedicated group properties documentation.
Player properties
Selecting a player reveals:
- Display mode: Show content in the full player area or just in group faces.
- Crop: Use the slice selector to crop the input displayed in the player.
- Shaders: Add and manage post-processing effects acting like filters. Those are not counted as "content" per say, as they behave more like "filters" that affect the content in your player.
- Warping: Deform player textures with the warping tool.
Shape properties
Selecting a face reveals:
- Rendering: Choose between two render modes for performance or quality (Click on the info icon next to it for more details).)
- Center: Access properties of the face’s center.
Vertex properties
Selecting a point of a face reveals:
- Handles: Convert the point into a straight or curve point (3 curve types available).
Center properties
Selecting a center reveals:
- X and Y: Set coordinates for the center in the canvas (can be animated with LFOs).
- Reset position: Reset the center to its default geometric position.
The Content Panels
Located on the right of the interface, the content panels include all the content you can use in your mapping shapes, whether built-in or external.
The Group Effects panel
The three icons in the top-right corner open the Group Effects panel. Here you can find geometric animations and transformations to insert into your faces and customize with parameters. Effects apply to all faces in the active group and can be enabled or disabled with a switch.
To learn more on how to use these, please follow up this article on the subject.
To explore all available effects and see examples, check the effects glossary.
The Sources bin
The other kind of content you can display in your shapes is multimedia content.
The Sources Bin contains all the multimedia sources you add. These can be linked to players and displayed in any sequence. You can also organize them in playlists.
Available content types include: Videos, GIFs, Images, Shaders, NDI streams, Webcam streams, and Text.
Note
You can extend this panel to have a view with 8 media thumbnails in a line (as opposed to 4 like in the screenshot above).