Shape manipulation & transformations

In this article, you'll learn the essential techniques for selecting, arranging, and transforming shapes in Proxima Composer. Whether you need to organize complex mappings, adjust the position of overlapping elements, or apply precise transformations, these fundamental operations will help you work efficiently with Faces, Players, and Masks. We'll cover selection methods, layer management, movement, resizing, rotation, duplication, and symmetry - all the tools you need to master shape manipulation in your projects.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

• Selecting Shapes
• Arranging Shapes
• Moving Shapes
• Resizing Faces
• Rotating Shapes
• Duplicating Shapes
• Performing Symmetries
• Deleting Shapes

Selecting Shapes

Selecting one Shape

To select a shape, you can click on it in the layers panel on the left or directly in the canvas. Once selected, it will turn purple.

When shapes are not selected, they bear the color of the group they are assigned to (except if they are masks, then they stay black). It can be changed by clicking on the color symbol in the Layers panel.

Note
If a shape is hidden, it can't be selected (neither in the canvas nor in the layers panel). If a whole group is hidden, you can still click on it in the panel to make it active, but its shapes won't be selected.

Selecting Multiple Shapes

To select multiple shapes at the same time, you can use basic key combinations:

• [CTRL/Cmd] + click to pick some shapes,
• [CTRL/Cmd + A] to select all shapes,
• [Shift] + click to select an array in the layers panel,
• Or use a classic lasso selection. When using the lasso selection, a shape needs to be completely covered by the rectangle in order to be selected entirely, or else it will only grab some of its vertices!

When you make a selection of multiple objects, a bounding box appears around them.

You can refer to the view toolbar, at the top of the work area, to know how many shapes you have in your selection (the number next to the purple icon).

Note
If you click on a group in the layers panel, all the shapes it contains will be selected. But be aware that you can't select multiple groups at once.

Selecting Overlapping Shapes

When you create a mapping with a lot of shapes, there's a chance some of them will overlap completely. When you click on a pile, it will always select the one that is at the front (the highest in the layer list). If you want to reach a shape that is below, the layer tree comes in handy!

Note
Sometimes, when similar shapes are placed exactly one above the other, you might not notice that there are multiple ones in your selection. That's when the elements of information in the view toolbar and the layers panel will be helpful.

Arranging Shapes

Shapes can be stacked and their order has an importance. Shapes are stored in groups and ordered in a layer pile, which also impacts the rendering in the projection: what's on top of the pile will be displayed in front of what's below.

By default, when you create a shape, it is added in the currently active group. If you want to order your shapes, you can drag & drop items directly in the layer list, or use the features in the options or right-click context menus.

Specifically, you can use the items from the "Arrange" submenu to change the order of shapes in a group:

• "Move to Front" puts a shape above all other faces in its subgroup (masks are separated from faces and players),
• "Move Forward" [CTRL/Cmd + ↑] sends it above the next shape above in the group,
• "Move to Back" and "Move Backward" [CTRL/Cmd + ↓] will do the opposite.

Note
Masks are always at the top of a group. They can be arranged between each other but they are separated from faces and players. In a group, there are two implicit subgroups, which you can display by ticking the option "Layers Panel: show Shapes and Masks subgroups" in Edit → Preferences → General → Interface.

Moving Shapes

You can use your mouse to grab and drag your selection to drop it to a new location. In the case of a multi-selection, you can directly grab anywhere inside the bounding box, no need to grab one of the shapes specifically.

In addition, by holding [Shift] when you drag a selection, you'll be able to constrain the movement in a vertical or horizontal translation only. A grey line representing the axis on which your selection is translated will appear.

Of course, you can also use the arrow keys to move selected faces precisely (hold [Shift] at the same time for a bigger increment).

Note
When placing faces, the Magnet mode, that helps you snap points together, will be extremely helpful to prevent unwanted blank spaces. It is accessible from the magnet icon in the toolbar or the shortcut [CTRL/Cmd + M].

Resizing Faces

1. Select the shape(s) you want to scale.
2. Hover your pointer close to one edge of your selection.
   • If there's one shape in the selection, the edges are all lines between 2 vertices.
   • If there are multiple objects in the selection, the edges are the 4 sides of the bounding box.
3. When a double arrow cursor appears, left-click and drag your pointer (while holding your click) to resize.
   • If you drag the cursor towards the center of the selection, it'll shrink it.
   • If you drag the cursor away from the center of the selection, it'll enlarge it.
4. Release your click to stop the transformation.

This performs a uniform transformation, relative to the center of the selection's bounding box.

If you want to resize your selection on one dimension only, hold [Shift] when dragging the resize cursor along the x or y axis.

Rotating Shapes

There are two ways to perform a rotation in Proxima:

• Perform a rotation from a menu: simply make your selection of shape(s) and right-click Transform → Rotation to rotate the selection at a predefined angle.
• Perform a rotation with the rotate cursor:
  1. Select the shape(s) you want to rotate.
  2. Hover your pointer close to one vertex of your selection.
     • If there's one shape in your selection, any point of your shape will do.
     • If there are multiple objects in your selection, use one of the four corners of the bounding box.
  3. When a round arrow cursor appears, left-click and drag your pointer around (while holding your click) to rotate.
  4. Release your click to stop the transformation.

This performs a rotation around the center of the selection's bounding box.

Additionally, hold [Shift] when dragging the rotate cursor to perform a rotation in 15° steps.

Duplicating Shapes

You can use the usual right-click or shortcut commands to:

• Copy [CTRL/Cmd + C],
• Cut [CTRL/Cmd + X],
• Paste here [CTRL/Cmd + V],
• Paste in place [CTRL/Cmd + Shift + V],
• Or duplicate [CTRL/Cmd + D].

If you use "paste here", the selection will be pasted where your mouse pointer is located. With "paste in place", the selection is pasted at the same coordinates as the original one (no matter the Map).

You can also press [Alt] while dragging a selection to duplicate it.

Performing Symmetries

Symmetries in Proxima allow you to make a reflection of the shapes you have selected, with respect to a vertical or horizontal axis (all the while keeping the original shapes).

Simply select the shapes you want to mirror, and then right-click Transform → Symmetry or use the shortcut corresponding to the desired type of symmetry. Here are the four types:

• Mirror Up [Ctrl + Shift + ↑]
• Mirror Down [Ctrl + Shift + ↓]
• Mirror Left [Ctrl + Shift + ←]
• Mirror Right [Ctrl + Shift + →]

Note
A symmetry might affect the left-right direction of your effects.

Deleting Shapes

To delete shapes, simply make a selection and hit [Delete/Backspace] or use the item in the right-click menu or the option menus in the Layers panel.