We designed Lightform Creator to use a simple and intuitive workflow to create amazing projected AR content.
While designing Lightform Creator, we drew inspiration from best practices used in software like Adobe Suite and Interface Design to bring familiarity to a new medium of projected augmented reality motion content.
At the center of the user interface (UI) is an interactive view into the canvas where an artboard is drawn and all of the content is created. The toolbar at the top dynamically reveals all of the content creation and editing tools. The layers panel on the left displays all objects in a rearrangeable list. The property panel on the right dynamically reveals all editable parameters. The slides panel at the bottom contains all your compositions, known as slides.
Artboard
You can zoom in or out of the artboard by pressing CMD+Scroll or if using a trackpad, pinch, and pannable spacebar workspace. All content is created inside of the artboard and its size is determined by the resolution of the projector during the scan.
You can place content outside of the artboard but any part of the content not inside the artboard will not be visible when published.
Toolbar
We intentionally chose not to hide any tools within drop-down menus. Instead, the toolbar dynamically changes to reveal the allowed operations at any given time.
Note
If you would like to return to the default mode (i.e., switch away from a particular masking tool you've selected) press esc.
Read more about editing modes, masking tools, and content creation.
Layers Panel
The layers panel consists of surfaces. Each surface can contain its own group of assets: effects, generators, videos, or images.
Layers can be selected, reordered, renamed, locked, and hidden. When a layer is selected in the Layers Panel or the Artboard, all of its properties are revealed in the Property Panel.
An asset layer can be duplicated within the same surface on the current slide, next or previous slide, or all slides. Right-click the asset layer to reveal duplication options.
Scan Properties
The scan acts as a powerful background layer for masking and creating instant effects. The Scan properties give the option to take a new scan or adjust opacity, brightness, and hole filling in the existing scan. It can be accessed by clicking Edit > Scan Properties or by de-selecting all active layers by clicking in an empty area on the artboard.
Property Panel
The Property Panel can inspect and modify parameters for any selected object(s). This includes Surfaces, Scans, Assets, and Slides. The Property Panel changes dynamically based on the selection.
Slides Panel
The Slides Panel is a horizontal view of Slides. Slides can be duplicated, deleted, reordered, and renamed.
By creating a new slide, you are able to use the same Surfaces with entirely new content. The length of a slide can be adjusted in the Slide Properties as well as options to loop, hide, and fade the slide.
Asset Browser
The Asset Browser is a library of built-in, user-imported, and stock content. Users can import custom images and videos into the Media Browser by dragging files directly into Lightform Creator. Read more about adding content.
