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Using Common Contraption Controls

The Property Editors for the various contraptions share a number of common controls, which you use to edit the properties of a contraption. This module includes descriptions of each of these controls, what you can do with them, and gives instructions on how to use them.

Control What you can do with it / How to use it

Knob

Use knobs to control a single parameter value.

To change the value of the knob:

  • Click-and-drag the pointer up and down on the control. Dragging upwards increases the value. Dragging downwards decreases the value.

Number Edit Box

Use number edit boxes to set a parameter.

To do this:

  • Type a number into the text area OR
  • Click-and-drag the pointer on the up/down arrows. Dragging upwards increases the value. Dragging downwards decreases the value.

Other things you should know:

  • The parameter value will change as soon as you type new digits.
  • You can select, type text, and right-click (CTRL+left-click) to cut, copy and paste as you would in any other text area.
  • Double-click to select the entire text value.
  • When typing new values, you can enter any value into the box. If the value is outside the acceptable range for the parameter, a red + (indicating a value above the accepted range), a - (indicating a value below the accepted range) or an x (indicating an invalid value) will be displayed to the right of the value.
  • When the number edit box is highlighted, you can increase or decrease the value using the mouse wheel, or by using the up and down arrow keys on the keyboard.
  • The parameter shortcut menu (described below) is only displayed when you click the up/down arrow button.

Slider

Use sliders to control a single parameter value. There are both vertical and horizontal sliders.

To change the value of the slider:

  • Click-and-drag the pointer anywhere on the control: up and down for vertical sliders, left and right for horizontal sliders.

Note: Vertical sliders have the minimum value at the bottom and the maximum value at the top. Horizontal sliders have the minimum value at the left and the maximum at the right.

Range Slider

Range sliders function similarly to sliders, except you use them to control both the minimum and maximum of a range of values.

To move the range slider:

  • Click and drag on an empty space within a range slider. Both the minimum and maximum slider thumbs move simultaneously in the same direction.

To move the minimum and maximum values independently:

  • Click the pointer directly over the desired slider thumb and drag it.

Note: For information on enhanced control of the range slider, useful for live performance, see the section below.

Enhanced control of the range slider

As well as using the range sliders in the simple ways described above, there is the option for enhanced control of the range sliders by using modifier keys on the keyboard. These modifier key combinations let you move rapidly between slider thumbs without multiple mouse clicks. For live editing this means you can execute the entire variety of range parameter controls by altering the modifier keys. The selected slider thumb or thumbs are highlighted during use. There are two basic categories of behavior of the range slider, based on whether you're click-dragging in empty space (the slider area excluding the thumbs) or click-dragging a thumb.

When dragging in empty space:
  • As described in the section above, the default (with no modifier keys) is that both thumbs move simultaneously in the same direction.
  • If you hold down SHIFT, it will select the maximum thumb (Tip: remember that the SHIFT key is higher than the alt key on the keyboard, therefore it selects the maximum thumb).
  • If you hold down ALT, it will select the minimum thumb (Tip: remember that the ALT key is lower than the shift key on the keyboard, therefore it selects the minimum thumb).
  • Holding down both SHIFT+ALT will move both thumbs but in opposite directions.
When dragging a thumb:
  • As described in the section above, the default (with no modifier keys) is that the thumb you clicked moves.
  • SHIFT will move both the minimum and maximum thumb together (Tip: SHIFT is usually used to select multiple items)
  • ALT will select the opposite thumb (Tip: ALTernate, as in, the other thumb)
  • Holding down both SHIFT+ALT will move both thumbs, but in opposite directions.

The table below provides a quick-reference summary of the information above:

Modifiers Minimum thumb Maximum thumb Empty space
none minimum maximum both
SHIFT both both maximum
ALT maximum minimum minimum
SHIFT+ALT both/opposite directions both/opposite directions both/opposite directions

See Also

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