The Overlay User Interface

 

The Overlay Designer dialogue consists of the following elements (see above):

1.  Description – You are required to enter a description for your overlay. This will uniquely identify this overlay from all others you create.

2.  Ratio – The ratio drop down changes the aspect ration of the design area to conform to the unique output screen of your player solutions. This defaults to 16:9, as this ratio is the most common output ratio.

3.  Color – The color block shows you the active color. You can change the active color in two ways. You can click on the color block which brings up the standard windows color chooser.

You can also change the active color by left clicking anywhere on the main work area. The active color block will change to reflect the color you are clicking on. If you would like to lock the active color, click the ‘lock’ checkbox.

4.  Object Icons – Clicking on any of the object icons will create an object on the work area. A detailed explanation of the icons can be found below.

5.  The Object Property Grid – The property grid allows you to change key object properties of the object. A full explanation of each property is explained in the relevant object sections below.

6.  Layers – Objects created are stacked one on top of the other on the work area. You can use the arrows next to the layers listing to move the position of objects up or down the stack.

7.  The Main Work Area – The main work area is a graphic representation of what the final player screen output will look like. As there are discrepancies in screen resolutions the main work area is laid out in a percentage grid. All object dimensions are represented as percentages as well.