Setting Colors for Your Alias Interface

Lets you set colors for the Alias interface.

You can set colors for active modeling, inactive modeling, and all modeling windows, and for the user interface.

User Colors Options

Select Preferences > Interface > User colors. The User Colors window apears.

Click on the down arrows next to each section to set the various options. Remember that you will need to drag the scroll bar at the left edge of the window to see the complete list of options.

The complete set of controls is shown on the following page.

How to Use

To change the color of any element listed in the Color Editor, drag the slider next to the element to cycle through a number of available colors. Many of these colors will be shared among the elements listed.

If you want more control when setting the colors, click the square beside the parameter heading. The Color Editor appears, where you can define exact colors.

This is the color editor for the Background of a modelling window.

Active Modeling Colors

Use this section of the User Colors window to define colors of any active objects that you are modeling in Alias.

Consult the Global Index for information about any of these elements.

Each of the elements in this section should be recognized by experienced Alias users.

Inactive Modeling Colors

Use this section of the User Colors window to define colors for objects in Alias that you are modeling, but are inactive.

Consult the Global Index for information about any of these elements.

Each of the elements in this section should be recognized by experienced Alias users.

Modeling Window Colors

The third section of the User Colors window is Modeling Window Colors:

Consult the Global Index for information about any of the elements not listed below.

Most of the elements in this section should be recognized by experienced Alias users. The following list provides information about less-recognizable elements:

Fine Grid Mesh

The Fine Grid Mesh color controls the fine dotted grid that subdivides the main grid if you have a Subdivisions level set higher than 1 in the Grid Spacing Options window (Grids > Grids > Grid spacing - ).

Stage

To change the inactive stage color of the wireframe model, assign a different color to this field.

Window Active

The active window has a white border. This replaces the three asterisks (***) next to the window name that used to indicate the active window.

Use the Window Active option to change the color of this active window border from white.

Window Pane

Use this option to change the color of the text and the icons in the title bar of any modeling window.

See the following example:

User Interface Colors

Consult the Global Index for information about any of the elements not listed below.

Most of the elements in this section should be recognized by experienced Alias users. The following list provides information about less-recognizable elements:

Lowlight/Highlight

Use these options to further define the display of beveled items in the Alias interface menus and windows (for example, the mag, crv, and grid buttons and the time slider buttons).

Edit background

The Edit background option sets the background color of edit fields in windows where you can type coordinates. The editable fields are a different background color to show that you can edit the field.

Active Edit background

The Active Edit background option sets the background color of edit fields that you are typing in (that are active).

User Colors Window Buttons

Saving your color setup

Select File > Store at the bottom of the User Colors window to save your color setup. The following File Requestor appears:

The next time you restart Alias, the system automatically searches in your $HOME/.Alias/Prefs.2/Colors directory for the default color file name; for example, usr_color.12bit

To save your user colors so they are read in every time, save them in a usr_colors file. Applicable color file names are usr_colors.4bit, usr_colors.8bit, and usr_colors.12bit.

Using the Edit menu options

Use the Edit menu options to edit your color setup before saving it.

Reset

Resets all your colors to the Alias defaults.

Undo

Resets the last changed color to the previous setting.

Redo

Undoes the last Undo operation.