UI Overview
usdtweak uses a dockable panel system powered by ImGui. Every panel can be moved, resized, docked alongside others as tabs, or floated as a standalone window. This lets you build a layout that fits your workflow.
Main menu bar
The menu bar runs along the top of the application and provides access to all operations:
| Menu | Contents |
|---|---|
| File | New, Open, Open Recent, Save, Save As, Export Stage, Quit |
| Edit | Undo, Redo, Clear Undo/Redo, Clear History, Search, Preferences |
| Tools | Storm Playblast |
| Windows | Toggle visibility of every panel |
| Help | About dialog |
To the right of the menus, the menu bar displays:
- Stage selector -- A button showing the current stage name. Click it to switch between open stages.
- Edit target selector -- A pen icon followed by the current edit target layer name. Click the pen to change which layer receives your edits.
Panels at a glance
All panels are accessible via the Windows menu. Here is every panel usdtweak provides:
| Panel | Purpose |
|---|---|
| Viewport (1--4) | 3D Hydra-rendered view of the current stage. Up to four viewports. |
| Content Browser | Lists all open stages and layers for quick switching. |
| Stage Outliner | Hierarchical tree of composed prims in the current stage. |
| Stage Property Editor | Edit properties, metadata, material bindings, and variants on the selected stage prim. |
| Layer Hierarchy | Tree of prim specs in the current layer (uncomposed data). |
| Layer Property Editor | Edit SdfPrimSpec properties and metadata on the selected layer prim. |
| Stage Layer Editor | Manage the sublayer stack: add, remove, reorder, and mute/unmute sublayers. |
| Layer Text Editor | View and edit the current layer as USDA ASCII text. |
| Attribute Editor | Inspect and edit time-sampled attribute values in a spreadsheet view. |
| Connection Editor | Graph-based view and editing of attribute connections. |
| Timeline | Animation playback controls and frame scrubbing. |
| Validation | Run USD validation checks on the current stage (requires USD validation API). |
| Hydra Browser | Inspect the Hydra scene index internals. |
| Shader Registry Inspector | Browse registered shader definitions. |
| Debug Window | Internal state information for development and debugging. |
| Launcher Bar | Custom shortcuts to launch external tools. |
| Status Bar | Frame rate and performance information. |
Layout philosophy
The interface is split conceptually into two domains:
-
Stage-level panels (Stage Outliner, Stage Property Editor, Viewport) operate on the composed stage where all layers, references, and payloads are resolved together. Changes made here are written to the current edit target layer.
-
Layer-level panels (Layer Hierarchy, Layer Property Editor, Text Editor) operate on a single layer's raw data. They show exactly what is authored in that file, with no composition.
Understanding this distinction is key to using usdtweak effectively. See the Layer vs. Stage concept page for details.
Customizing the layout
- Dock panels by dragging a panel's title bar onto another panel or onto the edges of the window.
- Create tabs by dropping a panel onto the center of another panel.
- Float panels by dragging them away from any docking area.
- Close panels using the X button on their tab, or uncheck them in Windows menu.
- Your layout is saved automatically between sessions.