ADVANCED - Region Editor best practices
Breakroom's Region Editor is intuitive and powerful—once you get the hang of it! Here you'll find tips and tricks collected from some of our most skilled region designers.
For the best possible experience when installing and positioning objects in your region, we recommend using the desktop viewer. You can use Region Editor within the World Stream browser-based viewer—the functionality is the same. However, the desktop viewer offers faster feedback and is slightly smoother to use.
While using the Region Editor, you will most likely want to focus your camera on a particular object or area. When you open Region Editor, the camera will be in object mode by default. To instantly focus your camera on a particular object, click on the item in your Objects window, then move your cursor to a scene area and press the F key.
Changing camera/view modes in the Region Editor.
Alternatively, you can click the Avatar Move button to switch to avatar mode. This gives you the ability to move your avatar through the region, with the camera following you. The icon will turn pink when avatar mode is enabled. Click the button again to revert back.
Fly cam is another useful way to explore your surroundings. To enable it, hold down your right mouse button (RMB). You can then use the A and D keys to pan from side, the R and C keys to pan up and down, and the W and S keys to zoom in and out. You can also orbit items in this mode by moving your mouse. The camera can be returned to its original, avatar-locked position by pressing the Esc key twice.
Latch cam allows you to choose a specific object as your current focus point. You can then move the camera around it using the commands detailed above. To "latch" your camera onto an object, hold down the Alt key and click on the object with your right mouse button (RMB).
The Undo and Redo buttons in the Region Editor are comparable to the undo and redo buttons in a graphics editing application, and are designed to allow you to skip forwards and backwards in time for the current editing session. You can use the Undo button to correct mistakes in the moment—for example, if you rotate an object and decide you don't like how it looks, click the Undo button to restore it to its previous position.
The Undo and Redo buttons highlighted in the Region Editor.
You can also undo your work at any time by pressing Ctrl + Z on your keyboard.
To select items within a region for editing, you can either click on the item itself or click on its name in the Objects window. To select multiple items at the same time, hold down the Ctrl key on your keyboard and click the items or item names you wish to edit.
An example of two items selected at the same time by holding down the Ctrl key.
When two or more items are selected at once, you can edit their position as a group using the Region Editor gizmos. They will move, rotate, and scale together.
Here every "Cup" object in the region has been selected.
You can also bulk-select items using the Objects window. To do so, click the first item in the series you would like to select. Then, while holding down the Shift key, click the last item in the series. This will highlight all of them at once.
If you add multiple copies of any object to your region, you will notice that every copy is identified by the same Display Name in the Objects window. By entering more descriptive object Display Names, you can make it easier to keep track of your items and locate them when needed.
An example of a region that contains three copies of the same item (Stretch Statue #1). By changing an object's Display Name, you can more efficiently locate and identify items.
To change the Display Name of an object, follow the steps below.
- 1.Log in to your Breakroom world and navigate your avatar to the region you would like to edit.
- 2.Open the Region Editor by clicking the Edit Region button at the bottom of your screen.
- 3.Click the Objects Button to launch the Objects window.
- 4.In the Objects window, locate the object you want to edit. (Tip: You can use the search field at the top of the window to search for a specific object.) Click on the object name to launch the Inspector window.
- 5.In the Inspector window, locate the Display Name field. Enter the display name you would like to use.
- 6.Click the Save button to store your changes.
You cannot change the Display Name of breakout area, voice zone, and voice zone furniture objects.
You can switch to another region template from within the Region Editor. To do so, follow the instructions below.
- 1.Navigate to the region you want to change.
- 2.Click on the Edit Region button.
- 3.Click the Inventory button to open the Inventory window.
- 4.Along the left side of the Inventory window, you will see several category tabs. Click the arrow beside the Region tab to expand it.
- 5.If you see additional region type categories, click on the category you would like to view.
- 6.Click on the desired region template item in the Inventory window.
- 7.Confirm the change by clicking the Swap Template button.
IMPORTANT: When switching templates, all furniture objects you have set down and any custom changes you have made to the original region will be erased. These cannot be recovered, so please consider this step carefully.
Clicking on a region item in the Region Editor allows you to change the region template.
The mini map.
By making another user a Region Administrator, you can grant in-world editing permissions to them for only that region. This means that they will be able to access both the Region Editor and the Region Information window.
Alternatively, you can appoint a Region Developer for any region you own. Region Developers have access to the Region Editor, and can decorate and modify the region to which they are assigned. They do not occupy a Developer seat, and cannot upload content to your world.
To grant these advanced region-level permissions to a user, follow the steps below.
- 1.In the top right corner of your screen, click on the Region Information button. You will see this as the region name inside a colored box, located above the mini map (see the image above for an example).
- 2.In the Region Information window that appears, click on the Members tab.
- 3.
- 4.Click the checkbox in front of their name, and then select the desired role from the Set Role drop-down menu.
You should only give Administrator or Developer status to trusted individuals who understand how to use the Breakroom tools. Changes made in the Region Editor may not be easy to revert.