- Qt 3D Studio
- Glossary
- Qt 3D Studio 2.8 Manual

# Glossary

This page provides short explanations of terms used in Qt 3D Studio.

Term | Meaning
--- | ---
Action | Actions provide a way to create interactivity in a presentation without scripting.
Action palette | The action palette is used to manage actions for the selected element.
Animation Portion | To the right of the scene graph in the timeline palette is the actual timeline. The time bars for each element control element lifespan. The keyframe markers control the timing of the animation. The playhead allows the preview of animation effects.
Application | Your application is the entry point of your project. It is represented by a single .uia file at the root of your project folder. This file references the presentation and sub-presentations in your project. The application is what is displayed by the Viewer.
Asset | Assets are elements which you can use in your presentation. Assets can be images, 3D models, effects, fonts, materials, shaders, scripts and sub-presentations.
Asset library | Included in studio is a set of assets ranging from images to 3d models.
Basic objects palette | The Basic objects palette provides a mechanism for creating objects unique to a presentation, not represented by a file on disk in your project palette.
Behavior | Behavior scripts can be applied to objects to give the specific object a certain behavior.
Component | Components are somewhat like mini-scenes. Although they are 3D geometry (not a 2D composition of rendered layers), they have their own slides and timelines.
Data input | This makes it possible to control timeline animations, object properties and slides with data.
Edit cameras | Sometimes you want to move around the 3D space of your scene in the editor without adjusting the final rendered view. Studio calls this concept edit cameras.
Effect | Each layer in a presentation may have one or more post-processing effects applied to the visual result.
Group | A group is an empty transform element. Attaching models to the group (placing them as children of the group in the timeline palette) allows you to move/rotate/scale/hide the group and have this affect all items within it.
.import file | When importing 3D models of .fbx and .dae format to studio, they are converted to .import files.
Inspector palette | The inspector palette is used to control values and animations of element properties.
Interpolation | Interpolation defines the easing of keyframe animations.
Keyframe | A keyframe is a a time marker that stores the value of a property. A keyframe can for example define the X position for an element. To create an animation, add another keyframe for the X position of the same element but in another position on the timeline. Studio will determine the correct X position for all frames between the two keyframes.
Layer | A single Studio presentation combines one or more layers. The visual result of each layer comes from rendering a 3D scene, 2D scene (via an orthographic camera), or sub-presentation. Layers are then composited with items on upper layers drawing on top of the content on lower layers.
Master slide | Each scene and component have one master slide. Elements placed on this slide exist on all slides of that scene or component.
Material | Materials define how object surfaces are rendered in studio and viewer. You can create your own basic materials, save them in your project, and assign them to objects.
Matte | Surrounding the scene view is the matte. The matte may not be visible if your presentation is larger than the available space.
Mesh | The actual geometry of a 3D shape.
Playhead | The playhead in the timeline is used to set the time for new keyframes, and for previewing animations.
Presentation | Presentations are represented by .uip files in your project. A presentation has one or more layers composited to the screen, comprised of 2D assets and 3D assets created in other applications. Each application can only have one main presentation shown on screen (specified by the .uia file) but this presentation may reference other sub-presentations, either on flat layers or as images and textures drawn in a scene.
Project | A project is simply a folder on your computer holding all the assets needed for your application. When you start a new project, a default folder structure will be created.
Project palette | The project palette displays the files and folders on disk for your project. Only files usable by Studio are displayed in the palette.
QML Stream | A QML stream is a .qml file used as a sub-presentation.
Scene Camera palette | The scene camera palette allows you to zoom in to pixel perfect level with the scene camera.
Scene graph | The left half of the timeline palette shows the scene graph where all elements in your presentation for the current slide.
Scene view | The scene view is the center region of Studio, showing you the visual result of rendering and compositing the layers of your presentation, and also allowing you to select and transform elements graphically.
Shader | Shaders are arbitrary GLSL Shaders, wrapped in a file format providing an artist-friendly interface for adjusting properties in studio.
Signal | A signal is a lightweight object specifically designed for triggering actions during timeline animations.
Slide | A Studio presentation combines 3D assets with animations and slides. Slides can be thought of as states and provide visual variations within the presentation.
Slide palette | The slide palette shows all slides in a presentation or a component.
Studio | An authoring tool for creating interactive 3D presentations and applications.
Sub-presentation | Sub-Presentation is a feature which allows a studio presentation (.uip file) or a QML file to be embedded in a studio presentation.
Time bar | Each element has a time bar in the timeline. The time bar control the lifespan during which the element is active.
Timeline palette | The timeline palette provides direct access to all elements in your scene, and also gives you control over the animation and timing within a slide. The timeline palette is comprised of two connected sections: the scene graph and the animation portion.
.uia file | The .uia file is the application file, and it is located in the root folder of your project by default.
.uip file | The .uip file is a presentation file. A project can have one or more presentation files located in presentations folder of your project.
Viewer | A runtime player to test and deploy interfaces created in Studio.