Composer reference
Get to know Composer, where you create and edit custom overlays
Singular’s overlay builder, Composer, is where you create and edit custom HTML5 overlays. On this page, you'll find an overview of the layout of Composer and and a list of Composer shortcut hotkeys.
Composer contains four main areas:
- 1.Composition tree
- 2.Property panel
- 3.Output window
- 4.Data interface and control panel
Main areas of Composer
This panel shows the organizational structure of the elements in a composition or sub-composition.
Here, various editors are available to modify and change the parameters of a selected widget, group, or sub-composition.
In this panel, you can preview overlays.
This panel allows you to define links to external data and specify widget properties you want to expose to external control applications or the Singular APIs.
A closer look at Composer
1.1 Composition breadcrumb
Here you can see the size and name of the composition you are working on.
1.2 Composition tree toolbar
This toolbar allows you to add, copy, and paste elements, such as widgets, groups, and sub-compositions, into a composition. It also contains a search bar, undo/redo buttons, open/close all groups buttons, and the composition navigator button.
1.3 Composition navigator
This floating user interface is for navigating between sub-compositions within a composition. Here you can trigger in and out timeline animations, assign a sub-composition to a logic layer, and adjust transition timers. Access it by selecting the composition navigator button in the composition tree toolbar or by using the shortcut command + F (Mac) or control + F (PC).
2.1 Composition script editor
Above the property panel is a button to open the composition script editor and another to open the composition script editor in safe mode.
3.1 Preview toolbar
In this toolbar within the output window, you can turn on/off bounding boxes, choose the aspect ratio of the device or the composition you want to build for, take a thumbnail snap of the frame, or open a new tab to see the output of your work on a clean page.
3.2 In and Out buttons
These buttons trigger In and Out animations.
3.3 Singular support button
The support button opens the Singular Support widget.
The following general Composer shortcuts are shown next to the menu items or as tool tips (accessed by hovering over):
Adding a group, widget, or sub-composition
Undo shortcut
- CMD/CTRL + G: Add a new group
- CMD/CTRL + B: Add a new widget
- CMD/CTRL + S: Add a new sub-composition
- CMD/CTRL + F: Open the composition navigator
- CMD/CTRL + X: Cut
- CMD/CTRL + C: Copy
- CMD/CTRL + V: Paste
- CMD/CTRL + Z: Undo
- CMD/CTRL + Y: Redo
Composition tree navigation shortcuts are not shown in the UI. To activate them, click on the composition tree. They allow you to navigate through the composition tree quickly and easily:
- Right, left, up, and down cursors
- Enter
- Space bar
- H
These arrow keys allow you to select tree elements
Right
Moves from a group to the first child element. If the selected element is a sub-composition, the right key will open this sub-composition and select the first element.
Right
Left
Moves from an element to its group and then to its parent composition.
Left
Up
Moves up, vertically, within that section of the tree.
Down
Moves down, vertically, within that section of the tree.
Down
Enter
Changes the selected element name.
Enter
Space bar
Opens and closes the selected group.
Space bar
H key
Toggles visibility of the selected element.
H key