FAQ/Custom Layouts

From VFXPedia

Fusion's all-in-one panel layout is designed to be fast and efficent to use, but users with multiple monitors will probably want to customise the layout to take better advantage of their space. There are a couple of approaches to try.

Floating views

It's possible to create additional display views, each in their own window. These can be positioned as desired, and can also be made largely borderless for further display area. They are used similarly to the Left and Right views - tools can be dropped on them, previews can be created on them, and they get their own keyboard hotkeys and visual indicators on the tools.

To create a floating view, choose New View from the main Window menu. You can drag and size it independantly of Fusion's main window, or make it fullscreen and borderless with its "Full screen" context menu option. The Always On Top option can be used to keep the window in front of Fusion's at all times, or not.

Unlike the main view layout, floating views are not saved with comps and can be used with any comp. Positioning is controlled with Preferences/Layout. To save the number and position of the floating views you've created, click the Grab Program Layout button. To have Fusion automatically open them when starting up, tick the Create Floating Views checkbox.

New Windows

Comps normally use a single set of views, but you can have as many sets as you like. Choose New Window from the main Window menu to get an additional window with a new set of views onto the same comp (you may wish to choose Window/Cascade to make both windows visible at once). The new window looks like a whole new comp, but contains the same tools, and actions in one window are mirrored in the others. The two windows have the same title and are distinguished with ":1" and ":2" suffixes.

You can arrange these windows anywhere within the bounds of Fusion's main window. You can hide views in a window by dragging the splitter bars, and thus dedicate a window to a single view or two. The windows themselves can be sized and positioned as desired, allowing any layout possibility. The layout of these windows are saved with the comp itself.

You can have as many of these windows as you like, though positions are saved only for the first five. You can save your layout with Preferences/Layout by clicking Grab Document Layout, and any new comps will be created with this layout. You can override a comp's layout or adjust the layout for a specific window with the other controls in Prefs/Layout.