Shelf Window - UI Overview



The Shelf Window looks slightly different depending on which context it was launched from

Tabs


Tabs are the visual representations of Folders on your hard disc.You can add as many tabs as you wish to organize your presets.


By default The Mask Shelfs have two Tabs


    • Smart Masks


Smart Masks are presets for creating procedural edge wear and weathering effects using Ambinet Occlusion and Curvature


    • Proedurals


Procedurals are non-destructive nodes and generators for patterns, grunges etc.



The tabs 'Smart Masks' and 'Procedurals' are locked by default but can be unlocked via the Preferences



Tab Controls



Buttons in the upper right corner of the Window interact with the Tabs - adding, renaming, thumbnail size and display mode



  • Create a new Tab

 

Allows you to add a new Tab to the Mask Shelf

A dialog will appear asking you to specify a Tab Name and a Save Location on Disc:



    • Tab Names need to be unique


    • The Destination Path can be a path from an existing tab in which case you get a duplicate


    • The Destination Path can be shared by multiple people, allowing you to have a shared folder where added content updates for all team members



Tabs can be added for all members of team globally using an Environment Variable



  • Create new Tab from Filter

 

Allows you to add a new Tab from the currently active Tab Filter.

A new dialog will appear asking to specify a Tab Name.



    • Tab Names need to be unique



  • Delete current Tab

 

Removes the current Tab. Only the Tab is removed, not the presets on disc in the Save Location of the Tab.

This way you can at any time restore the Tab.



  • Rename current Tab

 

Renames the current Tab



  • Switch Preset View Mode

 



Presets in a Tab can be grouped together.

The Preset View Mode determines if items are shown grouped or 'exploded'




  • Icon Size

 

Determines the Icon Size of Presets


Tiny:

35x35 px

Small:

58x58 px

Medium:

90x90 px

Big:

125x125 px

Large:

200x200 px

Huge:

400x400 px

                

       

Filtering


The Filter Bar allows to filter the current preset tab.


  • Clear Filter

Removes the Filtering from the Filtering Field


  • Filter Field


Filter the current Tab. Filtering is done by:


    • Preset Name
    • Preset Tags




Tags can be defined in the




Filtering Operators are



    • Comma (,)____________


Separate multiple search terms or search term operators via a comma. If any of the terms in found the preset is displayed


e.g.: Scratches,2d,cracks will display any preset that has 'Scratches', '2d' or 'cracks' in its name or tags



    • Plus (+)_____________


The Plus (+) operators stipulates a combination of terms that are required to be a filter match


e.g.: Scratches+2d will display any preset that has both 'Scratches' and '2d' in its name or tags




You can combine operators e.g. Scratches+2d,cracks+3d will display any preset that has


- 'Scratches' and '2d' in its name or tags

- 'cracks' and '3d' in its name or tags



You can easily create a new tab from the result of the filtering using the Create new Tab from Filter Button


Preset Group Contents


The Group Section of the Mask Shelf shows presets under the currently selected Group in the Main Preset Section.

Presets are only shown grouped if the Preset View Mode  is set to 'Show Presets Grouped'


Groups, Presets belong to can be set in the




Main Preset Section


The Main Preset Section houses Presets. Right Mouse Clicking on Presets opens a context menu


Shelf Location


The Shelf Location displays


    • the current Tab's Save Location on Disc
    • allows the reloading of the current Shelf


Preset Interaction


The Preset Interaction Section of the Mask provides options to create new presets, import presets into Mari and launch Preset Specific

Bake Options.


For more information refer to the Working with Presets Page of this Documentation



Additional Shelf Options

Tags


Tags allow you to define search terms for Presets that the Filtering Mechanism can discover.

Tags can be defined in the



Tags are displayed in the Tooltip of a Preset when the Mouse is above the Preset


Certain Tags trigger a change to the Preset Icon:


    • Tag 'UV' or 'uv' adds a '2D' Indicator in the corner of the Preset Icon  


    • Tag '2d' or '2D'  adds a '2D' Indicator in the corner of the Preset Icon


    • Tag '3d' or '3D'  adds a '3D' Indicator in the corner of the Preset Icon


    • Tag 'random' or 'Random' adds a 'Randomness' Indicator in the corner of the Preset icon  



Shelf Preferences to Unlock Default Tabs


By default the two default tabs 'Smart Masks'  and 'Procedurals' are locked meaning that you can't add, delete or change presets saved there.


The two locked Tabs and one unlocked, custom tab


A Preference is available to unlock these Tabs.


    • Go to the Edit Menu in the Mari Main Window
    • Open Preferences
    • Go to the Misc Tab
    • Scroll to the Shelf Group
    • Tick Unlock Mask Shelf Tabs on



Making changes in the default Tabs cannot be undone without reinstalling Extension Pack !




Reset Shelf Size and Position


The Size and Position of the Shelf Window is saved between sessions. If you ever need to reset its size and position to the default

go to


    1. Scripts Menu in Mari Main Window
    2. Choose either
      • Nodegraph / Masks / Reset Mask Shelf Size and Position
      • Layers / Reset Mask Shelf Size and Position


Shelf Environment Variables to add Tabs for all Team Members



While adding Tabs manually is easy enough to do, maybe you want to set up a shared shelf for all your team members.

The easiest way to do this is by setting a global environment variable that will automatically add a Tab to all your team's shelves.


The Environment Variable to set is called MARI_EP_SMART_MASK_FOLDER and supports multiple paths separated with a semi-colon


Example


MARI_EP_SMART_MASK_FOLDER = \server\library\generalPresets;\server\ourProject\projectPresets


will create two Tabs:


    • a tab called 'generalPresets' pointing to  \server\library\generalPresets
    • a tab called 'projectPresets' pointing to \server\ourProject\projectPresets




Preset Context Menu


If you right click on any preset you get a context menu with a number of options and information.



Default Tabs have many options disabled by default unless you unlock them


The right mouse click context menu for a preset and a preset group


Preset Name and Last Modified


  • Preset Name


Displays the current selection's preset name, or if a group is selected, the group name


  • Preset Modification Date


Displays the last time this preset was updated


Set Preview



  • Set Preview from File


Allows you to select an image file from disc to use as a Preview for the currently active preset.



Preset Preview Files should not exceed 400x400 pixels



  • Set Preview from Snapshot


Allows you to set a snapshot of your Mari Viewport as a Preset Preview.




Show in File Browser


Will open the Save Location of the currently selected Preset in a File Browser


Rename



With a Preset selected the dialog allows you to



With a Group selected the dialog allows you to


    • Rename a Group


Copy to other Tab



Copies the currently selected preset to another Tab.



The two default presets 'Smart Masks' and 'Procedurals' cannot be copy targets


Move to other Tab



Moves the currently selected preset to another Tab.



The two default presets 'Smart Masks' and 'Procedurals' cannot be move targets



Delete Preset


Deletes the currently selected preset



The preset will be permanently deleted from disc


Update from selection



This option is only available in the Nodegraph Context


Replaces the contents of the currently selected preset with the selected Nodes in the Nodegraph.

Preset Name, Tags, Grouping and Preview Thumbnail are maintained.






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