This documentation is for a prerelease version of O3DE. Click here to switch to the latest release, or select a version from the dropdown.

Version:

Atom Tools Viewport

Viewport

The Atom Tools Viewport is shared by multiple tools like Material Editor and Material Canvas.

The viewport contains the following features and configurable options:

  • An interactive camera that you can move and orient in the viewport.
  • A model placed at the origin of the scene with a material applied to it.
  • A lighting preset that provides a skybox, image based lighting, directional lights, tone mapping, and other configurable lighting conditions.
  • An optional grid at the origin of the viewport.
  • An optional shadow catcher at the origin of the scene that renders a planar shadow of the viewport model.
  • A toolbar for toggling features and selecting the current model, lighting preset, and render pipeline.

Viewport

Interacting with the viewport

You can view the model or other content in the viewport at different perspectives by controlling the camera, model, or environment.

Camera controls

These controls adjust the camera view.

ControlAction
LMB+Drag, RMB+DragTumble the camera around a pivot or point of interest.
MMB ScrollDolly the camera toward or away from a pivot or point of interest.
MMB+DragTrack the camera left, right, up, and down in the direction of mouse movement.
ZReset camera view.

Model and lighting controls

These controls adjust the model and lighting within the current camera view.

ControlAction
Ctrl+LMB+DragTumble the model.
Shift+LMB+DragRotate the lighting environment horizontally around the model.

Industry-standard controls

Industry-standard controls to orbit, zoom, and pan in the Viewport.

ControlAction
Alt+LMB+DragTumble the camera around a pivot or point of interest.
Alt+RMB+DragDolly the camera toward or away from a pivot or point of interest.
Alt+MMB+DragTrack the camera left, right, up, and down in the direction of mouse movement.

Viewport Toolbar

The Viewport Toolbar contains the following set of functions to configure the Viewport:

FunctionDescription
Display GridShow or hide the ground plane in the Viewport.
Display ShadowShow or hide the shadow effect in the Viewport.
Alternate SkyboxToggle between the primary and alternate skybox settings for the active lighting preset.
Tone MappingSelect which tone mapping effect will be applied to the viewport.
Model PresetSelect a model preset to preview the material on. A model preset can be configured in the Model property group in the Viewport Settings.
Lighting PresetSelect a lighting preset to view your material in a specific image-based lighting (IBL) environment. A lighting preset is a set of image-based lighting (IBL) data that can be configured in the Lighting property group in the Viewport Settings.
Render PipelineSelect the render pipeline that will be used to render the scene in the viewport.

Viewport Settings

The Viewport Settings window displays options to configure the Viewport properties. These properties control how the Viewport appears and which features are active. You can also create or edit presets for the viewport model and the lighting environments.

Viewport Settings

Viewport Settings contains the following settings groups:

General

The General property group contains basic properties that are required by the Viewport.

PropertyDescription
Enable GridShow or hide the ground plane. (This property is also accessible in the Viewport Toolbar.)
Enable Shadow CatcherShow or hide shadow effects. (This property is also accessible in the Viewport Toolbar.)
Enable Alternate SkyboxToggle to display the alternate skybox image if one is specified by the Skybox Image Asset (Alt) property in the lighting preset.
Field of ViewAdjust the camera’s field of view.
Display Mapper TypeConfigure tone mapping and color grading

Model

The Model property group allows you to manage the list of available model presets, and configure their properties. Model presets are useful for previewing materials on a variety of surfaces. Atom includes a collection of basic models, and you can create additional presets with custom models. Model presets are stored in JSON files (*.modelpreset.azasset) and can be configured in the Viewport Settings.

Buttons

These controls are used to create, edit, save, or reset a specific model preset.

ButtonDescription
AddCreate a new model preset and select a save file location. Model presets can be saved anywhere in your project folder.
SelectOpen the Model Preset Browser, browse, and select from the list of available model presets.
SaveSave changes made to the selected model preset.

Properties

The following are properties you can configure for the selected model preset.

PropertyDescription
Display NameSpecify the name of this preset. The name appears in the Viewport Model drop-down list in the Viewport Toolbar.
Model AssetAssign a model asset for this preset. The model asset must be in FBX format (.fbx).
Preview Image AssetAssign an image as the preview icon for this preset. The image appears in the Viewport Model drop-down list in the Model Preset Browser.

Model Preset Browser

The Model Preset Browser window opens when you press the Select button. The Model Preset Browser window is a separate window that cannot be docked.

Model Preset Browser

Lighting

The Lighting property group allows you to manage the list of available lighting presets and configure their properties. Lighting presets are useful for previewing materials in a variety of lighting conditions. Atom includes a collection of lighting presets, and you can create additional presets with a custom skymap image and lighting properties. Lighting presets are stored in JSON files (*.lightingpreset.azasset), which you can configure in the Viewport Settings.

Buttons

These controls are used to create, edit, save, or reset a specific lighting preset.

ButtonDescription
AddCreate a new lighting preset and select a save file location. You can save lighting presets anywhere in your project folder.
SelectOpen the Lighting Preset Browser, browse, and select from the list of available lighting presets.
SaveSave changes made to the selected lighting preset.

Properties

The following are properties you can configure for the selected lighting preset.

PropertyDescription
Display NameSpecify the name of this preset. The name appears in the Viewport Model drop-down list in the Viewport Toolbar.
IBL Diffuse Image AssetAssign a diffuse lighting cubemap to use for IBL.
IBL Specular Image AssetAssign a specular lighting cubemap to use for IBL.
Skybox Image AssetAssign a diffuse lighting cubemap to use as the skybox, or background.
Skybox Image Asset (Alt)Assign a diffuse lighting cubemap to use an alternative skybox, or background. This allows you to have a different background while using the same lighting settings. Enable this skybox using the Enable Alternate Skybox property in the General settings.
Skybox ExposureAdjust the brightness of the skybox.
Shadow Catcher OpacityAdjust the opacity level of the ground plane that catches the model’s shadows.
ExposureA group of settings to configure the exposure.
LightsManage a list of lights for the active lighting preset.

Lighting Preset Browser

The Lighting Preset Browser window opens when you press the Select button. The Lighting Preset Browser window is a separate window that cannot be docked.

Lighting Preset Browser

Note:
Lighting and model presets can be stored in any valid source asset folder in your project or Gems. They will automatically be discovered, and you can select them from the Viewport Toolbar or Viewport Settings Panel.