Product: Scene Manager for DAZ Studio Author: AuraVix_Studio Copyright: (C) 2026 AuraVix Studio. All rights reserved. Contact: via site mail at Renderosity ------------------------------------------------------------ Required Products: ------------------------------------------------------------ None. ------------------------------------------------------------ System Requirements: ------------------------------------------------------------ DAZ Studio 4.x, 64-bit (Windows only) ------------------------------------------------------------ Installation Instructions ------------------------------------------------------------ 1. Close DAZ Studio. 2. Extract the zip archive and copy the file "SceneManager.dll" into your DAZ Studio plugins folder. Typical location: C:\Program Files\DAZ 3D\DAZStudio4\plugins or %APPDATA%\DAZ 3D\DAZStudio4\plugins 3. Start DAZ Studio. 4. Open the pane from the top menu: Window > Panes (Tabs) > Scene Manager Dock it anywhere you like (for example next to the standard Scene pane). To uninstall: close DAZ Studio and delete "SceneManager.dll" from your plugins folder. ============================================================ HOW TO USE - USER GUIDE ============================================================ Scene Manager is an enhanced replacement for the standard Scene pane. It shows every node in your scene, organized into category tabs, with extra columns, search, color/tag/note labelling, drag & drop reparenting, bulk visibility tools and per-scene visibility presets. ------------------------------------------------------------ 1. THE LAYOUT ------------------------------------------------------------ - Filter bar (top): type to filter the lists (see section 6). - Toolbar row: Up / Down reorder arrows, the "Auto-sort" check box, two buttons that Collapse All / Expand All the current tab's tree (chevrons pointing in = collapse, pointing out = expand), A- / A+ for the font size, the star that shows / hides the Marks column (section 10), the "i" that shows / hides the Info panel (section 11), and the framed square that hides / shows Filatoon outlines (section 12). - "+ Group" button: add your own custom tab (group). - Category tabs run down the right-hand edge of the pane: Characters, Lighting, Cameras, Props, Render Settings, Other (plus any custom tabs you create). The pane fills itself from the current scene and updates live as you work. - The node list with five columns: Node - the name, with its icon, color, [tag] and a pencil mark if it has a note. V - Visible in the viewport (the "eyeball"). S - Selectable. R - Visible in the final render. Star - Marks: one click flags the node you are working on (section 10). Click any V / S / R box to toggle it. Everything is undoable (Edit > Undo, or Ctrl+Z). - Changes made elsewhere (the Scene pane, Parameters, scripts) - renaming a node or toggling its V / S / R - show up here straight away. ------------------------------------------------------------ 2. SELECTING ------------------------------------------------------------ - Click a row to select that node; it is selected in the scene too, exactly like the standard Scene pane. Ctrl-click / Shift-click for multi-selection. The selection stays in sync both ways - selecting in the viewport or the Scene pane highlights the same rows here. - Double-click a row to make it the primary selection. - Click an empty area of the list to clear the selection. This deselects everything in the scene too, just like the Scene pane, so context-aware panes such as Smart Content (e.g. Saved Files) show all of their items again. ------------------------------------------------------------ 3. SHOWING & HIDING (important - please read) ------------------------------------------------------------ A character is built from many nodes (the figure, its hip and all of its bones, plus fitted items such as eyelashes and eyebrows). To make a whole character appear or disappear, every one of those nodes must be toggled. Scene Manager does this for you: - Right-click a node > "Hide" or "Show", or use the Hide / Show buttons: this acts on the node AND its whole sub-tree, so an entire character is hidden or shown in one click. - The single V (eyeball) box toggles ONLY that one node, for precise control (e.g. hiding just one bone or one prop). - CTRL+CLICK the V (or S / R) box to apply the new state to that node AND its whole sub-tree in one click - the same shortcut the standard Scene pane uses, and the quickest way to hide a whole character with its bones, clothing and hair. It is a single undo step. - The V eye shows that node's OWN visibility, exactly as the standard Scene pane does. Note that DAZ Studio does not pass visibility down a hierarchy: hiding a parent does not hide its children, so their eyes stay open until you hide them too (Ctrl+click, or Hide / Show). Toggling visibility in the Scene pane updates the eye here automatically, and vice-versa. - Right-click > "Hide Others": hides everything except the clicked node and its sub-tree, so the chosen character stays fully visible. - Right-click > "Show All In Scene": un-hides EVERYTHING in the scene (all figures, bones/hips, lights, props and cameras). This is the one-click way to reverse "Hide Others" or any isolation. It is also available by right-clicking an empty area of the list. - Filatoon outlines switched off with the outlines button stay hidden when you show a character in any of these ways (section 12). ------------------------------------------------------------ 4. RIGHT-CLICK MENU (per node / per selection) ------------------------------------------------------------ The menu is organized into five groups: Visibility & view - Hide / Show - hide or show the node and its whole sub-tree (a whole character at once). - Hide Others - hide everything except this node and its sub-tree. - Show All In Scene - un-hide EVERYTHING (figures, bones, lights, props, cameras); reverses Hide Others / isolation. - Outlines - Hide / Show the Filatoon outlines of this node and its sub-tree only (offered when it has any; section 12). Structure & edit - Select Hierarchy - select the node and all of its children. - Fit "X" To... - conform a figure to another figure (like the Scene pane's "Fit To..."); pick "None (unfit)" to release it. Shown only for figures. - Change "X" Parent... - re-parent the node. - Rename "X"... - rename the node in place (same as F2). - Delete "X" - delete the node (undoable with Ctrl+Z). Labels & metadata - Color - assign a preset/custom color to the row (or clear). - Tag - attach a short, searchable label (shown as "[tag]"). - Note - attach a multi-line note (pencil mark + tooltip). - Mark - set one of the five marks, clear it, or show only the marked nodes (see section 10). - Render Visibility - bulk-set the R column, or "Sync Render = Viewport". Bulk / grouping / ordering - Bulk Actions (see section 5) - Move to Group (see section 7) - Reorder (see section 8) Tree view - Expand / Collapse (this branch or the whole tab) and Refresh. (Tip: most actions apply to the whole current selection, so you can multi-select rows first and then act on all of them at once.) ------------------------------------------------------------ 5. BULK ACTIONS (right-click > "Bulk Actions") ------------------------------------------------------------ These act on every node of the same TYPE as the one you clicked (figures, lights, cameras, props, ...): - Select All Figures: selects every character PLUS its content (clothing, hair, eyes, brows, ...), but NOT the individual skeleton bones - so you get the characters and their gear without the list exploding into hundreds of bones. - Hide All / Show All s: hides or shows every node of that type. For figures this includes their bones, so the whole character toggles. - Isolate Selected: hide everything except the current selection. - Show All (exit isolation): same as "Show All In Scene" - un-hides the entire scene. - Delete Empty / Unused...: removes empty helper nodes. Nodes that a camera or light is pointed at, and render-settings nodes (Environment / Tonemapper Options), are kept. The confirmation lists the nodes that will be removed. ------------------------------------------------------------ 6. SEARCH / FILTER BAR ------------------------------------------------------------ Type in the filter bar to narrow the lists. Filters combine: plain text matches a node's name, tag or note is:hidden only hidden nodes is:visible only visible nodes is:marked only nodes carrying a mark (is:unmarked: none) mark:star only nodes with that mark (also mark:flag, mark:alert, mark:done, mark:question, or mark:1 ... mark:5) type:figure only that type (also type:light, type:bone, type:camera, type:prop, type:node) tag:hero only nodes carrying that tag note:word only nodes whose note contains the word poly > 100000 filter by polygon (facet) count (also <, >=, <=, =) Example: type:prop poly > 50000 finds heavy props. ------------------------------------------------------------ 7. CATEGORY TABS & CUSTOM GROUPS ------------------------------------------------------------ - Nodes are auto-sorted into the built-in tabs by type and content. - Scene groups are sorted by what they hold, at any depth: a camera in a group (or in a group inside a group) shows in Cameras, a light in Lighting, and so on, under its group path. A group holding several kinds of items appears in each of those tabs with only that tab's items; the All tab shows it whole. "Move to Group" on the group itself moves the whole group to one tab. - "+" adds a custom tab. Right-click a custom tab to rename or remove it. - Right-click a node > "Move to Group" to send it to another tab, or "New Group from Selection..." to make a new tab already filled with the selected nodes. "Reset to Automatic" returns it to auto-sorting. - "Auto-sort" check box: ON = nodes are categorized automatically. Turn it OFF to pin every node to its current tab so nothing jumps around while you work. ------------------------------------------------------------ 8. REORDERING ------------------------------------------------------------ - Select a row and use the Up / Down arrow buttons, or right-click > "Reorder" (Move Up / Down / to Top / to Bottom). - Or drag a row to a new position. Dropping ONTO another node re-parents it (e.g. attach a prop to a hand bone); dropping BETWEEN rows makes it a sibling; dropping on empty space unparents it to the world. Drag across tabs by hovering the tab header. All undoable. ------------------------------------------------------------ 9. RENAME ------------------------------------------------------------ Click a selected row a second time, or press F2, to rename the node in place. This changes the display label only; the node keeps working and all of its colors/tags/notes are preserved. (The node's internal Name is edited from the Info panel instead - see section 11.) ------------------------------------------------------------ 10. MARKS (the star column) ------------------------------------------------------------ Marks flag the nodes you are working on so you can find them again in a big scene. - Click a row's star cell to mark the node "Important" (a gold star); click it again to clear the mark. - Right-click the star cell to pick one of five marks: Important (star), Working On (flag), Attention (!), Done (check), To Review (?) The same marks are in the right-click menu under "Mark", where they apply to the whole selection. - Type is:marked in the filter bar (or right-click > Mark > "Show Marked Only") to list only the marked nodes; mark:flag, mark:done ... narrow it to one kind of mark. "Show Marked Only" is a switch: while it is ticked, pick it again to bring back the full list. - Right-click an empty area of the list > "Clear All Marks..." removes every mark in the scene and takes the mark filter out of the filter bar, so the full list comes back. - The star button in the toolbar shows / hides the column. - Marks are saved in the scene file. ------------------------------------------------------------ 11. INFO PANEL (the "i" button) ------------------------------------------------------------ The "i" button in the toolbar opens an Info panel below the list, like the Info tab of the standard Scene pane. Drag the bar between the list and the panel to resize them. It shows: - Scene Items: the number of nodes, lights, cameras and world-space modifiers. - Scene Geometry: vertices, triangles, quads and faces of the whole scene, Active / Base (Active = as drawn, after SubD; Base = the base meshes). - Primary Selection: the selected node's Name, Label and Class and the same geometry counts for that node. Click "Refresh" at the bottom to recount (e.g. after changing a SubD level). Editing the Name (advanced - read this first) The Label is the name the panes show; the Name is the node's internal ID. Click "Edit..." next to the Name to change it. A warning comes first, because presets, saved poses, scripts and property links (ERC) can refer to a node by its Name, and renaming it can break them - in this scene and in files saved from it. Only use it if you know what you are doing; to change what the panes show, rename the Label instead (F2, section 9). Bones cannot be renamed here, as poses and animations find bones by name. The change is undoable (Ctrl+Z), and Scene Manager's own visibility presets follow the new name. ------------------------------------------------------------ 12. FILATOON OUTLINES (the framed-square button) ------------------------------------------------------------ Filatoon draws its toon outline with a separate "geometry shell" for every item: the figure, each piece of clothing, the hair, the mouth... These shells are named "... Outline" (for example "Genesis 9 Toon Outline") and sit under the item they outline. Scene Manager finds them for you, so you no longer need a visibility preset to switch them off. - Click the framed-square button in the toolbar to hide EVERY outline in the scene; click it again to show them all. Each click is one undo step (Ctrl+Z). The button looks pressed while any outline is visible and is greyed out when the scene has no outlines. - Right-click a character (or a piece of clothing or hair) > "Outlines" > "Hide Outlines" / "Show Outlines" switches the outlines of that item and everything under it only. - Right-click an empty area of the list > "Hide All Outlines" / "Show All Outlines" does the same as the button. - While the outlines are switched off, showing a character (Hide / Show, Ctrl+H, Ctrl+click on its eye, Show All, Isolate, Hide Others) keeps its outlines hidden. A scene saved with every outline hidden opens that way. To show one outline only, click its own eye. - Only geometry shells whose name ends in "Outline" count, so other shells (skin details, makeup, wet looks) and ordinary props are never touched. ------------------------------------------------------------ 13. VISIBILITY PRESETS ------------------------------------------------------------ At the bottom of the pane you can save the visibility state of the WHOLE scene to a named preset (e.g. "Posing only", "Full render", "Lighting test") and switch between them with one click. Presets are stored inside the scene file. Choose a preset from the list to apply it. Every character is stored separately, bones included, so a preset brings back exactly what was visible when it was saved - even with several copies of the same figure in the scene. Presets saved with earlier versions keep working. ------------------------------------------------------------ 14. KEYBOARD SHORTCUTS ------------------------------------------------------------ When the list has focus: Delete delete the selected node(s) (Backspace does not delete) F2 rename the selected node Alt+Up/Down move the selected item up / down Ctrl+H hide / show the selected node(s), with their whole sub-tree (same as the Hide / Show buttons) Your own shortcuts: Scene Manager adds these commands to Window > Workspace > Customize, where you can give each one a key: Scene Manager: Collapse All collapse the current tab's tree Scene Manager: Expand All expand the current tab's tree Scene Manager: Toggle Mark mark the selected nodes Important (or clear their marks) They work whenever the Scene Manager pane is open, even with the standard Scene pane closed. A shortcut can only belong to one command: if you gave a key to the standard Scene pane's Collapse All, move it to "Scene Manager: Collapse All". ------------------------------------------------------------ 15. PER-SCENE MEMORY ------------------------------------------------------------ Colors, tags, notes, marks, custom groups, group assignments, custom order and visibility presets are all saved INSIDE the .duf scene file. Reopen the scene and everything is exactly as you left it. Duplicating a node (Edit > Duplicate) or loading the same scene subset twice gives the copy its own color, tag, note and mark, starting from the original's, so you can change one without affecting the other. ------------------------------------------------------------ Ownership Statement: ------------------------------------------------------------ All of the content in this package was created by AuraVix_Studio, and may include derivatives of the following merchant resources: -Resources on file with Renderosity ------------------------------------------------------------ Information about Usage Rights: ------------------------------------------------------------ This Product is NOT a Merchant Resource The content of this package may NOT be redistributed, sold, or copied in ANY way except for personal archives. You are NOT allowed to illegally share this file or distribute ANY part of it for other people to download. You are NOT allowed to use any part of this product for your own commercial products. You are NOT allowed to give ANY part of this product away as a gift. This product CANNOT be resold as your own in ANY form. Any questions in regards to usage rights please refer to the included license. -------------------------------------------------------- Detailed Filelist: -------------------------------------------------------- Documentation/ Scene_Manager-read_me.txt Renderosity_License.txt Plugins/ SceneManager.dll