The Scene switcher and Scene manager provide tools for navigating, organising, and controlling scenes within a VU.CITY project. They allow users to move quickly between scenes, create new ones, manage content, and adjust settings while maintaining the camera position and context in the world view.

Scenes retain attributes such as date, time, atmospheric conditions, building visibility, and more. This ensures consistent project management and allows changes to be applied across multiple scenes when needed.

Scene switcher

The Scene switcher provides a simple way to navigate between multiple scenes within a VU.CITY file. It allows users to view, select, and add scenes while preserving the camera position in the world view. This ensures quick access to different areas of a project without losing perspective or context.

Accessing and browsing scenes

1. Click the scene switcher button in the global bar to open the dropdown.
2. The list displays all scenes in the current file and highlights the currently selected scene.
3. Scroll through the dropdown to browse available scenes.
4. Select a scene from the list to switch to it.
5. The label updates to reflect the selected scene, and the camera position remains unchanged, maintaining the current perspective and context.
6. Close the dropdown by clicking the scene switcher button again or by selecting another item in the global bar.
   

Adding new scenes

New scenes can be created directly from both the scene switcher or the scene manager. In the scene switcher, click the pinned add scene button at the bottom of the dropdown. Newly added scenes are automatically selected in the list and set to a default state with no data layers applied.

Scene manager

The Scene manager provides detailed control over scenes and their contents. It allows users to create, organise, reorder, and manage elements within scenes, including models, areas, points, lines, and data layers.

Elements can be duplicated, moved between scenes, or grouped under parent folders. Users can rename items directly in the panel, search for scenes or elements, and reorder the list without affecting the arrangement of elements on the canvas.

Rename scenes and elements

Names of scenes and elements can be edited directly within the manager.

1. Double-click the scene or element name.
2. Enter the new name and press Enter or click away to confirm.
3. Names revert to the previous state if no text is entered.

Duplicate elements

To create a copy of an element:

1. Select an element.
2. Right-click and choose duplicate, or press Ctrl+C then Ctrl+V.
3. The duplicate appears above or according to the list sorting order.

Search within the scene manager

The search function allows users to quickly locate scenes or elements, especially in complex projects.

1. Click the search icon to expand the search bar.
2. Type at least three letters to filter results.
3. Click a result to move the camera to the element and open its properties panel.
4. Click the X to close the search bar.

Reorder scenes and elements

The manager supports flexible organisation of scenes and elements through drag-and-drop functionality.

1. Drag scenes to reorder them.
2. Drag elements to reorder within a scene or move them to a different scene.
3. Scenes cannot be nested, and element order in the manager does not affect their canvas arrangement.

Edit multiple elements or scenes

Batch editing allows users to adjust shared properties across multiple elements or even multiple scenes simultaneously.

1. Select multiple elements to edit shared attributes in the properties panel.
2. Adjust scene attributes, such as date and time, across multiple scenes at once.

The properties panel displays attributes for selected scenes or elements. When multiple items are selected, only shared attributes are shown, allowing batch edits for visibility, annotations, and other settings. Changes made in the properties panel update immediately in the world view, providing real-time feedback.