Navigating the Studio: Basics and the Rail
How the Studio is laid out: the rail on the left, Basics for the essentials, the full sections for everything else, the top bar and the side panels.
The Studio Layout
The Studio lives at ballengine.app/studio. On a computer the screen has four parts:
- The rail, a column of icons down the left edge. It is the only navigation: every setting is one click away from it. - The settings column, next to the rail. It shows whatever you picked on the rail. - The recording area in the middle. Everything inside its frame is exactly what your video will show. - The side panels on the right: small cards of quick controls. By default they are Export, Frame and Social & autopilot.
A bar across the top holds the actions you use while you work: clip length, Randomize, Record and the seed generator. Every change you make updates the recording area straight away, so you can shape a look while it plays.
Tip
- The rail, the top bar, the side panels and the play controls are never recorded. Only the frame is.
Basics: Everything a First Video Needs
Basics is the first item on the rail, and the Studio opens on it. It is one short page with the controls that turn a first visit into a finished video, top to bottom:
| Part | What it holds |
|---|---|
| Simulation type | The mode picker, with 2D modes first and 3D modes after them, and the Add-ons under it (Line trail engine, Music sync, Breaking rings). |
| Getting Started video | A short video tour of the Studio. |
| Export | Render on (This device or Cloud), Quality and Aspect ratio. On a wide screen these sit in the Export and Frame side panels instead, so they are never shown twice. |
| Sound | The active song and what each bounce plays (the song, or a sound effect). |
| Mode settings / Common | A switch between the few settings of the current mode (Simulation settings, plus Break sound in ring modes) and the look and physics every mode shares (Appearance & RGB, Arena size, RGB rainbow lights, Physics & speed). A 3D mode shows Look and Camera & scene instead. |
| Replay tutorial | Runs the guided tutorial again. |
Tip
- Basics and the full sections edit the same project. A change you make in one is already there in the other.
The Full Sections
Every rail item below Basics opens one section of the full settings, with every control the engine has. The number next to each one is its keyboard shortcut.
| Rail item | Key | What it controls |
|---|---|---|
| Basics | 0 | The short panel described above. |
| Engine | 1 | The selected mode's own settings, plus the Like & Subscribe card and Overlay positions. The mode picker itself lives in Basics. |
| Physics | 2 | Physics & dynamics, Ball speed, Movement & growth labs, Ball initial state, Advanced physics, Visualizer bar, Outer border, Seed generator, Randomization and Optimization. |
| Arts | 3 | Ball looks, rainbow lights, the arena and its border, background, shapes, trails, collision effects, titles and counters, the on-screen overlay, camera and global visuals. |
| 3D | 8 | Camera, objects, lighting, scene and effects. Only shown while a 3D mode is selected. |
| Audio | 4 | Volumes, the active track, the Sound, MIDI & audio hub (your uploads, converter, MIDI editor and filters) and Audio effects. |
| Video | 5 | Every recording control: resolution, aspect ratio, frame rate, bitrate, watermark and cloud rendering. See the Rendering & Export guides. |
| Cloud | 6 | The Save system: local saves, cloud saves, presets, export and import. |
| Publish | 7 | Send a video to your connected social accounts, now or scheduled. See the Publishing guides. |
| Tutorials | 9 | The video tutorials and the written guides, without leaving the Studio. |
Tip
- Most sections start collapsed. Click a section's title to open it. The small ⓘ next to a title explains the whole section.
- Switching from a 3D mode to a 2D mode while the 3D section is open moves you to Arts automatically.
The Tool Buttons on the Rail
Under the sections, the rail has the buttons that are the same in every mode. If your window is short, the ones that do not fit move into a More button.
| Button | What it does |
|---|---|
| Account | Your account, plan and billing page. |
| Plans | Opens the plans window without leaving the Studio. |
| Help | Help & shortcuts: the walkthrough video, the Studio handbook, these guides, keyboard shortcuts, graphics status, feedback and feature requests. It turns red when hardware acceleration is off in your browser. |
| Support | Report a problem or ask a question without leaving the Studio. |
| Language | Switches the Studio language. Your simulation keeps running. |
| Reset | Reset to default: asks first, then puts every setting back to its default. Your saves and uploads are kept. It lights up when the preview is running very slowly. |
Tip
- The arrow at the top left of the top bar leaves the Studio. Your work stays: it is saved in this browser automatically.
The Top Bar
| Control | What it does |
|---|---|
| Clip length | How long your video will be: 15s, 30s, 59s or Custom (1 to 600 seconds). The seed generator aims at the same length. |
| Randomize | A new random version of the current mode: settings, music and sound. The arrows next to it step back and forward through your recent rolls. |
| Record | Makes the video. Its ring shows how many exports you have left. It becomes a stop button while recording and shows the progress while a video renders. |
| Seed generator | Searches for a run that finishes close to your clip length, then plays it. Only shown for modes with a clear ending. |
| Growth | Static size, Grow mode or Shrink mode: makes the ball grow or shrink over the length of the clip, in modes that support it. |
| Theme, Pin, Close | Switch between the dark and light Studio, pin the settings column, or close it to see the recording area on its own. |
Searching Settings
In every full section a search box sits above the settings. Its placeholder names the section you are in, for example "Search Physics parameters...". Type part of a setting's name and the Studio opens the collapsed sections, highlights the matches and scrolls to the first one. Press / to jump to the search box.
Search looks inside the current section only. To search every setting at once, use the Studio handbook (Help > Studio handbook).
Side Panels
The cards on the right of the recording area are side panels: quick controls you can use without opening a section. "Add panel" adds a card, and each card's menu moves it up, down, to the other column or removes it. "Hide side panels" hides them all. Side panels follow the same plan locks as the sections.
| Panel | What it holds |
|---|---|
| Export | Render on, Quality and Record (shown by default). |
| Frame | Aspect ratio and the platform preview (shown by default). |
| Social & autopilot | Connect accounts, publish, schedule and Autopilot (shown by default to accounts that can publish). |
| Audio & music, Ball glow, Mode settings, Arena & size, Colors & RGB, Title & footer, Impact FX, Camera follow, Background, 3D camera, 3D look & light, Speed, Physics, Quick actions, Seed lab, Live stats | Optional cards you can add. Each one only appears for the modes it applies to. Quick actions has Undo, Redo, Save, Surprise me and Guided tutorial. |
While a Video Is Being Made
While a recording or render runs, the rail and the settings are greyed out and cannot be changed, so the video matches what you set up. They come back as soon as it finishes or you cancel.
For a moment when the Studio opens, or when your connection drops, a card may cover the settings while the Studio checks your plan. They unlock as soon as the connection is back. The recording area keeps playing.
More from BallEngine
Guides, plans and answers for making your videos.