Workspace
The Studio window has a command bar at the top, four panel areas (left, editor, right, bottom), icon rails on the left and right edges, and a status bar at the bottom. Every tool is a view that you can show, hide and move between areas. Studio remembers your arrangement between sessions.
Layout
| Part | Contents |
|---|---|
| Command bar | File, Edit, View and Help menus; the project name; build target selector, Build (hammer), Build Settings, Release/Debug selector, Play and Stop. |
| Left area | Explorer, Game Scripts, Scene Hierarchy, Asset Browser, Models. |
| Editor area | Welcome, Source Editor and the other editors (Scene View, Model Editor, Image Viewer, Material Editor, Animation Editor, Model Animation, Effect Editor, Build Settings, Settings). |
| Right area | Inspector, Live Scene. |
| Bottom area | Output, Code Intelligence, Debug Tools, Timeline, Lighting Diagnostics, Render Pipeline. |
| Left and right rails | One icon per view in the left or right area. |
| Status bar | Icons for the bottom-area views, and status messages. |
These are the default positions; plugin views join the same areas. Each area shows one view at a time. An empty side or bottom area collapses.
Some views stay disabled until they have something to show. For example, Source Editor needs an open file, Game Scripts needs an open project, Asset Browser and Effect Editor need the asset registry to load, and Image Viewer, Material Editor and Animation Editor need you to select a matching asset.
Showing and hiding views
| Control | Action |
|---|---|
| Rail or status-bar icon | Shows the view. Clicking the icon of the view that is already showing hides it. |
| View menu entry | Same as the icon. Open views are marked. |
| Dock tab | Switches to that view. Turn tabs on with View > Show Dock Tabs; otherwise each area's header shows the current view's title. |
| Close button in an area's header | Hides that view. |
| View: name in the command palette | Shows the view. You can give these commands shortcuts. |
Opening content also shows the right view; for example, opening a .bt file
shows Source Editor.
Moving views
Drag a view's rail icon, dock tab or area header onto another area. Drop on a tab strip or rail to place it at that position. Escape cancels the drag.
You can also move the current view with these commands (also in the View menu):
| Command | Shortcut |
|---|---|
| View: Move Active View Left | Ctrl+Alt+1 |
| View: Move Active View to Editor | Ctrl+Alt+0 |
| View: Move Active View Right | Ctrl+Alt+2 |
| View: Move Active View to Bottom | Ctrl+Alt+3 |
| View: Move Tab Earlier | Ctrl+Alt+PgUp |
| View: Move Tab Later | Ctrl+Alt+PgDn |
Resizing panels
Drag the divider between a panel and the editor area. You can also click a divider and use the keyboard:
| Key | Action |
|---|---|
| Arrow keys | Resize by 10 pixels (Shift: 1 pixel). |
| Home | Restore the default size. |
| Escape | Leave the divider. |
| Panel | Default | Minimum | Maximum |
|---|---|---|---|
| Left | 280 px | 220 px | 40% of the window width |
| Right | 320 px | 240 px | 40% of the window width |
| Bottom | 240 px | 140 px | 40% of the window height |
Side panels shrink before the editor area gets narrower than 360 px, and the bottom panel shrinks before it gets shorter than 240 px. Your chosen size comes back when the window grows again.
Small windows
Studio adapts its layout to the window size:
| Window size | Behavior |
|---|---|
| 1280 × 720 or larger | All panels sit side by side with the editor area. |
| 960 × 600 or larger | The right panel opens over the editor area instead of beside it. |
| 560 × 360 or larger | Left, right and bottom panels open over the editor area, one at a time. The build and play buttons are hidden; use their shortcuts (for example Ctrl+F5 for Play). |
| Smaller | As above, and the rails, Edit menu and status text are hidden. Use the View menu or the command palette to reach views. |
A smaller layout applies when either the width or the height drops below its threshold.
Menus
| Menu | Entries |
|---|---|
| File | New Project… (Not implemented), Open Project…, Save, Save All, Revert / Reload, Close Editor, Close All Editors, Close Project, Settings |
| Edit | Undo, Redo, Cut, Copy, Paste, Select All, Find… |
| View | One entry per view, Show Dock Tabs, the move commands, Reset Layout |
| Help | Command Palette, About cTurtle Studio |
Menus show your current shortcuts.
Reset Layout
View > Reset Layout puts every view back in its default area and position, restores default panel sizes and hides dock tabs. Open documents stay open.
Saved layout
Studio saves panel sizes, open views, their positions and the dock tab setting whenever they change, in your user layout file (see Studio settings files).
- If the layout file is damaged, Studio starts with the default layout, keeps the file untouched, stops saving layout changes for that session and shows a warning in Output.
- Plugin views open in their plugin's default area each time the plugin loads; their position is not remembered.
If a view fails to lay out, it shows an error card with Copy diagnostics and Retry layout buttons. The rest of Studio keeps working.