Create Your Own Marching Shows

Using the Show Designer

Contents

Overview

Selecting Marchers
Deselecting Marchers
Moving Forms
Deleting Marchers

Control Pacing
Menu Commands

Magic Shortcuts
Follow the Leader

The following browsers should use the Tilde "~" key in place of Ctrl:

Mac, Safari, and Google Chrome

Overview

  • Each show can have up to 32 sets.
  • Click Menu > Save Show to save a show for later.
  • When you're ready to show it to the world, click Menu > Publish Show.
  • You can edit the show for up to 24 hours after it is published. Votes that are cast before the edit still count.

    • Selecting Marchers

  • Click and drag a marcher to move them individually.
  • Ctrl-click marchers to add them to your selection.
  • Click an empty area of the field and drag to create a selection box.
    Hold Ctrl to add them to the current selection.
  • To select a line, select a marcher at one end. Then Shift-click the marcher at the other end of the line.


    • Selecting Groups

    Double-click a marcher, to will restore the selection that they were previously in.

    Double-click a 2nd time to select all members of that section.
    This includes their animation type (e.g. brass with horns up are separate from horns down.)


    2 Ways to Select Curves

    To use the magic wand:
    • Hold down the ! key and wave the wand over each marcher to select them.

    To use Ctrl-Drag:
    1. Ctrl-click a marcher -- Hold down the button!
    2. Select marchers just like the magic wand (above)

    Deselecting Marchers

  • Ctrl-click a marcher to remove them from the selection.
  • Ctrl-double-click a marcher to remove all members from that group.
  • To clear the entire selection, click an empty area of the field.

    • Moving Forms

    Once you have selected the marchers you want, click one of the marchers and drag the entire group.

    The marchers will snap to the grid, aligned to the marcher you are dragging. Press 'Y' to change the grid size or turn it off.

    Deleting Marchers

  • Press the Delete key or "D" to remove the selected marchers from the show.
  • Press Ctrl-Delete or Ctrl-D to bring them back, in their previous spot.

    • Pacing

    The speed of each set depends on how far the marchers have to move. The farther the paths, the longer it will take.

    You can slow down the current set slightly by changing the Slow meter in the lower right.
    You can create a brief Halt by changing the Halt meter.

    Menu Commands

    Reset Set. The current set will revert to the same form as the preceding set.

    Delete Set. Remove an entire set from the show.

    Uniform Color. Change the color of the marcher uniforms. Keep clicking until you see the color you want.

    Flag Color. Change the color of the flags. Keep clicking until you see the color you want.

    Start new Show. Discard the current show and begin a new one.

    Publish Show. Send the show to the judging queue. You will not be able to edit it again. You will be redirected to the show page, and it will be immediately added to your player profile.

    Preview Show. See what the show will look like in the final 3D view.

    Save Show. Save a working copy of the show. You can only work on one show at a time. When you return to the "Create Show" tab, the saved show will be immediately restored.

    Shortcut Keys - Basic

    If Ctrl key doesn't work, try the Tilde key "~" instead.

    Yardline Snap Y Turn the yardline snap grid on/off.
    Line I For more control, put the selected marchers in a rough line first.
    Hold Ctrl to prevent automatic snap.
    Block B For more control, put the selected marchers in a rough block first.
    Hold Ctrl to create a perfect square.
    Circle O For more control, put the selected marchers in a rough circle first.
    Hold Ctrl to align the circle to 12 o'clock position.
    Rotate [ and ] Hold down Ctrl for finer control.
    Optional: Hold down the mouse button over a marcher to use them as the pivot point.
    Scale - and + Hold down Ctrl for finer control.
    Optional: Hold down the mouse button over a marcher to use them as the focus point.
    Undo Ctrl-Z Undo the previous action.
    Redo Ctrl-Y Redo actions that were undone with Ctrl-Z.

    Intermediate

    Animation A Change the animation of the selected marchers.
    e.g. flag position, horn position, drums playing/not playing, bass direction
    Delete Marchers Delete or D Remove the selected marchers completely from the show.
    Ctrl-delete to restore all deleted marchers to their original spots.
    Arc ( and ) Keep pressing the key to change the depth of the arc.
    Hold Ctrl for finer control.
    For clean transitions, put the selected marchers in a rough arc first.
    Equipment E Change the horn type of the selected members.
    Reset Marchers Backspace Move the selected marchers to the position of their previous set.
    Hold Ctrl to copy the position from the next set instead.
    Recover Marchers R Bring back any marchers who have been dragged outside the viewing area.
    Magic Wand Select ! Hold down the "!" key and wave the mouse over marchers to select them. Great for curves.
    You can quickly de-select marchers in Magic Wand mode by clicking on them.
    Toggle Guide Line # Display a horizontal guide line where your mouse arrow is positioned.
    If hovering over a marcher, the line will appear at their feet.
    Ctrl-# will create a vertical line.

    Arrow Keys

    Sorry, these do not work on Safari.

    Nudge Move selected marchers 1 pixel in the direction of the arrow.
    One Step Ctrl Move them 9 pixels, equivalent to one step at 8-to-5.
    Scale Horizontal Shift   ← → Scale the selected form along the X axis only.
    Scale Vertical Shift    ↑ ↓ Scale the selected form along the Y axis only.

    Advanced

    Find Longest Path Ctrl-L Find and auto-select the marcher with the longest path to the current set. Shorten this marcher's path to make the set go faster.
    Ghost Marchers G Lock the position of the selected marchers and fade them out.
    This is especially useful for position marchers behind props.
    Ctrl-G will ghost everyone who is NOT selected.
    Trade Sets T Have two marchers trade sets with each other. This will affect all of their sets until the end of the show, starting with the current set. This is helpful for removing "collisions", where marchers cross paths in between sets.
    Split Select % Select every other marcher for a peeling-apart effect.
    Marchers must be selected in the proper order, using Ctrl-Click.
    Scatter * Selected marchers move one step in a random direction.
    Hold Ctrl to do a horizontal scatter for "jam" style movement.
    Disable Auto-Save Shift-S Turn off auto-save. NOT RECOMMENDED.
    Clean Curve & Even out the intervals of a curved form. This will NOT even out the form itself.
    Marchers must be selected in the proper order, using Ctrl-Click.
    Follow the Leader F See Below or watch this tutorial video.

    Convenience

    Save Show Ctrl-S Save the current show.
    Play/Stop Show Space Bar The same as pressing the Play or Stop button.
    Select All Ctrl-A Select all marchers on the field.
    Toggle Dots : Turn the green dots that mark the previous set ON/OFF.
    Next Set Page Up Advance to the next set.
    Use Ctrl-Page Up to go directly to the final set of the show.
    Prev Set Page Down Go to the previous set.
    Use Ctrl-Page Down to go directly to the first set of the show (Set 0).

    Premium (for subscribers only)

    Equipment (Flag) E Change the flag type of the selected color guard members.
    Change Caption C Change the caption of the selected marchers. Can only be used before adding your first set.
    Maximum of 36 guard. This does not yet apply to bass drums.

    Shortcut Keys - View Mode

    These can be used when watching shows from other players. (Not in Judge mode.)

    Next Set Page Up Advance to the next set.
    Use Ctrl-Page Up to go directly to the final set of the show.
    Prev Set Page Down Go to the previous set.
    Use Ctrl-Page Down to go directly to the first set of the show (Set 0).
    Play/Stop Show Space Bar The same as pressing the Play or Stop button. Hit Ctrl-Space to watch it in slow motion.

    Mouse Scroll Wheel

    You can use the mouse scroll wheel as a replacement for some shortcut keys.

    Rotate Scroll Rotate marchers.
    Scale Shift-Scroll Scale marchers.
    Arc Ctrl-Scroll Arc marchers.   Note: In Safari & Chrome, you need to use ~ instead of Ctrl.

    Follow the Leader ("F" shortcut)

    Note: this requires multiple sets!

    1. Select the marcher that will be the Leader.
    2. Use Ctrl-Click to select each follower, one at a time, in the desired order.
    3. Press "F" once. All of the marchers will move one spot forward in the "train".
    4. Add a new set. A complete follow-the-leader may take many sets to complete.

    Note: The Leader, highlighted in orange, can be moved without affecting the other selected marchers. This way you can change his direction during the next set.

    If you're still confused, watch this tutorial video.