Skip to main content

Smart layout (modifiers)

Open Window → Smart layout. The compact pane docks beside Properties and can also float or open in a separate window. Select one object, choose + Add Modifier, then select a behavior:

  • Max Text Width caps a text object's measured width. Squeeze compresses horizontally without changing letter height; Shrink scales proportionally, respecting Minimum Font Size.
  • Auto Size fits an object to a referenced object or group. Choose Width, Height or Both, padding, optional size limits and the anchor that stays in place.
  • Auto Follow attaches an object to a referenced edge or anchor. Right, Left, Above, Below and Center presets provide useful starting points; offsets control the remaining spacing.
  • Hide on Empty reads text/image content or a data field and hides the owner or a chosen object/group. Whitespace handling and inversion are explicit. Numeric zero and false are not empty.
  • Grid Arrange places the selected object's child objects (parent them in the Scene Outliner) in rows and columns. Set Columns, Rows (0 = as many as needed), Spread X/Y (distance between neighbouring cells), the start corner and whether to fill across rows or down columns. Children beyond Columns × Rows are hidden. Each child's own children move with it.
  • Radial Arrange places the child objects around the object's center. Count (0 = all), Inner Radius, Start/End Angle (0° = right, 90° = down; a full 360° spaces them evenly, an open arc runs end to end) and Point outward with a Base Rotation. Advanced adds rings between Inner and Outer Radius, an Equal or Radiate (spokes) arrangement and Start from outer. Animate Start and End Angle together to spin a carousel.
  • Justify aligns the combined bounds of the visible children to the object's box: Left, Center or Right and Top, Center or Bottom, with offsets. Place it below Grid or Radial Arrange so the arrangement re-centers when a child is hidden.
  • Look At rotates the object around its transform origin so its right side (X axis) or bottom side (Y axis) faces another object or group; Flip and Rotation Offset adjust the result.
  • Spline Path moves the object along a path layer. It is the same link as Properties → Motion path: animate Progress (◇ opens it in the Timeline), choose Follow path direction and set a Base Orientation that is added to the path direction, plus X/Y offsets.

Examples​

To build a row like a team line-up, draw a background, parent the cards to it, add Grid Arrange with one row and the card pitch as Spread X, then Justify → Center. Hiding a card (hide its label too, because visibility is not inherited) closes the gap and keeps the row centered.

For a smart lower-third, cap the title's width, size its backing to the title, and attach the logo to the backing with Auto Follow. Add Hide on Empty to hide an optional subtitle and its backing together when the subtitle is cleared. Manual text and bound-data edits both update the result.

Manage modifiers​

Each card can be bypassed, reset, duplicated, moved or removed. Duplicates start disabled to avoid two behaviors driving the same size/position. Numeric controls have Timeline and Data shortcuts. Reordering retains their stable animation/binding paths. Properties indicates when a modifier drives the rendered result; authored base values remain editable, and bypass restores them. On a bound numeric parameter, runtime data takes precedence over its animation keys.

Limits​

The same dependency-ordered evaluator is included in exported playback. Cycles, missing references, guide references and conflicting geometry drivers are rejected. Auto Size/Follow cannot also own geometry driven by a Motion Path or Auto Layout in this first version; Max Text Width can take part in a flow. Group references and hide targets are supported. Grid/Radial Arrange and Justify cannot be combined with the same object's Auto Layout, and an arranged child cannot also follow a Motion Path or another position modifier. Look At cannot be combined with an oriented Motion Path. Radial Arrange and Look At work in the 2D canvas plane; there is no 3D depth or camera.