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Editor Guide Scene view OctoShaper 1.3Updated

Scene Handles

A height, a width or a radius is easier to judge in the scene than as a number. In 1.3 any Float or Integer parameter can carry a Scene handle, so designers can drag a tower taller or an island wider directly in the Scene view.

Add a handle to a parameter

  1. Open the graph and its settings panel.
  2. On a Float or Integer parameter card, click the move icon.
  3. Choose a Scene handle kind, then set its options (below).
  4. Select the executor, or open the graph's Preview Stage, and pick the OctoShaper Handles tool in the Scene view.
A Float parameter card in OctoShaper graph settings with its Scene handle options open: kind, anchor, axis, scale, minimum, maximum and Centred
A parameter's Scene handle settings.

Three kinds of handle

Kind What you drag Good for
Slider A point moving along one axis Heights, lengths, offsets
Box face One face of a box. Parameters that share an anchor form a single box Width, depth and height of a footprint
Radius The rim of a disc whose normal is the chosen axis Circular areas, scatter radii, tower radius
Width, Depth and Height share an anchor and form one box; Forest Radius is a radius disc.

Handle options

  • Anchor: the Vector3 parameter the handle starts from, or the graph origin. Handles move with their anchor when it moves, so a box stays on its island while you drag the island with the Position tool.
  • Axis: X, Y or Z, in the anchor's frame. For a radius it's labelled Normal: the axis the disc faces.
  • Scale: world units per unit of value. A negative scale points the handle the other way along the axis, for example downwards for a depth.
  • Minimum / Maximum: optional limits on the value.
  • Centred: for sliders and boxes, the value is a full extent centred on the anchor (a width rather than a distance), with a handle on each side.

Where the value goes

Handles follow the same rule as every OctoShaper Scene view tool. With an active configuration, a drag writes a parameter override. Without one, it changes the parameter's default in the graph. Every drag is a single Undo step.

Handles respect the graph's authoring space. See handle space if a handle appears offset from your result.

From an AI agent or script

The automation CLI can set and read handles on parameters, so an agent can build a graph that is ready to drag. Handles are editor metadata only: they never affect execution or generated code.

Next: Drawing splines covers the other new Scene view tool in 1.3.

Frequently asked questions

Do handles change how a graph runs?
No. A handle is editor metadata on the parameter. Execution and generated code ignore it.
Which parameters can have a handle?
Float and Integer parameters. Vector3 parameters use the OctoShaper Position tool, and splines use the OctoShaper Spline tool.
Where does a dragged value go?
Into the active configuration as a parameter override when there is one, otherwise into the graph's default value, just like the other OctoShaper tools.