# General User Interface Overview

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In this video Rich goes over the User Interface, demonstrating the standards and conventions of customizing viewports, including detailing how to customize the modo UI. In the second section Rich goes more in-depth covering all the panels of the 'Setup' interface tab, as this is where users will spend most of their time progressing through the tutorials.

Users can jump ahead to a specific section by using the Chapter selection widget on the right side of the player or by directly clicking any of the Chapter Title links below.

Tab | Time | Chapter | Description
1 | 00:09 | UI Oveview | General outline of the various sections of the default modo User Interface.
2 | 01:03 | Standards Conventions | Conventions used when manipulating viewport panels + making a custom interface.
3 | 05:32 | Tabbed Viewport | Adding tabs to a set viewport for additional tools.
4 | 08:08 | Float Viewport | Easy way to pull a viewport out of the interface as a floating window.
5 | 09:02 | Setup Tab | Detailed look at the Setup interface tab, its layout and tools.
| 15:51 | Total Video Time |

Frequently Asked Questions--

Q.) Can I "Rig" in a viewport other than the "Setup" tab?

> A.) You can, the tabs are just organized to give you all the task specific tools (and viewport settings) that are geared toward that task. All of the tools are still available in other tabs and layouts, though generally from the menu bar instead of the toolbox.

Q.) If I build a custom Tab/Layout can I save that for later use?

> A.) Yep, you can save the layouts and even load them at a later time. The modo inline help system even has a tutorial on how to do it.

Q.) What are the difference between items and layers?

> A.) modo internally has everything as items, but from WAY back modo had the concept of "layers" or containers where you would work on geometry for modeling. As modo evolved item transformations became more prevalent and this idea of layers has become less important. For fun you can always tell which mesh item modo considers the "first layer" as it is always the first item selected in the scene you load.

Q.) You mention "sub tabs" what are they and how do you adjust them?

> A.) 'Subtabs' are another way of organizing tools in a viewport, 'Tabs' tend to work with larger ideas like a 3D view or a editor... where subtabs are for collections of tools (though not strictly so). You can create and edit these subtabs in the "Form Editor".

Q.) Why does Rich use the word "Handy" so often?

> A.) Because he thinks many things are handy and he likes using the same word over and over and over ;)

Resources--

Links to the modo in-line help system
Docs: Viewports
Docs: Layout Controls
Docs: Item List

Links to other pages in this training
Training: Action Centers and Transforms
Training: Schematic View and Channel links
Training: Keyframes and Dope Sheet
Training: Graph Editor

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