Toolbars - QtFRED Help

# Toolbars

QtFRED has four toolbars: the icon toolbar, the context bar, the transform bar, and the status bar.

## Icon Toolbar

The icon toolbar provides quick access to the most common editing modes and actions. The active mode determines how clicks and drags behave in the viewport.

### Tools

Tool | Shortcut | Description
--- | --- | ---
Mode
Select | S | Click to select objects. Drag on empty space to box-select.
Select and Move | M | Click to select objects; drag a selected object to move it.
Select and Rotate | R | Click to select objects; drag a selected object to rotate it.
Axis constraints
X Constraint |  | Constrains move or rotate to the X axis.
Y Constraint |  | Constrains move or rotate to the Y axis.
Z Constraint |  | Constrains move or rotate to the Z axis.
XZ Constraint |  | Constrains move or rotate to the XZ plane.
YZ Constraint |  | Constrains move or rotate to the YZ plane.
XY Constraint |  | Constrains move or rotate to the XY plane.
Selection
Scene Browser | H | Toggles the Scene Browser panel, which lists all objects in the mission.
Lock Selection | Space | Prevents the current selection from changing.
Wings
Form Wing | Ctrl+W | Forms a wing from the currently selected ships.
Disband Wing | Ctrl+D | Disbands the wing of the currently selected ships, returning them to individual objects.
View
Zoom on Selected | Alt+Z | Moves the camera to focus on the selected objects.
Zoom Extents | Shift+Z | Zooms the camera to fit all objects in the mission into view.
Show Distances | D | Toggles display of distance measurements between selected objects.
Rotate Around Object | Alt+R | Toggles camera orbit mode, rotating the view around the selected object.
Layers
Manage View Layers |  | Opens the Layer Manager to show or hide categories of objects.
Show All Layers |  | Makes all hidden layers visible.

### Object creation dropdowns

Three dropdowns at the right end of the toolbar control what is created when you click in the viewport. Each is paired with its own modifier chord, so you can place ships, props, and waypoints or jump nodes intermixed without switching modes.

Dropdown | Used by | Description
--- | --- | ---
Ships | Ctrl+click | Selects the ship class to place. The ship created on Ctrl+click is determined by this selection.
Props | Ctrl+Shift+click | Selects the prop class to place. The prop created on Ctrl+Shift+click is determined by this selection.
Other | Ctrl+Alt+click | Selects what non-ship, non-prop object to place - Waypoint or Jump Node. The object created on Ctrl+Alt+click is determined by this selection.

## Context Bar

The context bar sits below the icon toolbar. Its left side shows a label describing the current selection; the right side shows action buttons that change depending on what is selected.

### Selection label

Selection state | Label text
--- | ---
Nothing selected | No Selection
Single ship or player start | Ship: <name> [<class>] - appends | Wing: <name> when the ship belongs to a wing.
Single waypoint | Waypoint: <name> - appends | List: <name> when a waypoint list is active.
Single jump node | Jump Node: <name>
Single prop | Prop: <name>
Multiple objects selected | A comma-separated count by type, e.g. 2 ship(s), 1 waypoint(s) selected. Appends | Wing: <name> when all selected ships share the same wing.

### Action buttons

Buttons appear to the right of the label and are rebuilt whenever the selection changes. The set of buttons depends on the type and count of selected objects.

Button | Appears when | Action
--- | --- | ---
Rename | Exactly one ship selected | Prompts for a new name and renames the ship immediately. For waypoints, props, and jump nodes, use the object's editor instead.
Edit Ship | One or more ships selected (all must be ships) | Opens the Ship Editor.
Edit Waypoint Path | Exactly one waypoint selected | Opens the Waypoint Editor.
Edit Jump Node | Exactly one jump node selected | Opens the Jump Node Editor.
Edit Prop | Exactly one prop selected | Opens the Prop Editor.
Position/Orientation | Any single object selected | Opens the Object Orientation Editor.
Edit Wing | Selected ship(s) belong to a wing | Opens the Wing Editor for that wing.
Select Wing | Selected ship(s) belong to a wing | Marks all ships in the wing, replacing the current selection.
Clone | Exactly one object selected | Duplicates the selected object.
Delete | Anything selected | Deletes all marked objects.

## Transform Bar

The transform bar sits below the context bar. It is divided into two sections: a left section with camera speed controls, and a right section with selection-specific fields that change based on the active editing mode.

### Camera speed (left section)

Control | Description
--- | ---
Camera Move | Dropdown setting the camera translation speed. Choices are x1, x2, x3, x5, x8, x10, x50, x100. Mirrors the Speed › Movement menu.
Camera Rot | Dropdown setting the camera rotation speed. Choices are x1, x5, x12, x25, x50. Mirrors the Speed › Rotation menu.

### Selection fields (right section)

These controls reflect and edit the current selection. Most are disabled when nothing is selected or when the toolbar is in Select mode.

Control | Description
--- | ---
IFF | Dropdown showing the IFF of the selected ship(s). Enabled only when at least one ship is selected. Shows blank when the marked ships have different IFFs. Changing the value applies to all marked ships.
Local toggle | Icon button that switches between local and group transform behaviour for multi-object edits. In Move mode: when on, each object moves along its own axes independently; when off, all objects move together as a formation. In Rotate mode: when on, each object rotates around its own centre; when off, all objects orbit around the primary selected object. The last setting is remembered separately for Move and Rotate modes.
Pos X / Y / Z | Three spin boxes showing the world-space position of the selected object. Visible in Select and Move modes. Editing a value moves the object (or, with the Local toggle off and multiple objects marked, the whole group) to the entered coordinate. Disabled in Select mode.
Ori H / P / B | Three spin boxes showing the heading, pitch, and bank of the selected object in degrees. Visible in Rotate mode. Editing a value rotates the object (or group, depending on the Local toggle).
Radius | Read-only field. For a single selection, shows the bounding radius of the object. For multiple objects, shows the bounding radius of the entire selection (distance from the centroid to the farthest marked object). Shows “--” when nothing is selected.
Layer | Dropdown showing the layer the selected object(s) belong to. Changing the value moves all marked objects to the chosen layer. Shows blank when the marked objects are on different layers.

## Status Bar

The status bar runs along the bottom of the window. It has three persistent fields and a message area that shows transient notifications during loading.

Field | Position | Description
--- | --- | ---
Object counts | Left | Counts of objects currently in the mission, e.g. Ships: 4 WPs: 2 Nodes: 1. Waypoints and jump nodes are omitted when their count is zero.
Viewpoint | Right | Viewpoint: Camera normally; changes to Viewpoint: <name> when the camera is locked to a ship's perspective.
Units | Right | Units = N Meters - the size of one grid square in metres.