Introduction

PanelForge is an integrated Drawing, 3D Layout, Storyboard and Animatic production software tailored for the pre-production needs of a modern animation production facility.

A PanelForge Project consists of a timeline of storyboard Panel elements that combines a 2D bitmap drawing Canvas workspace and a 3D object Stage layout workspace. All data created within PanelForge can be exported in a wide range of ways for later use in a studio production pipeline environment.

When PanelForge is initially opened the Welcome window is shown. From here PanelForge documentation elements can be accessed, projects can be created and opened. When a PanelForge project is opened the Welcome window is hidden and the main PanelForge window is shown.

The main PanelForge window contains a viewport that can either show the Canvas or Stage view. Palette windows containing tools and settings to modify the current viewport, Panel or Project contents can also be shown. Palette windows can be docked into other Palette windows as tabs and docked into the main windows four edges. PanelForge includes two predefined workspace layouts specialised for the Canvas and Stage views, each of these views show the relative palettes specialised for modifying the corresponding view. The current workspace layout to be used can be selected using the interface elements in the top right of the PanelForge Main window or the PanelForge Window Main Menu.