Editing Groom Properties
Settings that belong to a groom as a whole, rather than to one operator, appear in the groom properties panel. Where the Editing Operator Properties panel shows the parameters of whichever operator is selected, this one shows the handful of parameters the groom chooses to present: the few dials that shape the look, gathered in one place so the groom can be adjusted without going through its operator stack at all. A finished groom meant to be handed to someone else is usually driven entirely from here.
Which parameters a groom presents, and what they are called, is defined by the groom itself rather than by Ornatrix. A groom that exposes none shows an empty panel.
Selecting a The Groom Operator shows that groom's parameters instead of the open groom's, so a groom used inside another can be adjusted in place.
Adjusting values
The parameters are drawn with the same controls as an operator's: sliders for numbers, checkboxes for toggles, drop-downs for choices, color swatches, and ramp curves. Changing one takes effect immediately and can be undone with Ctrl+Z.
The values you set are yours for as long as the groom is open. They are not, on their own, what the groom will show the next time it is opened - that is decided by the defaults the groom declares, which is what the next section is about.
Defaults
Every parameter a groom exposes has a default: the value it starts at when the groom is opened, and the value the Default preset entry returns it to. Right-clicking a parameter's name opens a small menu with two entries for working with it.
Set Default makes the parameter's current value its new default. This is how a groom is tuned and then kept: adjust the parameters until the groom looks right, set each one as the default, and save. Opening the groom afterwards, or picking Default from the preset drop-down, brings back exactly that. It applies to every kind of parameter, colors and ramp curves included, and is a single undoable step.
Reset to Default goes the other way, returning a color or a ramp curve to the default the groom declares. Numeric parameters have the same thing built into their slider: right-click the slider itself to reset it.
The menu is on the parameter's name rather than on its control because the controls already use the right mouse button for their own purposes - a slider for the reset just mentioned, a color swatch for its RGB and hex options, a ramp curve for its point menu.
A parameter whose declaration has no room for a value cannot be given a default; its Set Default entry is unavailable and says so.
Presets
The panel carries the same preset bar as the operator and tool properties panels, and a groom's presets are stored inside the groom itself, so they travel with it. Presets and the Default entry are described in full under Editing Operator Properties, in the Presets section.
A groom's presets are sets of its parameter values. They are unrelated to the ready-made starting-point grooms described in Template Grooms.
Choosing which parameters a groom exposes
The Edit button at the top of the panel switches it from adjusting values to deciding which parameters exist. Each one is listed with its name, its type, the range and default of a number, the choices of a drop-down, and the operator parameter it drives. From here you can:
- Add a parameter, either by describing it yourself or by picking one from the list of the groom's own operator parameters.
- Reorder parameters by dragging the handle at the left of a row, and gather a selection of them under a named group so the panel reads in sections.
- Remove a parameter.
Accept applies the changes and Cancel discards them; nothing is applied until you accept, and an applied change can still be undone. Auto Generate fills the list in one step from the parameters of the groom's operators, which is a quick way to start.
For grooms whose parameters are best described in words, the Auto button hands the writing of them to the Assistant, which can author the whole set at a chosen level of detail or make a single change you describe. See The Assistant, under Authoring a groom's parameters.