The Docks

The Twinmotion user interface contains three docks located below the Viewport:

• Import

• Materials

• Media

You can open and close them by clicking Import, Materials, or Media in the Footer.

Although each dock has a different purpose, they all have similar controls and menus. This page provides a brief overview of each dock.

Import Dock

The Import dock is where you bring your 3D models and assets into Twinmotion.

In the Import dock you can:

• Import files from most major design applications.

• Set up Datasmith Direct Links between your design application and Twinmotion.

• Update file import settings and reimport files.

• Locate all imported objects in the Viewport.

• Reset and reimport individual assets.

• Delete files.

Import ( + ) Icon

When you click the Import ( + ) icon, the Import window opens.

From the Import window, you can:

• Import geometry files, including Datasmith files created with the Datasmith Exporter plugins.

• Create Datasmith Direct Links and synchronize content between your design application and Twinmotion.

• Import animated files.

• Import landscape files.

• Import 3D laser scanned point cloud files.

When you import a file or create a Datasmith Direct Link, the content appears in the Viewport and it also appears as a file thumbnail in the Import dock.

Menu

Each file thumbnail has its own menu where you can access commands. To open the menu, click the ellipsis (...) that appears when you hover over a thumbnail.

Materials Dock

In the Materials dock, you can:

• View the materials used in a scene.

• Create new materials.

• Import Substance material (SBSAR) files.

• Add materials to the User library.

• Duplicate, delete, and rename materials.

• Sort the materials in the order you prefer.

Usage Status

Each time you apply a material from the Library to an object in the scene, it appears in the Materials dock as a thumbnail.

You can see how many times a material is used in the scene, or whether it is used at all, as follows:

• One checkmark in the upper-left corner means the material was applied only once.

• A double checkmark means the material was applied more than once.

• If there is no checkmark, the material is not used in the scene. This can happen if you delete an object that was using the material from the scene.

To remove unused materials from the Materials dock, click the Clean up icon.

Add ( + ) Icon

In the Materials dock, you can import Substance (SBSAR) materials and create new materials based on the following material types: Standard, Foliage, Video, Subsurface (scattering), Car paint, Water, Emissive, Fabric, and Glass.

To import a Substance material or create a new material, click the Add ( + ) icon.

When you import a Substance material or create a material, a thumbnail of the new material appears in the Materials dock, and the parameters you can edit appear in the Properties panel.

By default, the Standard material type is selected when you create a new material. To select another material type, click the ellipsis (...) to the right of the Add (+) icon and in the menu that appears select a new material type.

Material Menu

Each material thumbnail has a menu where you can Duplicate, Delete, and Rename materials, and add them to the User library. To open the menu, click the ellipsis (...) that appears when you hover over a thumbnail.

You can also access a menu to duplicate, delete, and add materials to the User library by clicking the ellipsis (...) to the right of the material in the Properties panel.

Sorting Materials

You can sort the materials in the order you prefer by selecting and dragging them to a new location in the dock.

Sorting materials in the Materials dock.

Filtering Materials

Depending on the complexity of your scene, the Materials dock can contain a large amount of materials of different types. To show or hide only certain types of materials in the Materials dock, click the Filters icon and select the materials you want to show.

A red dot on the Filters icon means that one or more filters are currently selected.

Media Dock

In the Media dock you can create, edit, and manage several types of media assets:

• Images

• Videos

• Sequences

• Panoramas

• Panorama Sets

• Presentations

• Phasing groups

The Media dock is divided into the following tabs, one for each type of media.

Add ( + ) Icon

Each tab contains an Add ( + ) icon you can use to create new media assets. The type of asset you can create depends on the tab you are in. For example, if you click the Add ( + ) icon in the Image tab, a new image will be created.

The media assets you create appear as thumbnails in the Media dock.

Menu

When you hover over a thumbnail, an ellipsis (...) appears. Clicking the ellipsis opens a menu where you can access commands that vary depending on the type of media asset.

Refresh Icon

You can update images, video and sequence keyframes, and panoramas to match the latest status of the scene in the Viewport. To do so, click the Refresh icon that appears when you hover over a thumbnail.

Media Mode

When you click the Add ( + ) icon to create a media asset, or if you select a thumbnail in the Media dock, Media mode is activated. When Twinmotion is in Media mode, a magenta outline appears around the border of the thumbnails in the Media dock, and the items in the Properties panel are highlighted in magenta.

In Media mode, any visual settings you change in the Ambience panel are applied to the media assets (thumbnails) selected in the Media dock.

If you want to change the visual settings of the scene instead, click the Quit media mode button.

Rendering Mode

Depending on your selection, Twinmotion can render images, videos, and panoramas in Real time mode (Standard or Lumen) or Path tracer mode.

If you select the Lumen or Path tracer rendering mode, a small icon appears on the thumbnail.

Icon	Rendering Mode
	Real time Lumen
	Path tracer