Editor Workflows

This page covers common workflows and techniques for working efficiently in the Traktor editor.

Importing Assets

Creating a Mesh Asset

  1. Select a group node in the Database view and right-click
  2. Select “Create mesh asset…“ from the wizard menu
  3. Browse and select your source model (Collada, FBX, LWO, or OBJ file)
  4. A new mesh asset instance is created in the database with the same name as the source model
  5. Double-click the instance to open the Mesh Asset editor
  6. Configure runtime specifications:
    • Mesh type - Static, instanced, skinned, etc.
    • Material shaders - Mapping between source materials and runtime shaders
    • By default, automatic shaders are generated from the model’s materials

Creating a Texture Asset

  1. Select a group node in the Database and right-click
  2. Select “Import texture batch…“ from the wizard menu
  3. The Import Texture Batch dialog appears
  4. Click the ‘+’ button in the toolbar to add source textures
  5. For each texture, configure usage properties:
    • Compression settings
    • Mipmap generation
    • Normal map conversion
    • Scaling options
  6. Click OK - texture asset instances are created for each imported texture
  7. Double-click any texture asset to modify its properties later

Manually Creating Assets

For asset types without custom wizards (sounds, videos, etc.):

  1. Right-click in the Database and select “New instance…“
  2. Browse and select the asset type (e.g., traktor.sound.SoundAsset)
  3. Name the asset and click OK
  4. Double-click the new asset to open its editor
  5. Browse for the source file and configure build properties

Scene Editor Navigation

Camera Controls

Navigate the viewport:

  • Hold Ctrl + Left mouse button - Translate camera position
  • Hold Ctrl + Right mouse button - Rotate camera
  • Mouse wheel - Zoom in/out

Focus on selection:

  • Press F while an entity is selected to frame it in the viewport

Transform Controls

Select the transform mode from the toolbar:

  • Translation - Move entities
  • Rotation - Rotate entities
  • Scale - Resize entities

Apply transformations:

  • Hold Left mouse button and drag to apply the current modifier
  • X, Y, Z buttons on toolbar - Constrain to specific axes

Snapping:

  • Magnetic snapping - Snap entities to each other’s bounding boxes when close enough
  • Grid snapping - Snap to grid intervals (select distance from toolbar dropdown)

Selection Techniques

Select single entity:

  • Click on entity in viewport OR
  • Click on entity in Entities panel

Select multiple entities:

  • Hold Shift and click to add to selection
  • Click and drag to create selection box

Toolbar Overview

  • Selection tool - Enable selection through 3D views
  • Translation/Rotation/Scale - Transform modifiers
  • X/Y/Z axis toggles - Constrain transformations
  • Magnetic/Grid snapping - Snapping modes
  • Grid distance - Snap interval selector
  • Playback controls - For animation preview
  • Viewport configuration - 1/2/4 view layout

Working with Prefabs (External Entities)

Prefabricated entities are ready-made entities stored as separate objects in the database that can be reused across multiple scenes.

Creating a prefab:

  1. Build an entity (or entity hierarchy) in a scene
  2. Right-click the entity in the Entities panel
  3. Select “Extract as external entity…“
  4. Choose a location in the Database and name it
  5. The entity in your scene is now a reference to the external entity

Using prefabs:

  1. Drag an external entity from the Database into the Entities panel
  2. The external entity appears in your scene
  3. Changes to the source external entity automatically update all instances

Benefits:

  • Reuse complex entities across scenes
  • Update all instances by editing the source
  • External entities can reference other external entities
  • No constraints on complexity

Standard Dialogs

Type Browser

Used when selecting a concrete C++ type (e.g., component types, entity types).

  • Tree view - Shows namespace organization
  • Type list - Shows available types in the selected namespace
  • Filter - Search for specific types

Object Browser

Used to browse for objects in the database, often filtered by specific type.

Features:

  • Automatic thumbnail preview generation
  • Shader graph previews
  • Texture previews
  • Filtered by type for easier selection

Color Dialog

Color picker dialog similar to Adobe Photoshop’s color picker, used whenever editing colors in properties or materials.

Dependencies Panel

The Dependencies panel shows what assets the selected entity uses:

  • Double-click any dependency to open its editor
  • Quickly identify which meshes, textures, materials an entity references
  • Useful for optimization and troubleshooting

See Also