Finishes
A finish group is a set of objects that are always painted together, with a few options - colours or textures - to switch between. Put every cushion in the van into a group called Cushions and give it three fabrics; put the worktops into Worktops and give it two stones and an oak. Then flick through the fabrics and the worktops separately, and watch the van change.
The van has three groups of its own, always there: Exterior (the bodywork’s paint), Walls (the inner lining) and Floor (the inner floor). Give them options the same way, and a buyer can see the van in each paint colour, or with each flooring.
A group cuts across the way your design is grouped for moving: the cushions on the bench and the cushions on the bed are in different furniture groups, but in one finish group, so they always change together. Each group switches on its own - choosing a fabric never changes the worktops.
Finish group
Section titled “Finish group”What it is. The Finish group controls at the top of an object’s Appearance page.
What it does. Says which finish group the object is painted with. While it is in a group, the colour and texture below paint every object in the group at once, and change the group’s option that is showing. The line under the controls says how many objects that is.
Options and limits. On a computer only: the phone editor has no Appearances button to give a group its options, so it leaves finish groups out (a shared design’s groups still switch on a phone). An object is in one finish group at most. Objects join one at a time - you choose each one. A group holds whole objects: a catalogue object made of several parts is painted as one, just as its Appearance page paints it. A design holds up to 12 finish groups.
What it affects. How the objects are drawn, as the rest of the Appearance page does. Nothing about their weight, cost or size.
Joining a group
Section titled “Joining a group”What it is. The row of chips: None, then one chip per finish group in the design.
What it does. Choosing a group puts the object in it and paints it in the group’s option that is showing. Choosing None takes it out: it keeps the colour it has now, and is painted on its own from then on.
Double-click the chip of the group the object is in to rename it - say what it holds, like Cushions or Worktops. Press Enter to keep the new name; two groups cannot share one. The other groups’ chips do not rename, because clicking one moves the object into that group: join first, then rename.
New group
Section titled “New group”What it is. The last chip in the row.
What it does. Makes a new finish group, named Finish group 1 (then 2, 3…), with this object in it. The object’s colour or texture becomes the group’s first option. Double-click the new chip to name it, and give the group more options from the Appearances button.
Delete group
Section titled “Delete group”What it is. The Delete group button under the chips, while the object is in a group.
What it does. Removes the group and all its options. Its objects keep the colour they have now and are painted on their own again.
The Appearances button
Section titled “The Appearances button”What it is. The Appearances button in the view strip along the bottom of the 3D view, after the Van States button. It opens a menu upward from the strip listing the van’s own Exterior, Walls and Floor, then every finish group: its name, a swatch for each option, a + and an Edit. When the window is too narrow for the whole strip, it moves into the strip’s More menu.
What it does. Switches each group between its options. The menu stays open while you switch, so you can flick through the options and watch the van change.
The van’s own groups. Exterior, Walls and Floor start with one swatch: the finish that part of the van has now, set from the Shell finish panel. Their + and Edit work as any group’s do, and changing that part in the Shell finish panel edits the option showing. The Exterior is colour only, as the bodywork is in the Shell finish panel. These three do not count towards the 12 finish groups a design can hold.
Options and limits. In a shared or demo design you can switch options but not add or change them, and only groups with more than one option are listed. The same goes for a design that has run out of time.
A finish option
Section titled “A finish option”What it is. One swatch in a group’s row - the texture’s picture, or its colour. The ringed one is showing.
What it does. Clicking it paints every object in the group with that option - or, in the van’s own Exterior, Walls or Floor, that part of the van.
Add an option
Section titled “Add an option”What it is. The + at the end of a group’s swatches.
What it does. Adds an option to the group, switches to it, and opens the Edit card on it so you can give it its own colour or texture. It starts as a copy of the option that was showing. A group offers up to six options. The + inside the Edit card does the same, staying in the card.
What it is. The Edit button beside a group’s name.
What it does. Opens a card above the strip for changing the option showing: the group’s swatches (to pick or add another without leaving), the option’s name with Rename beside it, the same colour and texture picker as the Appearance page, and Delete option. Every object in the group changes as you pick.
You can also change the option showing from any member’s Appearance page - painting a grouped object edits its group’s option.
Rename group
Section titled “Rename group”What it is. The Rename group button beside the Edit card’s heading.
What it does. Opens a box to rename the group you are editing. Press Enter to keep the new name; Esc or ✕ closes the box without changing it. A group needs a name, and two groups cannot share one - the box says so until the name will do. The van’s own Exterior, Walls and Floor are named by the part of the van they paint, so they have no Rename group. You can also rename a group by double-clicking its chip on a member’s Appearance page.
Rename
Section titled “Rename”What it is. The Rename button beside the option’s name in the Edit card.
What it does. Opens a box to give the option showing a name of its own - Charcoal wool rather than Grey fabric. Press Enter to keep it; Esc or ✕ closes the box without changing anything.
Until it is renamed, an option is called by what it looks like: its texture’s name, or its colour as a hex code, and the van’s own untouched Exterior and Walls are White paint and Plain ply. Clear the box to go back to that name. On a showroom listing, a visitor sees the name when they point at the option’s swatch.
Delete option
Section titled “Delete option”What it is. The Delete option button in the Edit card.
What it does. Removes the option showing and switches the group to the next one. A group keeps at least one option, so it is unavailable on a group’s last - delete the group instead.
What it is. The Done at the top of the Edit card.
What it does. Closes the card.
Related
Section titled “Related”- Appearance - the colours and textures an option is made of.
- Van states - the same idea for where things are rather than how they look: saved layouts of the whole van, switched from the button beside this one.