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Environment
===========

The interface of Natron is composed of different elements


.. image:: _images/interface_full_03.jpg
 :width: 600px

Standard layout of Natron


Generic Description
###################
The purpose of Natron is to process video images using elementary "effect" bricks called nodes.

See: :doc:`Main concepts <getstarted-about-mainconcepts>`

The image is processed in order passing through each node. The nodes are connected with links that define the order of the processing.
These connected nodes are called the node graph.

Each node has parameters allowing to customize the effect produced on the incoming image.


The Toolbar
###########
.. image:: _images/toolbar_02.jpg
 :width: 600px

It is the list of icons on the left-hand side of Natron.

Each icon is a menu giving access to different categories of nodes (ie. image processing tools) that Natron offers to process or create images.

See :doc:`the Toolbar section<getstarted-environment-toolbar>`


The Menu bar
##############
.. image:: _images/menubar_01.jpg
 :width: 600px

Located on top of Natron window, it gives acces to various actions other than adding nodes to the node graph.
Most actions are done on the whole project like saving, rendering...


The Viewer panel
#################
.. image:: _images/viewer_01.png
 :width: 600px


Here is displayed the result of the image processing. To choose what is displayed, each viewer is related to a viewer node in the graph that can be connected to any intermediate point in the graph.

The Properties editor
######################
.. image:: _images/properties_01.png
 :width: 300px

This panel shows the parameters of one or several nodes from the graph.

The Node graph
#################
.. image:: _images/nodegraph_01.png
 :width: 600px

This panel is were connections are made between the nodes to define the processing order of the image.

See: :doc:`Nodes <getstarted-environment-nodes>` for informations on using nodes one by one.

See: :doc:`Nodegraph <getstarted-environment-nodegraph>` for informations on creating a Node Graph to process your images

The Curve editor
#################
.. image:: _images/curve_editor_01.png
 :width: 600px

This panel allows one to graphically edit the changes in-time of the parameters of the nodes (these are the same as the numerical values shown in the Properties editor).

The Dopesheet
################
.. image:: _images/dopesheet_01.png
 :width: 600px

This panel allows one to quickly edit the timing of the animations but without access to the actual values. Each little box correspond to a keyframe set on a parameter from one the nodes.

The File Browser
################
.. image:: _images/compositing-Read_node02.png
 :width: 600px

This panel allows one to choose where to write or read an image to/from the disk. It is opened from the properties of a read or write node

See :doc:`The File Browser <getstarted-environment-fileselect>` section for more informations.

.. toctree::
   :maxdepth: 1

   getstarted-environment-menus
   getstarted-environment-toolbar
   getstarted-environment-nodes
   getstarted-environment-nodegraph
   getstarted-environment-proppanels
   getstarted-environment-color
   getstarted-environment-presets
   getstarted-environment-anim
   getstarted-environment-viewer
   getstarted-environment-fileselect
   getstarted-environment-undoredo
   getstarted-environment-progressbar