Randomize

Randomize rolls new random values for the rows you switch on. Each press of Roll puts a new variation on the selected emitters. Apply keeps the variation on screen. Cancel puts everything back.

What it makes possible:

Variations of a finished effect. Switch on the colour rows and the Motion rows, press Roll until one looks right, then press Apply.
A starting point for a blank emitter, to be refined by hand.
Colours from one family across a selection. Set the palette list of each colour row to Warm or Cool and roll the colour rows alone.

Opening and closing

To	Do this
Open the panel	Press ≡, then Tools, then Randomize. The panel opens in the middle of the viewport.
Keep the result	Press Apply. The values on screen are kept as one step in Studio’s undo history, and the panel closes.
Throw the result away	Press Cancel, or X in the header, or Randomize in the Tools menu again.
Fold the panel away	Press the minimise button beside X. A chip appears in a row under the HUD.
Bring the panel back	Click the chip.

The shortcut action Toggle Randomize opens the panel, and cancels it if it is open. The panel can be dragged by its header and resized by its edges. See Panels.

With nothing selected, the panel still opens. It reads No transformed items selected.

A cancel puts back the rows that Randomize changed. Edits made elsewhere while the panel was open are kept.

The layout

Place	Control	What it does
Top	Three option rows	Set how values are rolled. See The option rows.
Middle	One block for each selected type	Lists the rows that can be rolled, in the categories of the Properties panel.
Footer	Roll	Rolls new values for every row switched on.
Footer	Apply	Keeps the values on screen and closes the panel.
Footer	Cancel	Puts the old values back and closes the panel.

Each block is headed by the type’s name and a count, such as Meshes (3 selected) or Particles (1 selected). Meshes is the plugin’s name for Part emitters. Particles is its name for stock ParticleEmitters.

Inside a block, each row has a switch. A row is named as the property is stored, which is not always the label the Properties panel shows.

To	Do this
Choose a row to roll	Switch the row on.
Switch a whole category or a whole type	Click the box in its header. Everything under it turns on. If anything under it was on, everything turns off.
Fold a type or a category	Click the arrow in its header.
Choose a colour family for a colour row	Set the palette list on the row.

The box in a header has three states: [ ] for none, [~] for some and [X] for all.

Switches belong to one type. Switching on Position X under Meshes does not switch it on under Beams.

An axis row may read (mixed link). The selected emitters then disagree on whether that axis is linked to another axis.

The option rows

The three option rows return to their starting state each time the panel opens.

Option row	Starts at	What it does
Group axes (X/Y/Z share one rolled value)	On	On, one roll is shared by the X, Y and Z of a row. Off, each axis switched on gets its own roll.
Randomize Keypoint/ColorSequence Count	Off	Off, graphs and gradients roll a plain shape with a start and an end. On, they roll a varied shape with several points.
Reset to initial on uncheck	On	On, switching a row off puts that row back as it was. Off, the rolled value stays, is no longer rolled again, and is kept by Apply.

Group axes covers the rows with three axes: Size, Rotation, Rotation Speed, Position and Displacement.

Roll, Apply and Cancel

Step	Control	Action	Result
1	Explorer	Select the emitters	The panel shows one block for each type selected.
2	Randomize ▸ rows	Switch on each row to roll	Nothing changes yet.
3	Randomize ▸ Roll	Press	The emitters take new values on the rows switched on. Every other row is unchanged.
4	Randomize ▸ Roll	Press again, as often as wanted	Each press gives a new variation.
5	Randomize ▸ Apply	Press	The variation on screen is kept. The panel closes.

Every roll starts again from the original values. Rolls do not pile up.

Apply makes one step in Studio’s undo history, named Part-Icles: Randomize.

All selected emitters of one type take the same rolled value for a row. Three selected Part emitters get one new Speed between them, not three different ones.

Changing a palette list on a row that is switched on rolls that row again at once.

Changing the Studio selection while the panel is open starts again on the new selection. Rows stay switched on for the types that are still selected.

What can be rolled

Rolled	Never rolled
A number	A list of choices
A pair of numbers	An instance row, such as Link, Emit Into or a target
A graph	An asset id or other text
A colour gradient	An event
A set of two or three numbers
The screen position and screen size of an ImageLabel
A switch, rolled as on or off
The HUD Emit, Delay and Duration

Some switches and numbers that set how an emitter is built are also left out. Examples are Accel toward, Scale Motion, Scale Rotation, Gravity, Sink Out, Inherit Floor, Rope Length and Death Window. On a Distortion, Amplify, Allow Overdrive and Resolution are left out.

Stock ParticleEmitters and stock Trails can be rolled. A stock Beam cannot. Transform the Beam first.

A roll stays inside a safe range for each row. A roll cannot ask for thousands of particles.

Linked axes stay linked.

Colour rows

A colour row has a palette list beside its switch.

Palette	Result
`Auto`	A palette style is picked at random on each roll.
`Analogous`, `Complementary`, `Monochrome`, `Warm`, `Cool`, `WhiteToColor`	Every roll uses that style.

Graphs and Bezier handles

A rolled graph or gradient replaces the old one. Bezier handles saved with the old graph are dropped. Cancel brings the old graph and its handles back.

Limits

One roll serves every selected emitter of a type. For a different roll on each emitter, select and roll them one at a time.
A stock Beam cannot be rolled.
Lists of choices, instance rows, text and events are never rolled.
The three option rows are not kept. They start again at On, Off, On each time the panel opens.