# Configure a scene: format, zones, transitions

Besides its widgets, a scene has settings of its own: the format of the stage, the split into zones, what each zone plays, a background color, and how the scene fades in and out.

> **Type:** guide
> **For:** anyone who designs scenes
> **Prerequisite:** the Owner or Manager role and an open scene
> **Where in the portal:** **Scenes** › open a scene › **Zones** and **Settings**

## Steps

### Change the format

1. In the header, open the **Stage format** menu.
2. Choose a ratio such as 16:9 landscape or 9:16 portrait. Or enter **Width** and **Height** under **Custom ratio…** as a ratio, for example 21 and 9, and click **Apply**.

The scene knows only the ratio, not a resolution. Changing the format doesn't scale your widgets. They keep their size and are only clamped into the new area, so check each zone and widget afterwards.

![The open Stage format menu in the editor header with the ratio 16:9 landscape (1), the ratio 9:16 portrait (2), the Custom ratio entry (3), and the note that existing objects keep their size and are only clamped into the new area (4)](/content/bilder/a6c6622e-stage-format-menu.png)

### Split the scene into zones

1. In the bar, open **Zones**. Under **Layout**, 18 layouts range from **Full screen** through **Main, side, ticker** to **Six fields**. One click creates the zones. What the old zones played moves to the new ones in order, and free widgets stay where they are.
2. Under **In this scene**, you see the zones with what they play. Under **Placed freely**, you see the widgets outside the zones. A click on a row selects the object on the stage.
3. Drag the handle of a divider between two zones. All zones at the line change together, and a display shows the split in percent, for example 70 % to 30 %. No zone gets smaller than its minimum size.
4. Select a zone on the stage. The toolbar above it offers **Split** to divide it side by side or one above the other, **Main zone**, and **Remove zone**. The gear icon opens the name, corners, inset, and appearance of the zone.

A zone isn't a free widget. You neither move it nor resize it by its handles, only through its dividers. A neighbor that shares a whole edge takes over the area of a removed zone. If a zone plays a single app widget, the toolbar also offers the **Template** and **Colors** of that widget.

### Set what a zone plays

1. Below the stage is the sequence strip of the selected zone, or of the main zone if none is selected. Its tabs switch between **Own sequence**, **Playlist**, and **Single item**.
2. In an own sequence, each item is a card with a preview image, its type, and its duration. Leave the duration empty for the default: ten seconds for an image or widget, eight seconds per page of a document, and a video runs its length. The arrows change the order, and the cross takes an item out.
3. **Add** opens the media. What you insert while a zone is selected goes into that zone. You can also drag an app from **Apps** onto a zone, see [Place and arrange widgets on the stage](/content/place-widgets).
4. Under **Playlist**, choose a playlist of your organization. It runs in the zone as on a display of its own, and a row of small cards shows its entries. A scene or an ad break in the playlist doesn't play in a zone and carries the note “Does not play in an area”.

The main zone sets how long the scene runs in a playlist when it has no duration of its own. Its strip names the total length, with “at least” in front while the editor doesn't know the length of a video yet.

### Set the background and transitions

1. Under **Settings** › **Scene**, choose the **Background color** of the stage.
2. Under **Transitions**, set **Entry** and **Exit**: the **Type** (**None**, **Fade**, or **Slide**), the **Duration**, and for **Slide** the **Direction**.
3. Click **Play transition** to see the result on the stage.

Under **View**, **Show grid** shows a guide grid on the stage. The change between items of a playlist is set in the playlist, see [Create a playlist](/programs/create-playlist).

## Check the result

**Preview** shows the scene in motion in its format, including the transitions. The status line shows no issues and names the number of zones and free widgets.

## If something goes wrong

| Symptom | Cause | Solution |
|---|---|---|
| After changing the format, a widget sits half outside | Widgets keep their size when the format changes. | Select the widget and move or resize it. |
| A divider can't be dragged any further | A zone at the line has reached its minimum size. | First move the line on the other side of that zone. |
| **Split** is grayed out | The zone is too small for two parts. | Enlarge the zone through its dividers, then split it. |
| The status line reports **Zones do not fit together** | Two zones are main zones, they overlap, or the playlist of a zone is missing. | Make only one zone the **Main zone**, choose the layout again, or choose another playlist. |
| The transition isn't visible | The **Type** is **None**, or the **Duration** is very short. | Set type and duration, then check with **Play transition**. |

## Related

- [Place and arrange widgets on the stage](/content/place-widgets)
- [Create a scene: blank or from a template](/content/create-scene)
- [Create a playlist](/programs/create-playlist)