Using Tools and Actions

From the Menu Buttons

The first way to open and use the Tools and Actions in Dash is to simply explore the different categories that now exists in the Dash bar. Here we have put the most important and most used features of Dash with the idea that it should be quicker to reach them and also easier to see that Dash has a lot of features. The tools, for example Surface Scatter will open up in our Tools Panel and in there you can start using the tool. Some of the actions is dependent on what you have selected, for example, selecting a rock and then using the Pivot Action will change the pivot for that specific rock. But others like the Curve Action does not care what you have selected, it will just take you into the draw mode.

From the Search Field

The second way to open and use the Tools and Actions in Dash is to simply search for them or double click the Dash icon and scroll until you find a good one. As we did not want to bloat the main menus of Dash, there exist many more Tools and Actions in here. For example you can search select a rock in your scene, then search for Nanite and find the Enable Nanite action.

From the Content Library

The third way of using tools and actions in Dash is to find one or several assets or materials in the Content Library, hold CTRL while dragging the assets/materials and dropping them in your scene. This will open up a menu that dynamically adjusts depending on what you dragged from the Content Library and what you had selected in your scene before choosing the assets/materials.

For example, if you select a spline in your scene and then CTRL + drag and drop one or several assets, one of the options in the dynamic menu will be Scatter on Selected, this will scatter the assets on the spline with the Path Scatter tool. There always exist a few different options, all to make sure your environment creation workflow in Unreal Engine 5 is as smooth as possible.

Re-opening and Adjusting Tools

If you have closed the Tools Panel and you need to adjust your tools, don't worry! As long as you haven't broken the tool connection you can always re-open it and continue changing the values again of all your used tools. The first way of doing this is by clicking the Edit button up in Dash and then selecting a scatter, a procedural mesh from Dash or whatever you have created with Dash in the scene or in the UE outlier and then you will see this tool being opened within the Tools Panel. The second way of doing this is by clicking the menu button on the top left in the Tools Panel, this will open up a panel that shows all your active Dash tools in this scene.

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