---
title: "A tour of the studio"
description: "Lesson 1.1 of Creator Terminal's lesson films (The studio): Find your way round: the Tools panel, the stage, the Properties panel, the Timeline and the status bar."
canonical: "https://terminal.lottiefiles.com/tour/"
last_updated: 2026-10-27
---

# A tour of the studio

> Lesson 1.1 of Creator Terminal's lesson films (The studio): Find your way round: the Tools panel, the stage, the Properties panel, the Timeline and the status bar.

- The film (1:38): https://terminal.lottiefiles.com/media/1.1-tour/f889337d70a9/1.1-tour.mp4
- Vertical cut: https://terminal.lottiefiles.com/media/1.1-tour/facf5e65e774/1.1-tour-vertical.mp4
- Captions: https://terminal.lottiefiles.com/media/1.1-tour/fd6e9eb0a68b/1.1-tour.vtt
- The page: https://terminal.lottiefiles.com/tour/

## In this lesson

### The Tools panel (0:07)

On the left is the Tools panel, with our drawing tools. Each has its key beside it. We can click, or use the keyboard.

### The stage (0:16)

The stage, our canvas, shows the animation in the middle. Press zero, then space to play. Press space to pause, then zero to return.

### The Properties panel (0:28)

On the right is the Properties panel. Creator Terminal calls it the rail. With nothing selected, it shows the artboard's size and the animation's length.

### Select a shape (0:38)

To see what we can change, click the coral circle. Its values appear in the Properties panel, including position, size, and colour. The panel follows our selection.

### The Timeline (0:50)

Below is the Timeline. Creator Terminal calls it the score. It has a row for each animated property, and between keyframes, each move is drawn as its speed. These humps show it speeding up and slowing down.

### The status bar (1:06)

The status bar at the bottom gives hints. Hover over play, and it tells us that space plays and pauses.

### Keyboard focus (1:13)

Keyboard focus tells us which panel will receive our keys. Its selection is in full colour, the other in grey. Now it's the stage. Press escape to work in the Timeline. Its row lights up, and the stage's handles turn grey.