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Create Your First Project

How to create a project from the welcome screen, open one later, and adjust its settings.

Start from the welcome screen​

Solar Sailer opens on the welcome screen whenever no project is open. The editor itself, including the timeline and media panel, only appears once a project is open. The welcome screen offers:

  • New Project… creates a project file.
  • Open Project… opens an existing project file.
  • Recent Projects lists projects you've opened before. Each card shows the project name, its file location, and when you last opened it. Five cards show at first. If you have more, click Show all N… to see the rest. A card marked Missing — file not found means the project file was moved or deleted.
tip

Ctrl+N and Ctrl+O work on the welcome screen too.

Create a new project​

  1. Click New Project….
  2. In the save dialog, pick a folder and type a filename.
  3. Click Save.

The project file is created right away with the .sailer extension, and the project opens in the editor. The project name comes from the filename you chose.

There is no setup form to fill in first. Frame rate, resolution, and cache location all have defaults, and you can change them any time after the project opens (see below). If you cancel the save dialog, nothing is created.

Adjust project settings​

Once your project is open, go to Edit → Project Settings… to set:

  • Frame Rate
  • Resolution, with Width and Height fields
  • Media Cache, the folder where Solar Sailer stores generated files for this project. More on this in The Cache Folder.

Open a project later​

Click Open Project… on the welcome screen, or use File → Open Project… inside the editor. The dialog filters to SolarSailer Project (.sailer) files. You can also pick from File → Open Recent or click a card under Recent Projects.

warning

Opening another project from inside the editor discards your unsaved changes without asking. Save with Ctrl+S first. More in Create, Open, and Save Projects.

With a project open, the next step is bringing in your footage. See Import Media, or take the Interface Tour first.