Keyboard Shortcuts
All keyboard shortcuts for BT Laser Studio — global keys, panel toggles in every tool, plus the full ILDA Viewer and Animation Studio references.
Standalone keys work when the relevant tool is active and focus is not in a text input.
Global (all Laser Studio tools)
| Shortcut | Action |
|---|---|
Ctrl+/ (Cmd+/ on Mac) | Show keyboard shortcuts (Animation Studio also closes it with the same keys) |
Ctrl+F (Cmd+F on Mac) | Toggle fullscreen |
Esc | Close modal / exit fullscreen — and BLACKOUT while a laser is connected (below) |
Open the header Settings gear, then select SHORTCUTS. The reference is module-aware: it includes only the global actions and tool controls that work on the Laser screen currently open.
Ctrl+K (Cmd+K on Mac) toggles Settings in all six Laser tools. The shared panel includes audio, appearance and shortcut settings, plus any settings for the current tool.
Laser output (all six tools)
These keys work in Image → Laser, Text → Laser, Video → Laser, AI Beam Creator, Animation Studio and the ILDA Viewer while a laser DAC or the DAC Simulator is connected. The ARM, BLACKOUT and START buttons show them.
| Shortcut | Action |
|---|---|
Esc | BLACKOUT — stops output and holds it off until you click RELEASE BLACKOUT, then START. Works in text fields, with a dialog open (the dialog still closes), during MIDI LEARN and in fullscreen |
Ctrl+B (⌘B on Mac) | BLACKOUT (same as Esc) |
Ctrl+A (⌘A on Mac) | ARM — press twice to arm, once more to disarm. Not while typing in a field, where it selects text |
Ctrl+S (⌘S on Mac) | START — only while armed, connected and not blacked out. It never stops output |
In fullscreen, a quick Esc blacks out the laser and leaves fullscreen. In Video to Laser Live, Esc and Ctrl+B black out even before a projector is connected, because they also darken the Second Screen window. See keyboard control.
Panel Toggles (all six tools)
Image → Laser, Text → Laser, Video → Laser, AI Beam Creator, Animation Studio, and the ILDA Viewer all register the same panel toggles:
| Shortcut | Action |
|---|---|
Ctrl+[ (Cmd+[ on Mac) | Toggle left panel |
Ctrl+] (Cmd+] on Mac) | Toggle right panel |
Ctrl+\ (Cmd+\ on Mac) | Toggle both panels |
ILDA Viewer
Playback
| Shortcut | Action |
|---|---|
Space | Play / Pause animation |
← / → | Previous / Next frame |
< / > (or , / .) | Halve / Double playback speed |
Home | Jump to first frame |
End | Jump to last frame |
Display Toggles
| Shortcut | Action |
|---|---|
G | Toggle galvo simulation |
S | Toggle stress heat map |
B | Toggle scanner path (blanking debug) |
3D / Cinema Mode
| Shortcut | Action |
|---|---|
C | Toggle projection screen (3D modes) |
L | Toggle venue lights (Cinema mode only) |
Help
| Shortcut | Action |
|---|---|
? | Show keyboard shortcuts help |
Esc | Close modal / dialog |
Video to Laser Live
File playback
These keys apply while a video file is the active Live source. They match the ILDA Viewer transport; Loop starts off and is controlled from the hover playback bar.
| Shortcut | Action |
|---|---|
Space | Play / Pause video |
← / → | Previous frame / Next frame |
< / > | Halve playback speed / Double playback speed |
, / . | Halve playback speed / Double playback speed |
Home | Jump to first frame |
End | Jump to last frame |
Esc is the laser BLACKOUT here as everywhere — see Laser output.
Visualizer source
These keys apply while Visualizer is the active Live source. They follow the current Show hard to trace filter and skip unavailable choices.
| Shortcut | Action |
|---|---|
[ | Previous selectable visualizer |
] | Next selectable visualizer |
Animation Studio
Playback
| Shortcut | Action |
|---|---|
Space | Play / Pause (switches to View mode) |
, / . | Previous / Next frame |
Keyframes
| Shortcut | Action |
|---|---|
K | Insert keyframe at playhead (copies current values) |
F5 | Extend layer lifespan to playhead |
F6 | Insert keyframe (same as K) |
F7 | Insert blank keyframe (resets to defaults) |
Delete / Backspace | Delete the selected keyframes (when keyframes are selected in the timeline) |
Once a property has a keyframe, auto-keyframing records further canvas edits at the playhead automatically — there is no per-property diamond icon to click.
Editing
| Shortcut | Action |
|---|---|
Enter | Commit shape / Lock selected layer |
Delete / Backspace | Delete selected layer (when no keyframes are selected) |
History
Animation Studio keeps undo and redo in the global header so there is one clear history for the editor. The button tooltip names the next action, such as cloning a layer, moving a keyframe, or changing a layer property.
| Shortcut | Action |
|---|---|
Cmd/Ctrl+Z | Undo the most recent edit |
Cmd/Ctrl+Shift+Z | Redo |
Cmd/Ctrl+Y | Redo (alias) |
While a text field is focused, these shortcuts keep their normal text-editing behavior.
Canvas
| Shortcut | Action |
|---|---|
G | Cycle grid: Off → Square → Center → Radial |
⌘/Ctrl + Click a tool button | Quick-place a 40×40 centered shape — click the tool in the Assets sidebar, not the canvas |
Grid type, spacing, color, and opacity live in Settings → DISPLAY, together with the rulers and canvas-background toggles.
Settings and Help
| Shortcut | Action |
|---|---|
Ctrl+K (Cmd+K on Mac) | Show or hide Settings |
? | Show or hide the shortcuts help |
Esc | Close modal / dialog |
Animation Studio contributes DISPLAY, YOUR PROJECTS, PLAYBACK, and DEVICE tabs to LASER SETTINGS — the header gear opens Settings, and Ctrl+/ opens its Shortcuts tab. Press Esc or the close button to close Settings. Bare keys such as Space and G are held while Settings is open, so nothing in your animation changes while you are adjusting it.
All modifier shortcuts use Ctrl+ (Windows/Linux) or ⌘ (Mac). This convention avoids conflicts with the QWERTY keyboard synth in OSC-1 Oscilloscope.