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 |
The shortcuts overlay 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 the tools that have a settings panel — Text → Laser (Matrix Rain) and Animation Studio. The other tools do not advertise a Settings shortcut, and their header hides the settings gear, because there is no panel to open.
Panel Toggles (all six tools)
SVG → 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 |
|---|---|
P | Toggle persistence (trails) |
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 | BLACKOUT active laser output |
The Live Esc action takes priority over ordinary dialog dismissal while laser output is active.
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 → Canvas, 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 |
Settings opens as one panel with Canvas, Playback, Device, and Shortcuts tabs — the settings gear and the keyboard button in the header open the same panel. Pressing either one again closes it. 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.