Scene Settings

Scenes shape the learner journey. If widgets are the pieces on the stage, scene settings define the stage itself.

What you can control at the scene level

Each scene can carry its own:

• Name
• Applied layout
• Background color
• Background image
• Creative background
• Grading rules
• Widget collection

This gives you a lot of flexibility without forcing every scene to behave the same way.

The main scene settings

Name

The name is the editor-facing label shown in the scene panel. Learners never see it — it is how you find the scene in the scene panel, the Lesson Graph, and every progression menu that points at it.

Use names that describe the job of the scene:

• Warm Up
• Read and Notice
• Submit Your Answer
• Retry

To rename a scene, either:

• Click its name at the top of the properties panel — the boxed field with a pencil beside it, just under the panel header. Type the new name and press Enter (or click away) to keep it, or press Esc to leave the old one.
• Or double-click the scene's name in the Scenes panel and type there.

Both routes follow the same rules. Two scenes in a lesson cannot share a name, and a scene cannot be left unnamed — Berdee tells you when a name is already taken so you can pick another. Names can be up to 120 characters.

The opening scene is the exception: its name is fixed, so the properties panel shows it as plain text with no rename field, and double-clicking it in the Scenes panel does nothing. Every lesson needs one unambiguous starting point.

Applied layout

The Applied layout section shows which layout — shared backdrop — the scene uses, if any. Choose… picks one when the scene has none; once a layout is applied, Change… swaps it and Remove takes it off. Each scene uses at most one layout, and applying one is always an explicit choice — nothing is inherited automatically.

The picker dialog lists every layout in the lesson (plus None — no layout) and shows a live preview of this exact scene under the selected layout, so you see the result before committing.

**A closing scene takes no layout.** The section does not appear when you select one. An ending is the lesson's own last word and is meant to be edited directly, not dressed by a shared backdrop.

When a scene uses a layout, the layout's widgets render behind the scene's own widgets, and a scene without its own background color, image, or creative background inherits the layout's. A layout's own inspector shows Background only — grading, progression, and the rest belong to real scenes.

Background color

Background color defines the base visual field for the scene. Use it when you want a clean, stable instructional surface.

New scenes don't start blank: they pick up the background color (and background image, for templates that use one) from your lesson's theme or palette, so a growing lesson stays visually consistent. Any color you set here yourself is yours — the theme never overwrites it.

Background image

Background image adds a full-scene visual context from the media library.

Choose it under Image → Choose from library: search stock photos, or pick one you've already imported from Browse. The photo is stretched to fill the whole scene, so pick a wide one, about 1.8 times as wide as it is tall (the photo's size, such as 7008 × 3944, shows under it before you import). A photo closer to square still works, but people, animals and round things look wider than they should.

A background photo is decoration, so screen readers skip it. Put anything learners need to know in words on the scene. To keep text readable on a busy photo, put it on a white shape with its Opacity lowered a little. The tutorial Use a photo as a scene background builds a lesson this way, step by step.

Use it when the scene itself should establish place, theme, or instructional context.

Creative background

Creative backgrounds are generated gradients, patterns, textures, light effects, landscapes, and playful compositions. Choose a curated style, randomize its composition, recolor gradient styles, and adjust its intensity. Creative backgrounds are always still. See Creative Backgrounds for the full guide.

Grading rules

Scene grading determines:

• Whether scene grading is enabled
• How the scene decides it is correct (all answers correct, a chosen subset, or — when you pick the Cumulative rule — a passing percentage)
• Whether grading waits for a submit action

Widget collection

The widget collection is the actual set of widgets placed on the scene canvas.

This is where the scene becomes concrete. Background and grading define the stage. Widgets define the learner experience on that stage.

Use scenes to control pacing

A good scene has one main job.

Examples:

• Introduce a concept
• Ask a question
• Deliver a hint
• Let the learner sort or match
• Show a result
• Transition to the next task

If one scene is trying to teach, assess, branch, and celebrate all at once, it usually needs to be split.

When to use a layout

When several scenes that belong to the same part of the lesson should share the same foundation, build a **layout** with the shared widgets and apply it to them.

Good layout candidates:

• A repeated instruction area
• The same visual frame across a lesson segment
• A score or timer that should stay visible
• A reusable navigation button
• A common arrangement for a multi-step activity

Dedicated guide: Layouts

Keep scene-specific prompts and learner tasks on the scenes themselves so each step can still change independently.

Background choices

Scene backgrounds do more than make a lesson look polished. They also help establish context and reduce clutter.

When to use a background color

Use a solid background color when you want:

• A clean activity screen
• Stronger text readability
• A calmer visual environment
• Consistency across a set of scenes

When to use a background image

Use a background image when the scene itself needs to create context, such as:

• A map
• A classroom setting
• A lab diagram
• A themed environment for storytelling or role play

If the background image is instructional, leave enough contrast so interactive widgets remain obvious.

When to use a creative background

Use a creative background when you want a distinctive visual setting without sourcing an image. Lower its intensity when a pattern or texture competes with the lesson.

Grading settings

Scenes can be graded independently. This is useful when you want each step to have its own definition of success.

The main scene-level grading choices are:

• Whether grading is enabled
• How the scene decides it is correct — set under Progression: every answer correct, a specific subset, or the Cumulative rule (which adds a passing-percentage threshold)
• Whether answers are graded immediately or only after a submit action

Progression

Progression controls what happens automatically when a student gets the scene correct — stay on the scene, move on to the next scene, or navigate to a specific scene.

Whatever you set here is also shown at the top of the canvas in the Scene info strip, and the destination name there is clickable — useful when you want to jump straight to the scene a flow points to without scrolling the scene panel.

See Scene Progression for the full guide, including how "correct" is defined when a scene has multiple scorable widgets and how to adjust the celebration delay before navigation.

Immediate vs submitted grading

Use require submission when you want learners to complete the scene before seeing a pass or fail outcome.

This works well for:

• Quizzes
• Multi-part checks for understanding
• Activities where learners should review before being judged

Use more immediate behavior when the activity is exploratory and feedback should happen in the moment.

Reordering scenes

You can reorganize a lesson as it evolves. Drag scenes up or down in the scene panel to change the order — lessons often start simple and become more structured later, with instruction, then assessment, then extension or review.

Scene effects vs widget effects

Scene settings do not define a general scene-wide effects system.

If you want something to animate, appear, celebrate, or draw attention, that is usually done through widget effects or behavior actions such as a celebration effect.

In practice:

• Use scene settings for structure, background, and grading
• Use widget effects for motion and emphasis
• Use behaviors when a learner action should trigger a visible response

A practical planning pattern

When designing a lesson, it helps to sketch the scene roles before filling the canvas:

1. Opening scene
2. Instruction scene
3. Practice scene
4. Feedback scene
5. Extension or retry scene

Then decide which of those should share a layout.

Common mistakes to avoid

• Using a new scene for every tiny change, which makes the lesson feel fragmented.
• Putting scene-specific content on a layout, which changes every scene that uses it.
• Forgetting to review how grading works across scenes, especially when branching.
• Treating every scene like a slide instead of a step in a guided experience.

Recommended next reads

• Lessons and Scenes
• Layouts
• Studio Overview
• Scene Management
• Scene Transitions
• Creative Backgrounds
• Widgets and Widget Settings
• Events, Actions, and Conditions