The task of filling a room with lots of background actors may seem daunting, but it shouldn’t! Here’s a simple way to fill the room in 3 easy steps…

Step 1:

Put your background actors at screen right position. Alternate the direction each extra faces.

Here’s how that looks in Donacode:

@EXTRA1 stands screen right AND EXTRA1 faces left

@EXTRA2 stands screen right AND EXTRA2 faces right

@EXTRA3 stands screen right AND EXTRA3 faces left

@EXTRA4 stands screen right AND EXTRA4 faces right

@EXTRA5 stands screen right AND EXTRA5 faces left

@EXTRA6 stands screen right AND EXTRA6 faces right

@EXTRA7 stands screen right AND EXTRA7 faces right

The result will look quite strange in the app…

Step 2:

Drag your background actors into position one by one, using the Spot Tool to get them to the correct scale and position on screen.

Once you’re happy with their size and placement, record their spot positions in the script. Don’t forget to include the layers so that characters in the background don’t accidentally overlap over those intended to be in the foreground!

Here’s how that looks in Donacode:

@EXTRA1 spot .84 218 204 in zone 3 at layer 0

@EXTRA1 faces left

@EXTRA2 spot .81 145 214 in zone 3 at layer 0

@EXTRA2 faces right

@EXTRA3 spot .82 289 222 in zone 3 at layer 0

@EXTRA3 faces left

@EXTRA4 spot 1.0 122 124 in zone 3 at layer 1

@EXTRA4 faces right

@EXTRA5 spot 1.0 241 126 in zone 3 at layer 1

@EXTRA5 faces left

@EXTRA6 spot .98 44 122 in zone 3 at layer 1

@EXTRA6 faces right

@EXTRA7 spot .81 78 210 in zone 3 at layer 0

@EXTRA7 faces right

And when you update the story in the app, all your background characters will be into position!