Performance Editor

The Performance Editor is GenPy's visual scene director. Think of it like a storyboard for your visual novel: you can place characters, change backgrounds, arrange dialogue, and shape the pacing of a scene as if you were directing it shot by shot.

What it is

Use the Performance Editor when you want to build a scene visually instead of working only from script text.

It is especially useful for:

• placing characters on screen
• checking how a scene flows from one moment to the next
• adjusting backgrounds, music, and effects
• previewing how dialogue and visuals work together

Editor layout

Stage Preview

• A live canvas that shows the current background and character positions.
• What you see here is what the player will roughly see in the scene.
• You can drag characters directly on the stage to place them left, center, right, or anywhere you want.

Storyboard Rail

• A timeline-style list of all scene events in order.
• Each step represents one moment in the scene, so it is easy to follow the progression.
• Click any step to preview that moment instantly.

Moment Properties

• The editing panel for the selected step.
• Change text, positions, effects, audio, and other details for the current moment.
• This is where you fine-tune how each step behaves.

Structure Panel

• A place to manage the overall label or scene structure.
• Use it to keep your scene organized and move between larger sections of your story.

Steps you can add

• Dialogue — a spoken line for a character
• Narration — text from the narrator without a speaker name
• Show Character — bring a character onto the stage
• Hide Character — remove a character from the stage
• Scene Change — switch to a new background image
• Music/SFX — play background music or a sound effect
• Jump — send the story to another label

How to use it

1. Open a scene or label in the Performance Editor.
2. Add steps to the Storyboard Rail in the order you want them to happen.
3. Click through the storyboard to preview the scene's progression.
4. Select a step and edit it in Moment Properties.
5. Drag characters on the Stage Preview for quick visual positioning.
6. Use the playback controls to step through the scene like a movie.

Writing Mode

Writing Mode gives you a simpler, text-first workspace with fewer visual distractions.

Use it when you want to:

• enter dialogue quickly
• focus on writing instead of staging
• draft conversations before polishing the visuals

TIP

Use playback often while editing. It is one of the fastest ways to catch awkward pacing, missing reactions, or character placements that feel off.

INFO

For rapid dialogue entry, switch to Writing Mode first, then come back to the full editor when you are ready to direct character positions, backgrounds, and effects.