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## Using the GUI and CLI to design a script

Writing a Python script that performs visualization from scratch can be difficult. The process of setting up a complex visualization can be simplified by using both the GUI and the CLI at the same time. For example, you can use VisIt's GUI to set up the plots that you initially want to visualize and then you can save out a session file that captures that setup. Next, you can open a text editor and create a new Python script. The first line of your Python script can use VisIt's RestoreSession command to restore the session file that you set up with the GUI from within the Python scripting environment. For more information on functions and objects available in VisIt's Python interface, see the VisIt Python Interface manual. After using the RestoreSession function to set VisIt situated with all of the right plots, you can proceed with more advanced Python scripting to alter the view or move slice planes, etc. Once you've completed your Python script in a text editor, you can pasted it into the Command Window to test it or you can pass it along to VisIt's command line movie tools to make a movie.