1. That frame is unrelated to the buttons and only affects the background model for the command panel.
2. Adjust the anchors. In the current setup the portrait is anchored to all sides of the parent frame (which is anchored to the top of the screen) so takes the size of that minus any offsets. If you only anchor from two perpendicular sides you can set the size using the <Width val="0"/> and <Height val="0"/> properties. To move the actors inside the portrait you need to use the SOp (Local offset) site operation under the Actors data type.
3. It is an Anchor type animation called Move used by the UI Layout. When it gets the Move string signal from the Dialog Item Send Animation Event trigger action it uses the Anchor controller to move the parent frame (Mainframe). The time is at what point of the animation it does things and over what time period and the value is how far it is offset by.
4. The command panel at the top of the screen is just like the one in the lower right of the UI except some of the buttons have been moved and there are some animated image frames to act as filler if there is not an ability on the unit group linked to it by the triggers.
5. The console panels are actually models and resist chance. The answer Talv gave is the only current way to change the models since console skins require trigger actions that are blizzard only. This method will require you to change the race of the faction to change the cursor/console models. Also the UI Layout with the console panel models is the Console Panel layout.
6. No.
0.962288686605982
Stuff like this is scary. Seems like this person had many dreams and passions that were shattered due to false promises and lack of simply basic real life resources. Although that being said. Working for Blizzard might not be as pleasant as it seems. They are likely to be very demanding of their workers. For me it would likely feel just like what it is: A job.