Tutorial: First Steps
The following tutorial should help you learn how to navigate and use the most basic functions of the FractaliMotion Player software.
Launching FractaliMotion
To launch FractaliMotion Player, locate and double-click the icon on the desktop:
After loading the FractaliMotion Player software, the following welcome screen should appear:
You are located in the main Construction Box. At the bottom of the screen, you can see 12 control fields. The left one is the Randomize button. The right one contains options to load scenes, open the Help and Quit the program. The middle 10 fields are the so-called User Controls
You can switch the mouse between Menu and Navigation mode by pressing the [Esc] key. Some of the commands shown below will put you in Menu mode automatically to save you a keystroke...
Loading EyeSnacks
Click the Load button at the bottom right or press [F2] to open the EyeSnacks File Browser.
Move the mouse over the names of EyeSnack files - in the right window, a brief description of the scene and a thumbnail will appear. Click with the Left Mouse Button to load the MountDoomAudio EyeSnack.
After loading the MountDoom EyeSnack, you should see the following:
Accessing Scene Presets
The scene provides a couple of so-called Presets - named custom settings including viewpoint and camera Field Of View information and the unique values of the User Controls set to achieve a certain look. Press [F1] to close the Scene Help dialog. Note that you can press [F1] anytime to display it again, or press [SHIFT]+[F1] to display the general Help shown on startup (see the first image above).
You can quickly switch between Presets by pressing the [0 Ins] and [. Del] keys on the Numeric Keypad. Press multiple times to go to the previous resp. next Preset. The name of the Preset will appear at the right side of the Hints window on top of the screen.
The UserPresets management dialog can opened by pressing the [F4] key.
If the scene is rather bright and you have troubles reading the dialogs, press the [F10] key to cycle the UI Panel Blending Modes. Below is the same UsePresets dialog but in Filter Mode (color multiplied with the background):
Some parameters of the Particle System are controlled by audio input. Below are 3 of the Presets without playing any music on the computer
Now look at the same Presets, but this time with a music CD playing and controlling the partcle system's parameters:
Accessing Viewpoint Bookmarks
In addition to the User Preset which store both viewer position and the values of exposed User Controls, you have access to so-called Bookmarks. These store only the Viewpoint data and let you remember and recall your favourite locations independently from the Presets.
Below you can see the rather unspectacular Preset 4. | This is the same Preset 4 shown at the left side, but this time seen from the Viewpoint stored in Bookmark 1... | Once again Preset 4, this time using Bookmark 2...
Preset 4 as seen from Bookmark 3.... | Preset 4 and Bookmark 4, code-named "Tiger" | Preset 4 as seen from Bookmark 5, called "Kaleidoscope"
Preset 4 from the point of view of the classical Bookmark 6 (the Default). | Preset 4 seen from Bookmark 7 is unspectacular again, but there is help!... |
Just press the Left Mouse Button and hold shortly to drive closer to the Particle System. Release to slow down again. Use the Left and Right Mouse Buttons to adjust the view as desired... | Want more variation? No problem! Press and hold the [Z] button ([Y] on German keyboards) and move the Mouse up and down to adjust the Zoom (Field Of View value) to about 100 degrees.... | Roll the Wheel on your mouse (if available) or use the [7 Home] and [9 PgUp] keys on the Numeric Keypad to roll the view. Press the Wheem / Middle Mouse Button to stop the rotation instantly when you like what you see...
Of course, you can move around freely and search for new exciting sights - there could be thousands of unique viewpoints in a scene like this!...
Randomizing Scene Parameters
But this is still not all! You can not only access existing Presets and Bookmarks, you can manipulate object parameters via the exposed Uset Controls and create your own Presets!
The easiest way to change parameters is by using the RANDOMIZE button located in the lower left corner of the Screen. In order to use Randomize, you must have selected a User Preset first - let's use Preset 4 (called "Line") again.
Note that some of the User Controls show a red number with a star in front of it, while other do not. Red-marked controls have been LOCKED by the scene author and will NOT be randomized. (You will learn how to lock and unlock controls in another tutorial). Note that the locks are assigned on per-Preset basis - you can have different sets of locked and unlocked controls in different Presets in the same scene!
Just click the Randomize button with the Left Mouse Button and watch the particles change their behaviors. (Note: Since we are assigning RANDOM values to the unlocked User Controls, your results will look slightly different)
Creating and Renaming User Presets
The variations seen above were based on a selected Preset and its unique lock settings. Now that we have created a new variation of Preset 4, let's create a new one to store the current state!
Press [F4] or right-click the Randomize button to open the UserPresets dialog. Click the Add: Preset item in the dialog - a new preset named "Preset 6" will appear on the list.
To give the Preset a new name, right-click the Preset item in the dialog - its current name will appear in a small window on top of the UserPresets dialog. To delete the existing name, press and hold down [SHIFT] and press [<- Backspace]. Use [<- Backspace] alone to delete single characters.
When ready, either press [Return] (the large Enter key in the main keyboard area) or click the newly entered name. The edited preset's name will change accordingly.
Newly created presets will be stored with the scene - be sure to press [F3] and save the scene to its original name or to a new user name that can be typed in the same manner as the Preset's name...
Copyright © 2003 by AGD - Software Ges.m.b.H.