Quick Start Guide

Introduction to The Porgan 1800:

The Porgan's controls are grouped into 5 main categories:

Texture Controls - Texture, Color, Transparency, Size, Full_Bright-ness, and (limited) rotation.

Pattern Controls - Pick a PATTERN from the pull down menu, use the optional initial velocity, radius, angle and 'Omega' controls to tune the angle of particle spray.

Production Controls - Control the QUANTITY and RATE of particle production. Also sets how long each particle lives (AGE) and when to STOP creating new particles.

After-Effects, Input & Output Controls - Environmental influences, such as wind, bounce, compass-direction forces, gravity, targetting and 'move particles when prim moves' options.


This includes The Book which includes:

• [FAQ] - a link to these web pages
• [Options] - (owner-only)
  • Access - Restricted/unrestricted & rez a guest chair
  • Theme/Skin- Set the consoles colors and texture
  • Clear All- reset all three emitters
• Texture Library - (not available yet)
• Presets - a menu of simple pre-created effects
• [Copy] - Rez a clone of the current particle effects (owner only)
• [Scripts] - A link to the scripts for your effects
• [Reload] - Allows you to import one of your earlier [Copy]s into the device (owner only)

The Stack - This is where you see the effect you are working on. You can work on three different particle effects, numbered #1, #2, and #3. Touch the emitter you want to edit. Touch it again to turn it off.

• (X) = completely turned off
• (LOCKED) = ON but ignoring the controls
• (UNLOCKED) = ON and reacting to the controls.

The Guest Chair - If the device is not responding to you, try sitting here.

About the Controls:

Simply touch and/or drag your mouse cursor on the controls to adjust them. The particle parameter name will appear in the center of the console, along with the value you've picked. Touch the paramter NAME for a hint about what that control!

Controls may change color depending on how you use the Porgan:

• INVISIBLE - means that control is incompabile with an option or pattern you've selected.
• DARK/DIM - means that control is set to its not affecting your particle display.
• RED - means this control may be causing problems for your particle display.

Typical Usage:

1. Clear the device: Book -> [Options]->(Clear All).
   
   
2. Select a [PRESET] from the book.
   
   
3. Experiment with the controls, starting on the far left and working your way to the right. Some controls may not have a noticable effect, depending on the preset.
   
   
4. When satisfied, activate a second prim on THE STACK, load a preset, edit it and repeat with the third prim. You can turn off a part of the stack and turn it on again later, it will preserve your settings.
   
   
5. When you are happy with the entire effect, use The Book to generate the three scripts (one per prims used in the effet), or use The COPY function to rez a clone of your effect.
   
   
6. TAKE the copy of your effect, and then rez it into the world It may be touched on&off (you can remove the touch script if you like and replace it with other "CONTROLLER TEMPLATES" found in the lab. If you selected a TARGET option, you can also combine your copy with the TARGET TEMPLATES also found in the Particle Laboratory).
   
   WARNING: Copied effects reside in full mod/copy/trans prims. The scripts are copy/trans. If they are put into new prims they will STOP working.