Adding Content
Once you have created your scene, you can start customizing it by adding content. Creator and Onland support a wide variety of media. Note that to publish to Onland, Creator projects have a size limit of 128MB.
Uploading Content
You can upload your own existing assets to use in Creator. You have a few ways of doing this:
- Assets:
You can use already existing assets from the metaverse or dashboard, or save one that you want to keep between all Onland instances. To upload them:
Go to the ‘Assets tab in the asses panel.
Click the 'Upload' buttons and choose the file you wish to upload.
- Drag and drop:
- You can also drag + drop content into the viewport window to upload it to Creator. Scenes have a size of 128MB, and files used in the scene must be below that size.
3D Models
Creator allows you to search 3D content from Sketchfab. You can find collections in the assets media browser.
If you have existing .glb or .glTF models, you can upload those to your asset library as well.
Dynamic colors for 3D objects
You can select 3D models with dynamic colors and change their material/emissive colors within the scene. To do so, just pick the 3D model whose color you wish to adjust. Then, in the properties panel, activate the "Enable material color" checkbox.
Then you will be able to alter the color of the material of your object or adjust the emissive color:
Primitive Mesh
Primitive meshes serve as basic building blocks for creating complex 3D objects.
You can choose primitive models and modify their geometry, color, measurements, and more. Simply select the Primitive Mesh element and adjust it in the Properties panel as desired.
3D Model Spawners
If you want to create a room that has a specific 3D object that people can make copies of, you can create a ‘Spawner’ element. This can be helpful for making it easy to have a scene that can allow multiple people to quickly get their own copies of the same object.
To do this, you will want to copy the URL of the model that you want.
Create a ‘Spawner’ element from the Asset panel > Elements tab, and paste the URL into the properties box.
3D Text Elements
If you wish to include text alongside any of the objects or portals within your project, you have the option to incorporate 3D text elements into Creator.
For this, simply add the Torika text element into the scene and adjust the text words within the properties panel.
You can also change the size, color, letter spacing, etc.
Setting Up Countdown Timers for Portals/Presentations in Event Lobbies
If you’re planning an event featuring presentations that have not started yet, you can display a countdown timer for each presentation. This timer will dynamically show the start and end times of the presentations and update as the date changes. Users can view this information directly from the metaverse lobby.
Steps to Set Up the Event Scenes
- Begin by designing a lobby scene using the XR Editor. This is where you can incorporate portals or show the presentation details in any way you want.
Next, set up an event on our Dashboard. The event should include at least one presentation and a lobby that utilizes the scene you’ve just created. For guidance on event creation and scene selection, refer to our Event section.
After creating the event, proceed to modify the lobby scene. Choose a Troika Text element and place it at your desired location within the scene.
In the Event slug field, input the slug of the event you’ve created (this is the final part of the event URL that contains the event title).
- Upon doing this, a dropdown menu will automatically appear, listing the presentations and the type of text with dynamic information for each presentation. Choose the presentation whose details you want to display in the Scene, followed by the type of text to be shown:
- Repeat this process for each piece of text you wish to display. Once done, publish the scene and review the lobby on the event landing page.
Images
Images can be added to Creator with a 2D projection or a 360 degree equirectangular projection (a format that could be used as a skybox or other type of scene background). You can upload images or gifs from your own computer or use the built-in search tool from within Creator to find media online.
Audio
You can add links to .mp3 files to add audio to an Onland scene. Also, the audio clips can be directly uploaded using the scene editor’s upload forms.
If there are issues with different audios playing simultaneously, repeating, or starting prematurely, the audio controls can be adjusted from the properties panel.
Properties
Controls: This option toggles the visibility of the media controls (play/pause, volume).
Auto Play: This property enables the audio to begin playing as soon as the user enters the scene or lobby.
Loop: When this option is enabled, the audio will continuously repeat in the scene.
Enable audio by proximity: If this option is selected, the audio will start when the user approaches within a specific range that can be defined in the Proximity Audio option. More details can be found in the Objects that activate by proximity section.
Don't Play Audio Twice: This attribute ensures that the audio is played only once for the user. If the scene is reloaded by the user, the audio will not replay. However, after a 24-hour period, the audio will be available to play again once by the same user.
Start Audio only Inside the Scene: This guarantees that the audio will only commence when the user enters the metaverse room, rather than starting while the user is still in the lobby.
Override Audio Settings: This property allows you to modify the default audio stream settings. By default, Onland employs the PannerNode audio type and an inverse distance model to decrease the audio source’s volume as it moves away from the listener.
Video
You can link to online videos in Creator to create a permanent player for video content. Creator attempts to automatically play any type of streaming video content or live stream. YouTube and Twitch URLs usually work well for streaming if you want to have a permanent link to an ongoing feed in your scene. Like images, videos can be projected in either 2D, or a 360 equirectangular projection.
It is worth noting that the current behavior for videos in Creator can be configured to automatically play and loop, but you cannot currently change the video that is linked after the scene is published to Onland. If you want to temporarily add a video that can be removed, you may want to consider adding it to Onland and pinning it to your room instead.
If you want to use additional types of feeds, such as a screen or window share from your desktop or your webcam, you can add these after you create an Onland room with your scene. Currently, screen and camera sharing cannot be instantiated inside of Creator.
Transparency for Videos
You can integrate transparent videos into metaverse scenes, this unlocks a new level of realism for your scenes.
The process is simple. You will only need a video with a chroma background, typically using a blue or black screen. Once imported into the metaverse editor, activate the "Invisible Background" checkbox, transforming the designated chroma color into transparency.
Once you publish your scene, the transparent background will be activated.
PDFs
You have the option to upload a PDF element and link it via URL, you can also upload it in My Media. PDFs will be displayed as default 3D elements.
Enabling 2D View
To enhance your viewing experience, you can select the "Use 2D view" option in the properties panel. This allows you to view PDFs as 2D elements in the 2D view, making it easier to scroll and read the content comfortably.
Particle Emitter
The particle emitter is a Creator object that spawns moving particles.
Links
You have the option to incorporate links within your scene, allowing you to connect to other rooms within Onland or external web destinations. To create a link element in Creator, navigate to the 'Elements' section and choose the 'Link' element. Once your link element is selected, simply paste the URL into the properties panel. After your scene is published and used to generate a room in Onland, the URL will be automatically resolved to its file type and displayed based on the content type. In cases where you link to a general website, Onland will attempt to capture a screenshot and present that content at the location of the link element. If the URL cannot be resolved, a broken media image will be displayed instead.
Utilizing an Image/Video as a Portal
Another option available is to employ a specific image or video as a portal. To do this, you'll need to upload your file and position it within the viewport. Then, in the properties panel, input the link for the corresponding Onland room in the "Link Href" field.
Once you have published your scene, the image will display a "Jump" option when hovered over, functioning as a portal.
You can also choose not to show the "Jump" message by checking the "Hide Link Href Button" option in the properties panel.
Modifying Transition Effects for Portals
You can change the transition effect for your portals and eliminate the fade-to-black transition when clicking on them, this is especially useful for transitioning within the same 360-degree environment.
To change it, use an image as a portal and select the "Is 360 Portal" option in the properties panel.
After publishing the scene, the new transition will operate as intended.
Note: This feature is specifically designed for 360 tours where there are few objects transitioning between scenes. The fade-to-black effect helps hide the loading of objects during scene transitions.
Media Frames
You can use the Media Frame element to designate areas you would like media objects to snap to in-world, this is specially convenient when sharing videos or artwork that you want to position in certain areas of your scene. Media Frames can accept both 2D media and 3D models.
To see how Media Frames work, check the Media Frame section in the Metaverse docs.
Snap Collider
The snap colliders work similarly to the media frames, but they’re designed to specify larger zones where multiple objects can be snapped into the same space and arranged within that boundary.
This feature is particularly useful for galleries or scenes where you’d like users to utilize expansive areas to display their artwork.
Just place the snap collider in the desired area for snapping objects and change the scale properties, then proceed to publish your scene.
Objects that activate by proximity
With the addition of proximity-activated objects, you can group together an MP3 file and a 3D object, with or without animation, and enable the proximity-activation options in the properties panel. By customizing the proximity radius, you can signal when the animation or audio will be triggered based on the proximity of the user.
Linked Sequences
Sequential animations allow users to trigger the animation or apparition of other assets in a scene. This offers improved asset management, fostering interactive scene design while supporting various asset types.
By selecting a main object that will trigger the next model, utilize the "Add model sequence" dropdown in the properties panel, you can specify the asset to follow this main asset's animation sequence, enabling it to begin once the main asset finishes. In the hierarchy, the model that will appear after the main one, will appear below as a child of the main asset.
Note: For handling videos and animations, you need to disable the autoplay and loop options, since the sequence can't happen if the video is on loop or plays before the main object finishes.
Destroy on finish
If you want your object to disappear once the animation/video is finished, you can select it and add it in the Destroy on Finish dropdown. If you want to destroy the same object, select it in the dropdown. If you want another object to be destroyed once a main object is finished, select in the dropdown the object to be destroyed.
To ensure the removal of an object upon completion, select the respective object and add it to the "Destroy on Finish" dropdown option.
If your intent is to destroy the chosen object entirely, you should designate it in its own properties under the Destroy on Finish dropdown menu.
Alternatively, if you wish for a secondary object to undergo destruction upon the conclusion of the primary object's animation/audio, you can specify the desired object to be destroyed within the dropdown selection.
Add waypoints for seats
To create a room with seats for people to sit in, you can add waypoints to the seating objects. In the properties panel, select the "clickable" and "can be occupied" options so that the chairs can be clicked on and occupied by only one person at a time.
When a user hovers over a chair, a triangular indicator will appear over the object, signaling that it can be occupied.
Enable sitting animations for full body avatars:
With the introduction of full-body avatars to the metaverse, you now have the option to activate sitting animations directly from the editor. Let's explore the process.
To get started, you should create way points as you did before, making sure to enable the "clickable" and "Can occupied" options.
Then, go to the “Seat Animation” drop-down menu and choose the option that best suits your seats.
Remember to publish and test the scene to confirm that the selected sitting animation works correctly for your chair. If necessary, you can always switch between low or medium sitting animations, or adjust the height of the way point so that your avatar sits at the correct height.
Audio Zones
Audio Zones are 3D volumes that modify the audio properties of audio sources (avatars, videos, audios, audio targets, etc) based on the source's and listener's positions with respect to the audio zone. One obvious application would be to dim audio sources' volumes based on 3D areas like rooms to mimic the real world behavior.
Audio Zones work based on the audio source and the audio listener's positions and they can be of inOut and/or outIn types.
- inOut: The audio zone's parameters will be applied to audio sources inside the audio zone volume when the listener is outside the zone.
- outIn: The audio zone's parameters will be applied to audio sources outside the audio zone volume when the listener is inside.
![audio zones example](/img/adding-content/audio-zones-example-2.jpg)
![audio zones example](/img/adding-content/audio-zones-example-3.jpg)
![audio zones example](/img/adding-content/audio-zones-example-1.jpg)
AR Integration in Creator
The integration of MUD's AR editor into Creator is now complete! Let's explore how you can generate QR codes and make updates to your scene elements.
Editing and Exporting Your Model
Within the AR editor, you have the freedom to edit and enhance your model according to your preferences. Depending on the specific model you're working with, different editing options will become available. For a comprehensive understanding of the AR editor's functionalities, refer to our dedicated section.
Now, begin by selecting the object you want to edit. Go to the Properties panel and click on the AR button.
Once you click the AR button, a modal containing the AR editor will appear.
For instance, in this scenario, we will make specific adjustments to the beard factor and the crown's color. Follow these steps:
Navigate to the palette section and choose the material you wish to modify.
Adjust the factor and texture of the model to your liking.
Once you've edited your model, simply click the 'Export model' button. Your modified model will be displayed in the viewport, allowing you to position it as desired.
Creating a QR Code for Your Model
You also have the option to generate QR codes for the models within your scene. Here's how:
Select the model you want to create a QR code for in the viewport.
Click on the AR button.
Then, proceed to click the 'Export QR code' button. The QR code will be exported to the viewport, enabling you to position it in your scene as needed.
This QR code can be scanned by your audience, directing them to the model in the AR editor. They will then have the opportunity to experience the model in Augmented Reality.