SorceressAshura
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VFX - Billboard TutorialHey guys, I got an email today from some needing help on how create Zodiac Glyphs. I explained in detail how he would go about doing it. As I read it, I thought maybe I should post this incase anyone else was curious.
The VFX editor looks like a monster when you first open it up. lol I know that feeling all to well. But the more you play with it, the better you'll understand it.
This is how I would make the glyph.
Upon opening the VFX Editor, you'll want to make a Billboard type of vfx.
So go to File, New, and select Billboard.
Once you do that, a tab will open up, showing you a gray environment, with a small box in the center that says 2D Missing Texture.
Now on the right side of the screen you should have a "properties" type of window. With all the possible features that you can adjust. You'll notice they're categorized by Appearance, Behavior, Blend, and Misc. ... Don't worry about the features under Misc. Very rarely, you'll ever use those options.
Now look up at the Appearance category.
FrameBufferEffect - This feature warps whatever texture you've got set in "Texture."
FrameBufferPixel - This feature allows you to adjust how much you want to warp that texture.
Texture - This is where you put the name of your texture. For now, just put fx_magic_circle .
TextureAnimation - If the texture is, or can be animated this adjusts the speed of the animation.
TextureType - If your texture is animated, use 3D. If it is not animated stay with 2D.
Move down to the Blend category.
You'll have two features here, DestinationBlend, and SourceBlend. What these do, is they allow you to change the appearance of the texture. Like if you wanted the background of the texture to be transparent. Of if you want the texture glow, or remain solid.
Fiddle with all the options there, and test them out for yourself. For most of my effects I commonly use the following.
DestinationBlend - Constant Blend Factor
SourceBlend - One.
Using that combination. Gives the texture a glow effect. As if the circle was made of light.
Now move to the Behavior category. You'll have several options to adjust here.
AngularVelocity - allows you to spin the texture. The higher the number, the faster it will spin.
BeginSize - Exactly what it says, its the starting size of the texture.
BillboardOrientationVector - This fixates the texture into any direction you want. When you click on the feild for this option it opens a new window. It looks weird at first, but what it does is allow you to change the direction the texture is facing. Play around with the arrow with your mouse, while looking at the texture. You'll see what I mean.
Remember, in order to use BillboardOrientationVector correctly. You'll need to have selected, OrientationType: User-defined selected.
EndSize This is the end size of the texture.
Lerp - This allows the texture to change colors repeatedly. Those colors can be found in the Color category.
LerpPeriod - This feature allows you to speed up, or slow down the rate at which the colors change. And it also factors in the begin and end size options. So if Lerp is set to True, and you set the period to 1. You'll see the circle change from blue to yellow, and the size alter. The higher the number, the slower the lerp. The closer you get to 0, the faster it will lerp.
OrientationExplicitMode - This feature I never used, my advice is to leave it alone.
OrientationType - This determines how the camera looks at the texture. If you have it set to "Camera Oriented" The texture will face the camera forever. No matter what angle. If you set it to "User-defined explicit" that will lock the texture in place, allowing you to look behind it, or at the side, without it turning to face you. Now the last option here is "Vertically Oriented". It combines the first two. It fixes the texture to face you forever, however if you tilt the camera to look at it from the top to bottom, you'll be able to look behind it as if it were a signpost or billboard. (Alot of people use that option for portals.)
OrientPerpendicular Now this feature only works if you have set the OrientationType to "User-Defined". What it does is it reverses the texture and the angle that it can be seen.
Now that I explained all the features. Lets make an example for your glyph.
FrameBufferEffect: False.
FrameBufferPixel: 0.1
Texture: fx_magic_circle.tga
TextureAnimation: 1
TextureType: 2D Texture.
AngularVelocity: 0
BeginSize: 1, 1
BillboardOrientationVector: X:0 Y:1 Z:0
EndSize: 1, 1
Lerp: True
LerpPeriod: 1
OrientationExplicitMode: None.
OrientationType: User-defined explicit orientation.
OrientPerpendicular: False.
DestinationBlend: Constant Blend Factor.
SourceBlend: One.
EndColor: Blue (or 0,57,214)
StartColor: White (or 255,255,255)
-I forgot to mention When using Constant Blend Factor, and One,... If you choose the color "Black" for EndColor or StartColor... It doesn't change it to black, it makes the entire texture transparent. Each setting has different visual effects for colors. My best advice is to test them all out for your self.
Now Save that file, name it circle_test01. Remember to save it someplace you can easily locate again. Desktop is fine. Now I use nwn2packer to import files, but if you have something else that's fine too. What you need to do is import that file into your module. Now once you do that, go to the visual effects editor again.
Now for the real easy part.
Go to File, New, and select Special Effect (SEF).
That will open up an environment with 2 NPCs standing face to face.
You'll see alot of options in this window. The only things you have to worry about is the buttons. Add Event, Remove Event, Play, and Stop.
Click on Add Event, and select Billboard.
It may appear as though nothing happened. However, if you look at the box below you'll see 2 lines. The first line has something like this ... [-]
This line has no real use. What I do is, just put a name of the VFX there. Usually like a one word description.. like "smoke vfx".. or in this case. "Glyph"
Now look down to the second line. This in an event. There are several different event types.. Like Particle System, Light, Sound, .. which you can access by the "Add Event" button. (Which you seen already)
Now for this event, you'll have...
Delay - Usually always keep at 0. That way once you place the VFX, it will play immediately.
MaximumDuration - This is the duration of the vfx. If you leave it at 0, it will play the vfx forever. If you add a number here, for instance. 1 ... It will play for 1 second.
Name - Here you can put a name for this event. It doesn't do anything, besides help you remember what event type this is. In this case, I would put "Glyph - Billboard"
FirstAttachment - This feature allows you to stick the vfx to an object. For instance on the hands of a creature, or on the shield of the creature's shield, or on 1 of the 4 item hooks. (Each weapon in NWN2 has 4 spots you an hook a vfx too) Since this is a glyph, it doesn't need to be attached to anything. So leave it as "ATTACH_INVALID" That way when you play the vfx, you can position it yourself when your building an area.
FirstAttachmentObject - This determines what object your going to attach it too. The Source, or Target. (This is really used for Spell graphics. So you really dont need worry about this part.)
Position -This feature allows you to place the vfx specifically at a spot. Like before you really dont need to worry about this option. Its really only useful if you have lots of events going on, and your putting a huge vfx together.
SecondAttachment - Same thing as FirstAttachment. (again really only useful if this was a spell graphic.)
SecondAttachmentObject Same thing as FirstattachmentObject. (again really only useful if this was a spell graphic.)
UseOrientedPosition - I never bothered with this option I always left it False.
DefinitionFile This is where you put in the name of the file we created before. "circle_test01"
EffectType - This will already be selected for you, so don't worry about it.
ParentPosition - This will already be selected for you, so don't worry about it.
Your done, now save this SEF file and be sure to save it with, or in the same folder as circle_test01.
Now like before, import both those files and your done. You should be able to now place those vfx files in your areas. I hope I walked you through this with little to no confusion. Its very tedious, and can be frustrating at times... But trust me all the hard work pays off in the end.
If you have a question, feel free to contact me. =)
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