How To Locate Particle Sources

From Second Life Wiki
Revision as of 13:53, 4 August 2011 by Rand Linden (talk | contribs) (Text replace - '[Category:Content Creation]]' to 'Category:Content creation')
Jump to navigation Jump to search

Help! I want to know where these particles are coming from!

Particles originate from a source object. Finding the source object is the best way to edit and remove particles from an area. To find the source object of a particle, begin by making some changes in the World menu found at the top taskbar:

By selecting World > Show > Beacons and clicking on Particle Sources, the source of particle effects will be beaconed with blue axes. Blue lines along XYZ axes will center on all objects within view that emit particles.

I can't see anything with all these particles flying around!

First, if you don't see the Advanced menu at the top menu bar, enable it by pressing Ctrl-Alt-D on your keyboard (it appears to the right of the Help menu). Then select Advanced > Highlighting and Visibility > Hide Particles or press Ctrl-Alt-Shift-=, which will remove the images of the particles from your viewer. Note this removes their presence on your viewer, but others will still see the particles.

I see the beacons, but can't see a source of the particles!

First, if you don't see the Advanced menu at the top menu bar, enable it by pressing Ctrl-Alt-D on your keyboard (it appears to the right of the Help menu). Then select Advanced > Highlighting and Visibility > Highlight Transparent or press Ctrl-Alt-T. This makes invisible objects visible and highlighted red. Many particle sources are invisible, but can be seen with this tool.

What if the particle source is underground?

Objects stuck underground can be seen by visually removing the ground! First, if you don't see the Advanced menu at the top menu bar, enable it by pressing Ctrl-Alt-D on your keyboard (it appears to the right of the Help menu). Then unselect Advanced > Rendering Types > Surface Patch. (Alternatively, you may press Ctrl-Alt-Shift-5).

Some extra tips for finding objects underground:

It sometimes helps to press Advanced > Disable Camera Constraints. This allows you to move the camera beyond normal parameters. Disabling Advanced > Limit Select Distance will allow you to select objects normally outside your reach. These two are helpful if there is a particle source that is several meters below the ground.

I found it!

Once you isolate the particle source, right click on the source object and choose Edit from the menu to begin editing, if you have permission to do so. If it is not within your permissions to edit, you can still inspect information about the object. In the General tab, click on the name of the Owner and then click on the Profile button, and use the IM button from their profile to request the particle source be removed or edited. If it seems necessary, use Help > Report Abuse at the top menu bar. This solution may be necessary if the resident is using the particle emitter as harassment and fails to remove the particle source in a timely manner. If an escalation is required after these steps have been followed, contact Second Life Support for further assistance.