Before You Begin

1.  Make sure your draw distance is set so that you can see to the distance you want to use the lock function. For example, if you want to be able to see your shop from your workspace, you must make sure your draw distance is to at least the distance between them. Set your draw distance in your graphics preferences. In the Second Life viewer Edit menu, select Preferences, and in the preferences panel select the Graphics tab. You may have to check the "Custom" box to see the Draw Distance slider.

2.  Disable camera constraints. This will allow you to move the camera a greater distance. If the Advanced menu isn't showing in your Second Life menu bar (to the right of the Help menu), hit Control-Alt-D on your keyboard. On the Advanced menu, make sure Disable Camera Constraints is checked.

Un-packing

If you obtained the Vengeance Camera Lock in un-packaged form it will be in a folder named Camera Lock, with the instruction notecard and a landmark for the Vengeance Studio Gadget Store. The gadget store delivers the device in un-packaged form, so you don't have to un-pack it. XStreetSL and OnRez deliver the packaged version, and you must un-pack it.

If you wear the package it appears as a box labeled Camera Lock, attached to your hand. It will not function this way, and isn't very attractive. You must instead rez the package in-world by dragging it from your inventory to the ground, and then touch the package to open it. You'll then be given the option to copy the contents to your inventory. Once you've done so you can delete the package that is rezzed in-world by right-clicking it and selecting "More" and then "Delete" from the pie menu. You'll still have a copy in your inventory.

Note that you can not un-pack the Camera Lock, or any other package you buy, in a location where you do not have permission to rez items. You'll receive a pop-up dialog that says you can not create objects there. You must do this in a location where you are allowed to create objects. If you can think of no other place to try, go to a public sandbox. There is one near the Ahern welcome center.

Wearing the Camera Lock

The Camera Lock is intended to be worn, either on your avatar or on your Heads Up Display (HUD). It has no visible controls, so there's little point wearing it on your HUD. When worn, it makes itself very small and invisible. Its default attachment location is your right hand, but you can wear it anywhere. It won't function rezzed on the ground.

Using the Camera Lock

You issue commands to the Camera Lock through chat commands. By default it accepts commands in open chat (channel zero), so you communicate with it by typing commands into the chat window, as you would speak to another avatar. You can change the communication channel, though, and we'll see how to do that in a moment.

Let's run through an example usage session.

Suppose you are in your workspace with your avatar on a pose stand, modeling your latest product against a photo backdrop. You'd like to photograph this product and others, today and in the future, from the same perspective every time. First, move your camera to compose the shot, and then type a command to name and store that camera position. Suppose you've just composed a shot of your avatar's face:

• store  face

This stores the current camera position and names it 'face'. Now compose an upper-body shot and name it 'upper body', and a full-body shot and name it 'full body', and a shot of your feet and name it 'feet'.

To reproduce the face shot, type this into the chat window:

• lock  face

If the camera doesn't move to the face, hit the Esc key a couple times. The camera moves to where it was when you stored this position. In fact, it's now "stuck" there. It's locked in place so you can work with the Second Life interface without accidentally losing your composition. You can chat in IM, upload textures and change graphics options, and if you hit the Esc button, accidentally or not, your camera stays in place.

Take your photo, and then to release the camera, type this:

• rel

You don't have to release your camera before you move on to your upper body and other photos, but you'll want to remember how to release the camera when you are done shooting.

You can continue your photo shoot by typing 'lock upper body' (remember to hit the Esc key if the camera doesn't move). Shoot the upper body, and then type 'lock full body', etc. When you are done shooting this product, wear the next product and start another shoot by typing 'lock face'. Your next product will be shot exactly as the first one was.

Note that the Camera Lock focuses on set locations, not objects or avatars. You positioned the camera within your studio, but the Camera Lock doesn't know what you were looking at. So, if you move your pose stand and then try to use the same camera position, you will not get the same composition you did the last time.

Now we'll use the camera to monitor different locations, and as an easy teleporter. If you haven't already, unlock your camera by typing 'rel'. Now position it somewhere else. Like, say, your nosey neighbor who built his sky platform right next to your studio. You can position your camera on his platform and type

• store  neighbor

Now when you want to see what he's up to you can type

• lock  neighbor

You might also store locations for your shop, so you can see who's there when you notice green dots on your minimap, and your home, so you can investigate those green dots when they wander where they shouldn't be. Note that you can only see locations that are within your draw distance. The camera will move quite a long ways, but if the destination is out of your visual range you won't see much. So, monitoring remote locations only works if those locations aren't so remote.

Now suppose that neighbor is a friend on whom you can drop any time for a visit. You can visit just as easily as you can look:

• map  neighbor

This opens your map with the location placed on your named camera position. To teleport there, just hit the Teleport button. Use this feature to easily get to your home, workspace or store, too, even if those locations aren't within visual range, or even if they aren't in the same sim or on the same continent! Note, however, that the teleport does not work if the destination is at an altitude of more than 1000m.

Now suppose you're out shopping and you've used your camera to look around without moving your avatar, and now you want to go to another store you've found. Leaving your camera focused on the location you want to be, just type

• map

to open the map centered on your camera location, and hit the Teleport button. Boom, you're there!

Don't remember what you've named your camera positions? Get a list by typing

• list

Did the neighbor move his platform? Compose a new shot and just replace the old one:

• store  neighbor

No longer want to spy on monitor your neighbor?

• clear  neighbor

That removes the named camera position. Want to remove them all and start over?

• clear  all

Don't remember a command? Try to remember this one:

• help

That displays a command summary and a couple tips.

Command Summary

Type 'help' into chat to see the command summary:

• store - stores camera position
• store fred - stores position with the name 'fred'
• lock - locks camera to stored position
• lock fred - locks camera to position named 'fred'
• rel - releases camera lock
• list - lists all stored camera positions
• clear fred - removes position named 'fred' from memory
• clear all - removes all stored camera positions
• map - open map at current camera position
• map fred - open map at stored camera position named 'fred'
• verb - verbose mode - all status messages will be displayed
• silent - fewer status messages will be displayed
• chan 4 - change command channel to 4 (any positive channel #)
• doc - display web page for Vengeance Studio's Camera Lock
• ver - check for updates
• help - display command summary and notes
•  
• 1. When you lock the camera it may not move until you hit the Esc key a couple times to release your current Alt-Zoom position.
•  
• 2. Type 'rel' to release lock.
•  
• 3. To view locations that are distant, your draw distance must be set high enough to see that far, and you must disable camera constraints on the Advanced menu. Please see the instructions notecard or the Camera Lock website.
•  
• 4. The teleport function will not work if the destination is at an altitude greater than 1000m. The Lock function works at any altitude.
•  
• 5. Current command channel is 0 (open chat - everyone can hear your commands).

Most of the commands are fully described by the summary, but here are a few additional notes.

If you store a camera position without naming it (by omitting the name parameter) you'll be using the one default location. You'll over-write it each time you do this because there is only one. So, you can store the current camera location like this:

• store

and restore it like this:

• lock

Use names if you want to store more than one camera position.

The Camera Lock is pretty chatty and will give you feedback on most everything you do with it. If you'd rather it tell you only the important stuff, use silent mode:

• silent

Return to verbose mode by typing 'verb'.

Note that if the camera does not move when you use a lock command, either you've named a position you haven't stored (the Camera Lock will complain, even in Silent mode) or you've moved the camera out of its normal position using Alt-Zoom. If that's the case, hitting the Esc key once or twice will get it to move. Just remember that if the camera doesn't move when you expect it to, hit the Esc key. And always remember that typing 'rel' releases a camera lock.

If you haven't changed the command channel, you communicate with the Camera Lock by typing commands into open chat (channel zero). Other nearby people can hear your commands, but they can not hear anything the Camera Lock says in response. Only you see that text. If you'd rather they not hear your commands, you can change the command channel. To change it to channel  12, type this:

• chan 12

To communicate on channel 12, prepend any commands you type with '/12' (forward-slash twelve). For example, to store a location named 'home' using command channel 12, type this:

• /12  store  home

The Camera Lock will still respond to a 'help' command in open chat (as well as the new channel), just in case you forget the channel you set. The command summary you get when you type 'help' shows the command channel number.

The product web page contains the latest information, and you can access it using the 'doc' command. Check for new versions using the 'ver' command.

If you get no response at all, even from a 'help' command, make sure you're wearing the Camera Lock.