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Rotating Beacon v1.0 Instructions

Installation Instructions​

Dependencies​

This gimmick depends on the following packages. Make sure you have installed them before you install this gimmick.

Importing Unity Package​

Drag Rotating Beacon.unitypackage into Project window, click the Import button on the dialog to import the package to your avatar project:

Import

Adding Rotating Beacon to Your Avatar​

1. Add the Prefab to Scene​

There are different type of prefabs for several usages, please pick the prefab you want as below:

  • Rotating Beacon(Head Only) - The beacon will always stay on top of avatar's head
  • Rotating Beacon(Full) - The beacon can be grabbed on right hand, and can be put onto the top of avatar's head from right hand
  • Rotating Beacon(Full)(Left_Handed) - The beacon can be grapped on and can be put onto the head from left hand

Specifically, the Full prefab uses a bit more synced parameter than Head Only prefab (3 bits -> 4 bits), and it uses Contact Sender, Contact Receiver and also VRC Parent Constraint. Head Only prefab is recommended for PC players and players care about performance.

Attention

Please choose Full prefab according to proper hand. Prefabs handle specific hand gestures, if you added a prefab for one hand, and put the beacon onto the other hand, there would be grabbing issues.

Drag and drop the prefab you've selected from project window into your avatar inside hierarchy (We use Rotating Beacon(Full) as an example):

Prefab_In_Avatar

2. Setup the Rotating Beacon​

1. Setup for Head Only Prefab​

After dragging the prefab, we can see a beacon in the scene, which is 1.5 meters from the ground:

Beacon_Head_Only_Default_Position

1. Adjust the Position for the Beacon​

Select Prefab/Model[1] in hierarchy, use Move Tool, Rotate Tool and Scale Tool[2] to adjust the beacon's position and it's size:

Beacon_Head_Only_Adjust_Position

Move the beacon on top of avatar's head:

Beacon_Head_Only_Adjust_Position_Finished

After doing this, you can check out Extra Setup.

2. Setup for Full Prefab​

In this Section, we use Rotating Beacon(Full) as an example, which is for right hand.

After adding the prefab, There will be a beacon 1.5 meters from the ground, and a Contact Sender shown as yellow sphere near the corresponding hand:

Beacon_Full_Default_Position

1. Adjust Beacon's Position On Avatar's Head​

Select Prefab/Constraint Parents/Head[1] in hierarchy, use Move Tool, Rotate Tool and Scale Tool[2] to adjust the beacon's position and it's size:

Beacon_Full_Adjust_Position_Head

Move the beacon on top of avatar's head:

Beacon_Full_Adjust_Position_Head_Finished

2. Adjust Beacon's Position On Avatar's Hand​

As we are able to switch the beacon between avatar's head and hand with Full Prefab, we need to adjust it's position on corresponding hand.

Select Prefab/Model[1], go to Inspector and find component VRC Parent Constraint[2]. Inside the component, there's a source list, change the Weight of Element 0 [Head] to 0[3], then change the Weight of Element 1 [Hand] into 1[4]:

Beacon_Full_Set_Constraint_Hand

As we can see, the beacon moves to near the corresponding hand:

Beacon_Full_Set_Constraint_Hand_Scene

Select Prefab/Constraint Parents/Hand, move it to avatar's hand. The reference for the position:

Beacon_Full_Adjust_Position_Hand_Finished

3. Adjust Hand's Contact Sender and Head's Contact Receiver​

Sender on hand and receiver on head are used to consider where the beacon should be when it moves between hand and head. We need to adjust them according to the positions and scales of avatar's corresponding hand and head, generally, making them larger than hand and head ensures the condition passes with less strictness (If they are too small, the Sender might not be able to contact the Receiver due to controller positioning issues while using with VR headset).

Select Prefab/Constraint Parents/Hand/Contact Sender, use Move Tool and Scale Tool (Or set Position and Radius in Contact Sender component) to adjust the postition and the size of the Sender. Example:

Adjust_Contact_Sender_Example

Select Prefab/Constraint Parents/Head/Contact Receiver, use Move Tool and Scale Tool (Or set Position and Radius in Contact Receiver component) to adjust the postition and the size of the Receiver. Example:

Adjust_Contact_Receiver_Example

3. Extra Setup​
1. Change the Submenu Position in Action Menu​

By default, the submenu for rotating beacon is at the root of Action Menu, which is not friendly to avatars having lots of gimmicks. We can change the position by setting up MA Menu Installer component:

  • Select Prefab/Menu/Rotating Beacon
  • Go to Inspector, click on Select Menu button in MA Menu Installer component
  • Select the menu you want to place into
2. Hide the Beacon in VRChat Avatar Preview​

The avatar preview in VRChat shows the final state of the avatar in Unity. Which means, if the beacon has not been disabled in Unity, it would also be shown in VRChat avatar preview. We can hide the beacon in Unity and VRChat avatar preview by doing these:

  • Select Prefab/Model
  • Uncheck the checkbox at the top of Inspector (Disable the beacon)
3. Adjust the Sound Clip and Volume When the Beacon is On​

Find Prefab/Model/Bulb/Audio in Hierarchy, then find the Audio Source component in Inspector. If you need to replace the sound clip, drag the imported new sound clip into the AudioClip field; If you need to adjust the volume, just adjust the Volume in the component.

Installation Instructions end

How to Use​

You've finished the installation, let's talk about how to use it in VRChat.

Show/Hide the Rotating Beacon​

Open the Action Menu, find and enter the Rotating Beacon submenu, the Rotating Beacon toggle in the submenu is for showing/hiding the rotating beacon.

Move the Beacon between Head and Hand (For Full Prefab Only)​

After showing the rotating beacon, the beacon can be on top of head or on hand:

  • When the beacon is on your hand, make sure the hand is not open and move it above your head (Specifically into the head Contact Receiver), then open the hand, the beacon would be on top of your head.
  • When the beacon is on top of your head, make sure the corresponding hand is not in fist and move it above your head (Specifically into the head Contact Receiver), then make the hand into fist, the beacon would be on the corresponding hand.

In addition to the above, you can also use the On Head switch in the Rotating Beacon submenu to toggle the position of the rotating beacon.

Turn on/off the Rotating Beacon​

The Activate toggle in the submenu is for turning on/off the beacon, and the Siren toggle is for turning on/off the siren sound while the beacon is on.

How to Use end