Spark AR Studio Frequently Asked Questions

To sign in to Spark AR Studio:

1. Open Spark AR Studio.
2. Enter the email address or phone number associated with your Facebook account.
3. Enter the password for your Facebook account and click Sign In.

To log out:

1. Click File.
2. Select Log Out.

You can only use Spark AR Studio after signing into your Facebook account. Using your Facebook account makes it easier to:

• Submit your finished effect for people to see and share
• Receive notifications relating to the approval process

Delete

To delete something, right-click on it and select Delete from the menu.

Rename

To rename something:

1. Long-press on it and release
2. Enter the new name
3. Press the Return key on your keyboard

Resize

To resize something:

1. Select it in the Navigator
2. Go to the Properties section in the Inspector
3. Edit the Size property

You can also adjust objects in the Viewport directly by toggling between the Manipulator buttons in the Toolbar and moving the axis.

Yes. You can change an object's properties so that, for example, it appears while the user is capturing the effect but does not appear in the final video or photo. To do this:

1. Select the object in the Scene tab.
2. Go to the Inspector panel.
3. If you want the object to be visible while the user is capturing the effect, check the box next to Preview.
4. If you want the object to be visible in the final video or photo, check the box next to Capture.

Both boxes can be checked at the same time.

To make an object track your face, you have to make it the child of a Face Tracker.

To do this:

1. Click Insert
2. Select Face Tracker and then click Insert
3. Go to the Scene tab and drag the object file onto the face tracker

Note: To insert objects as children of other objects directly, you can also right-click on the parent in the Scene tab, select Insert and then select the object you want to insert from the menu.

You can add more than one face tracker to a scene, but you can’t add more than one to a face. You would add more than one face tracker if you wanted to track multiple faces within a scene.

The Viewport enables to you position, scale and rotate your objects in a 3D space, but it isn't an accurate preview of the output. That's why we have the Simulator Window.

The Simulator Window is a separate view for previewing the output of any changes you make in the Viewport and is an accurate representation of what the effect will look like on your device.

The Viewport and the Simulator Window are designed to be used in sync, but if you want to hide either one, you can.

Docking the Simulator Window will maximize it and hide the Viewport. To dock the Simulator Window, click on it to show the buttons and click the third one from the left.

To hide the Simulator window, go to View in the navigation bar and click Hide Simulator.

If you have more than one camera input available (a camera on a laptop and one on a connected monitor, for example) you can choose which one Spark AR Studio uses. To do this, long-press on Video in the Toolbar and select the camera you want to use from the menu.

To test the effects you build in Spark AR Studio on the Spark AR Player app, you'll need:

• An iOS or Android device
• A USB cable
• A computer with AR Studio installed
• A saved project

To test your effect:

1. Connect your device to your computer
2. Open the app on your device
3. Open your project in AR Studio
4. Click Mirror in the Toolbar

The Spark AR Player app stores a version of your effect whenever you click Mirror in the Spark AR Studio Toolbar. This means you can view effects that you've mirrored on your device previously, without being connected to your computer or the Internet.

Yes, if you're offline, you can still view effects that you mirrored with the Spark AR Player app previously.

To toggle between versions of your effect:

1. Tap the menu in the top left
2. Select the effect
3. Select the version and tap Done

The Mirror button in Spark AR Studio is grayed out unless a mobile device is connected to your computer via a USB cable.

If you're having trouble previewing your effect with the Spark AR Player app, make sure:

1. You have the latest versions of both Spark AR Studio and the app. If the tool and the app versions are incompatible, you won't be able to mirror your effect.
2. Your device is connected to your computer via USB cable correctly.
3. You've clicked Mirror in the Toolbar.

You can submit and publish effects to both Facebook and Instagram. Messenger is currently in closed beta - available to select partners only.

ShareDialog supports an API canShow(ShareContent shareContent) that returns a boolean value which can be used to verify if the camera share is supported by the current version of Facebook app.

FBSDKShareDialog supports the API canShow:shareContent that returns a boolean value which can be used to verify if the camera share is supported by the either the current version of Facebook app.

We recently released a hot fix (v73.1) to address the scripting issue where projects with scripts would emit a JavaScript error, prompting to run yarn upgrade.

To stop this from happening, update Spark AR Studio to v73.1.

We recommend always using the latest version of Spark AR Studio. If you still need to use a version earlier than v73.1 you can manually patch your version by following these instructions:

On Mac OS:

Change directory into js_build folder inside Skylight.app.

cd "/Applications/Spark AR Studio.app/Contents/Resources/js_build"

Then run this command

../../MacOS/node-darwin-x64 node_modules/yarn/bin/yarn.js upgrade

On Windows

Make sure you are running with Administrator Privilege.

Press Start then type cmd. You should see Command Prompt. Right click on Command Prompt then Run as Administrator

Then change directory into js_build folder inside Skylight (make sure to replace the version number with the one you have installed).

cd "C:\Program Files\Spark AR Studio\v72\Resources\js_build\"

Then run this command:

..\node-win-x64.exe .\node_modules\yarn\bin\yarn.js upgrade

To report a bug in Spark AR Studio:

1. Open Spark AR Studio.
2. Click Help in the Menu bar.
3. Select Report.

Or, click the bug button in the Menu bar.

When you're reporting the bug, make sure:

1. The title is clear and explains what has happened. For example: 'Mirroring: Can't mirror from iOS device'.
2. You've clearly explained the error and explained how to reproduce it.
3. You've included screenshots, if possible.
4. You've attached a file, if relevant.

To report a bug in Spark Hub:

1. Open Spark Hub.
2. Click the gear icon in the Menu bar.
3. Select Report a Problem.

When you're reporting a bug, make sure:

1. The title is clear and explains what has happened. For example, 'Test link: Effect not loading on iPhone 6'.
2. You've include the Effect ID.
3. You've mentioned whether your effect is in draft, review or live.
4. If it's an issue with loading the effect on a device, you've specified the device type, User ID and the approximate date and time that you encountered the problem.

If your problem is with either the test link or share link, please specify which.

If you're using an iOS device

You can easily report bugs straight from your device through 'Rage Shaking'. Once you've enabled 'Rage Shaking', all you need to do is shake your phone to report a bug.

To enable Rage Shaking, follow the instructions on this page.

Once you've enabled Rage Shaking, just shake your phone every time an effect doesn't work.

For non-iOS devices

1. Open Spark Hub.
2. Click the gear icon in the Menu bar.
3. Select Report a Problem.

The more detail you include in your report, the easier it will be for us to fix the problem. Try to include:

1. Your username.
2. Steps to reproduce the problem.
3. The app name and version.
4. The platform, for example iOS, Android or both.
5. The Effect ID.
6. The date and time of the failure.
7. Which devices you're experiencing issues on.
8. Screenshots and recordings, if you have them.

If you're using an iOS device

1. Open Spark Hub.
2. Click the gear icon in the Menu bar.
3. Select Report a Problem.

The more detail you include in your report, the easier it will be for us to fix the problem. Try to include:

1. Your username.
2. Steps to reproduce the problem.
3. The app name and version.
4. The platform, for example iOS, Android or both.
5. The Effect ID.
6. The date and time of the failure.
7. Which devices you're experiencing issues on.
8. Screenshots and recordings, if you have them.

For non-iOS devices

You can easily report bugs straight from your device by 'Rage Shaking'. Once you've enabled 'Rage Shaking', all you need to do is shake your phone to report a bug.

To enable Rage Shaking:

1. Open Instagram.
2. Go to Settings.
3. Tap Report an Issue.

Instagram will ask if you want to enable Rage Shake. Once you've enabled it, just shake your phone every time an effect doesn't work.

This is a known issue for creators using a Logitech WebCam Drivers which contain problematic DLLs. To fix this:

1. Go to the folder C:\Windows\System32.
2. Either rename the file lvcod64.dll so the new file name is backup_lvcod64.dll, or delete the file.

Your webcam will still work in other applications.

Only the default camera is supported. If you want to use a different camera, set it as the default camera in your system settings.

If you have more than one project open at the same time, the camera will only work in one of the projects. Switch to another video source instead.

If you change video source when the playback is paused, you won't see the first frame of the newly selected video source. Instead, you'll see the last frame of the video source that was playing when you clicked pause.

When you press Play, the newly selected video will start playing.

On some hardware, bundled videos flicker at the end of the loop.

When Spark AR Studio moves from an external display window, e.g. an external monitor, to an internal display, the video will continue to the final frame and then stop. Selecting the camera as an alternative video source will cause the video to be displayed upside down.

To stop this from happening, move the Spark AR Studio window to the internal display before you disconnect the external display.

Objects will be imported in real world scale, so they might appear very large or very small, depending on the units used to make them. Change their scale using the manipulators in the toolbar, or by adjusting their values in the Inspector panel.

If you've moved or deleted files from the project directory, they'll be missing from your project. Replace the assets in the project folder.

To mirror your effect, you'll need to:

1. Install Spark AR Player on your device.
2. Connect your device to your computer, using a USB Cable.
3. Open an effect, and click Mirror in Spark AR Studio.

If you've followed these steps and you're mirroring an effect to an iOS device, you might still see a message that says 'No Mobile Devices Found'. This could be because you haven't installed iTunes onto your computer. Download and install iTunes", and try again.

If you're seeing error messages when attempting to start Spark AR Studio - for example 'MSVCP140.dll', 'CONCRT140.dll' or 'VCRUNTIME140.dll not found', install the Microsoft Visual C++ 2015 Redistributable Update 3.