In this tutorial we'll look at the different ways to preview and test projects in Spark AR Studio and the Spark AR Player apps. When you're done testing, follow the link in the extra credit section to get your effect published!
For this tutorial, you’ll need:
If you’re using a Windows machine and plan to test your effect on an iOS device, you’ll also need to install iTunes on your computer.
First open a saved project. You can use our Example Project if you like. Just download it and open the Wings Template. You can easily change how the wings look by editing the settings in the template. It's a nice idea to do this if you plan to publish a unique wings effect at the end of this tutorial!
With your project open, the Spark AR Simulator will help you visualize how your effect will look on a user’s device.
Click the hamburger menu at the bottom of the Simulator to change the device it represents. The Simulator is particularly useful for previewing your effects across different aspect ratios and device orientations.
You can switch between the front and back camera and rotate your device horizontally to simulate the preview in portrait mode, similar to most phones, and landscape view, similar to an iPad screen.
Real-time simulation let’s you change the default Simulator video, so you can use a different camera feed to visualize your effect. You can choose the live camera feed or another default video recording. You can also upload your own test videos using the real-time simulator, which is useful when building a full-body effect.
It's a good idea to keep your own test videos short. Spark AR Studio accepts videos in .webm format.
To select a different Simulator video:
You can pause the video at any time by clicking the pause button in the toolbar.
If your effect is configured for a sharing experience you can send it to the Facebook or Instagram camera to see what it looks like. To do this:
You'll get a notification in Facebook or Instagram, inviting you to try the effect in the camera.
If you're testing an effect configured for a video calling experience, you'll see options to try your effect on the Instagram or Messenger app. To do this:
The effect will auto-apply to all users in your video call.
Note that to preview your effect in Instagram, first, you need to link your Instagram account with the Facebook account you used to log in to Spark AR Studio. If this is your first time previewing in the app, make sure to link your Instagram account to the Facebook account first.
You can also use the Spark AR Player app to mirror your effect and test performance. When you're ready to mirror your effect:
Next:
You will now see the effect playing on the device. It's a good idea to test an effect on as many types of device as you can using Spark AR Player before uploading it to Spark Hub.
Learn more about using Spark AR Player, including troubleshooting tips, in this article.
Finally, you can also use the Spark AR Desktop Player app to preview your effect on your desktop and other external screens. When you're ready to try out your effect:
You will now see the effect playing:
Spark AR Player for Desktop is also very useful for previewing group effects designed to run on video call. You’ll only see this mirroring option from the toolbar when you're using a template or effect that’s already configured for a video calling experience.
Learn more about using Spark AR Desktop Player to preview group effects.
Once you’ve finished previewing and testing your effect, it’s time to upload it to Spark AR Hub and get it published. Learn how to publish your effect.