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Spark AR is Facebook’s free AR creation platform that enables users to create interactive AR experiences for Facebook and Instagram. More than 400,000 creators in 190 countries have used Spark AR to create their own AR creations
Since the software requires no coding knowledge to use, anyone can now lead the world by creating the next crazy viral Instagram AR effects with little experience in the AR world.
Specialized AR filter designers can cost anywhere from $1,000 to $30,000.
preface
Patch in Spark AR Studio lets you add interaction, animation, and logic to your effects. You can also use them to create textures.
Patches act as visual building blocks, with each patch performing a different function. They are linked together to form what is called a Graph, and the patches pass and receive information to each other to make an effect.
Many of the functions available in scripts can be added to your effects as patches, so you can add complexity without knowing how to code.
Once you know the basics, it’s worth looking at the different ways we use patches to build the full effect in these tutorials.
Spark AR refers to the visual script nodes as patches, which are somewhat similar to UE’s blueprint nodes
Open the Visual Patch editor
Open the patch Editor:
- Select View from the menu bar.
- Select Show/Hide Patch Editor.
The patch editor opens at the bottom of the Spark AR Studio interface.
The patch type
Most scene objects and assets can be represented as patches. You can also create patches in the inspector to represent the properties of objects and assets.
Right click in the patch editor will open a menu, the menu has a series of “intermediate” Intermediary patches.
These patches can be used to add a variety of additional complexity to a project, including logic, animation, and interactivity.
Scene object (Producer patch)
Patches representing scene objects generate signals that can be passed to other patches. Therefore, they are called producer patches.
Create a producer patch by dragging objects from the scene panel into the patch editor.
Add a face tracker to your scene and drag it into the patch editor.
For example, the facial tracker patch generates signals based on the position and movement of the face.
Inspector properties (Consumer patch)
The last patch in the diagram will represent the properties of the object in the scene that you want the diagram to affect.
These patches are called consumer patches because they consume signals generated by other patches in the chart, changing properties.
To create this type of patch, select the object in the Scene panel and click the arrow next to the property in the inspector.
Yellow patches will be created
Assets patch
To create patches representing assets, such as textures and audio files, in the Assets panel, drag and drop the asset into the Patch editor.
You can add multiple asset patch instances to a project.
The middle patch
Create an intermediate patch using the menu in the patch Editor. To add a patch from this menu, right-click in the patch editor, find the patch you want and select Insert. If possible, the patch will appear in a location that does not overlap any other patches.
| The name of the | describe |
|---|---|
| Animation | Add animation to effects, including addAnimation programTo 3D objects with bones and joints. |
| Audio | Add effects such as distortion and pitch changes to the audio source and control how the audio plays in your effects. |
| Face Landmarks | Accurately position parts of your face, such as your eyes and nose. |
| Interaction | Detect the gestures of the person using your effect and make something happen as a result. |
| Logic | Define the conditions required for certain effects to occur, such as triggering animation playback when the user interacts with the device in a certain way. Operation on the input patch. |
| Math | Performs mathematical operations on the input patch. |
| Shaders – visual shaders | Change the appearance of the material. |
| Shaders – signed distance fields (SDFs) | Create program textures, such as shapes and patterns. |
| Time | Tracks the number of seconds an effect runs. |
| User Interface | Add UI functions to effects. |
| Utility | A wide range of patches, from face trackers to random number generators. |