Instructions
Contents
Basics
Moving Groups of Marchers
Pacing
Menu Commands
Magic Shortcuts
Follow the Leader
Design Suggestions
Technical Help
NOTE: Due to browser limitations, Mac users should use the Tilde "~" key in place of Ctrl.
Basics
Each show can have up to 32 sets. To publish a show, it must have at least 12 sets.
Click Menu > Save Show to save a show for later.
When you're ready to show it to the world, click Menu > Publish Show.
You can edit the show for up to 24 hours after it is published. Votes that are cast before the edit still count.
Moving Groups of Marchers
Ctrl-click marchers to add them to your selection.
Ctrl-click again to remove them from the selection.
Double-click the field to select all marchers.
Double-click a marcher to select all members of that section.
This includes their animation type (e.g. brass with horns up are separate from horns down.)
Ctrl-Double-click a section to add/remove a section from the current selection.
Tip: Instead of Ctrl-clicking a lot of marchers, you can just hold down Ctrl and the mouse button, then move the mouse over the marchers to select them.
Once you have selected the marchers you want, click one of them and drag the entire group.
To clear the current selection, click an empty area of the field.
Or click an empty area of the field and drag to create a selection box.
If you hold down Ctrl while doing this, your previously selected marchers will not be de-selected.
Pacing
The speed of each set depends on how far the marchers have to move. The farther the paths, the longer it will take.
You can slow down the current set slightly by changing the Slow meter in the lower right.
You can create a brief Halt by changing the Halt meter.
Menu Commands
Snap to Yardline. When this is ON, your marchers will align to the yardline "grid". If you are dragging a group, the form will stay intact. Only the marcher you are dragging (marked in yellow) will snap.
Reset Set. The current set will revert to the same form as the preceding set.
Delete Set. Remove an entire set from the show.
Insert Set. A copy of the current set will be inserted immediately after the current set.
Uniform Color. Change the color of the marcher uniforms. Keep clicking until you see the color you want.
Flag Color. Change the color of the flags. Keep clicking until you see the color you want.
Start new Show. Discard the current show and begin a new one.
Publish Show. Send the show to the judging queue. You will not be able to edit it again. You will be redirected to the show page, and it will be immediately added to your player profile.
Preview Show. See what the show will look like in the final 3D view.
Save Show. Save a working copy of the show. You can only work on one show at a time. When you return to the "Create Show" tab, the saved show will be immediately restored.
Shortcut Keys - Design
| Line | I | For more control, put the selected marchers in a rough line first. |
| Block | B | For more control, put the selected marchers in a rough block first. |
| Circle | O | For more control, put the selected marchers in a rough circle first. |
| Nudge | Arrows | Move selected marchers one pixel at a time. (not in Safari, sorry!) |
| Rotate | [ and ] | Hold down tilde "~" for finer control. |
| Scale | Hold down tilde "~" for finer control. | |
| Arc | ( and ) | Keep pressing the key to change the depth of the arc. For more control, put the selected marchers in a rough arc first. |
| Follow the Leader | F | See Below |
| Animation | A | Change the animation of the selected marchers. (e.g. horns up/down, drums playing/not playing, basses left/right) |
| Wind Select | W | Change the horn type of the selected marchers. |
| Split Select | % | Select every other marcher to split a line into two. First, use Ctrl-Drag-Select to select the marchers in the proper order, starting with the marcher you want to keep selected. Then press '%' to deselect every other marcher. |
Shortcut Keys - Editing
| Play/Stop Show | Space Bar | The same as pressing the Play or Stop button. |
| Undo | Ctrl-Z | Undo the previous action. Shift-Ctrl-Z to Redo the action. |
| Reset Marchers | Backspace | Move the selected marchers to the position of their previous set. |
| Recover Marchers | R | Bring back any marchers who have left the field. |
| Trade Sets | T | Have two marchers trade sets with each other. This will affect all of their sets until the end of the show, starting with the current set. This is helpful for removing "collisions", where marchers cross paths in between sets. |
| Toggle Pins | P | Turn the pins that mark the previous set ON/OFF. |
| Y | Change yardline snap grid to 4:1 (4 per yardline), 5:1 (5 per yardline), or OFF. | |
| Quick Save | Ctrl-S | Save the current show. |
Follow the Leader
First, select the marcher that will be the Leader.
Next, use Ctrl-Click to select each follower, starting with the one nearest the Leader.
Finally, press "F" once. All of the marchers will move one spot forward in the "train".
Note: The Leader, highlighted in orange, can be moved without affecting the other selected marchers. This way you can change his direction during the next set.
Don't forget to add a New Set after each move!
Design Suggestions
In a nutshell, good shows usually have:
You can make your currently saved show publicly viewable by visiting your Profile page and clicking
Then you can ask your fellow players for feedback in the forum.
Technical Help
The game seems choppy. Make sure you don't have too many windows/tabs open (especially if they are using Flash or YouTube). Also, try stopping any background applications that are using a lot of CPU. If you're using FireFox, you might consider using a different browser, since its animation is not as smooth as the others.
The site seems all messed up. Close all of your browser windows and then try again. Your browser may have old files that are stored in its cache.
Supported Browsers: Only the *latest versions* of all modern browsers are supported: IE, FireFox, Opera, and Safari. (Mac, PC, and Linux)
For other issues, try asking in the Forum.