1. General
1.1 How does your “Satisfaction Guaranteed” policy work?
1.2 Do the sound emitters all play audio the same way?
1.3 Will the Orb sound effects cover my entire land?
1.4 Do you have any recommended sound settings?
1.5 What are the permission levels for your products?
1.6 Can I move the sounds & script into my own object to lower my prim counts?
2. Client Services
2.1 What other services are available?
2.2 What is the Acoustic Alchemy Group?
2.3 What is the Client Gallery?
2.4 Can I request a specific background effect?
2.5 Can you convert my MP3s into SL?
3. Vending Machines
3.1 How do I use the vending machines?
3.2 How do I play the preview sound?
3.3 I can’t hear the sound sample. What gives?
3.4 How do I purchase the Orbs I want?
3.5 Do you have any freebie items?
4. Troubleshooting
4.1 How do I place the Orb once I get back to my area?
4.2 Why am I hearing gaps?
4.3 Can I place my Orb under water?
4.4 How can I find my Orb? It’s almost invisible!
4.5 I accidentally moved the orb underground and can’t get it!
4.6 How do I change the Orb volume?
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1. General
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1.1 How does your “Satisfaction Guaranteed” policy work?
We are committed to providing superior quality products to our clients and want you to be pleased with everything you buy at Acoustic Alchemy. If your purchase is not all you expected it to be, return it for a complete refund within 72 hours. Due to the nature of object permissions in Second Life, we can only provide refunds for non-copyable (transfer only) products.
1.2 Do the sound emitters all play audio the same way?
There are two styles of of Orbs available.
- Atmosphere Orb – Plays a long loop of background ambiance up to several minutes in length.
- Randomizer Orb – Plays a random sound at random intervals.
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Please see the specific product page for full details on the Orb features and instructions.
1.3 Will the Orb sound effects cover my entire land?
The background effects emanate from the Orb in all directions. The sound is localized so it becomes louder as your avatar approaches, and fades as you move further away. The range of the effects depends on several factors such as: the Orb volume setting, distance settings, your SL client audio preferences, and your computer audio settings. The more Orbs you add to multiple areas, the more coverage is created. Using multiple orbs can create an amazing soundscape as the different audio tracks blend together.
Keep in mind that background ambiance is to create a “subtle audible feel” for your area. You do not want to beat your visitors over the head with the effects or the audio could become distracting.
1.4 Do you have any recommended sound settings?
The default SL client settings may not always be the best for your audio performance. I have experimented with the settings and compared results with several other residents.
Press CTRL+P to open the Preferences screen, and select the Audio/Video Tab.
- Make sure that “Mute Audio” is NOT checked. This would really ruin the whole experience.
- Sound Effects Slider – Change this to maximum.
- Wind Volume Slider – Set to medium or even lower as some residents tell me it can be distracting.
- UI Volume Slider – The consensus appears to be to keep this setting just a little below the half way point.
- Distance Factor Slider – Change this to 1/3 on the bar.
- Rolloff Factor Slider – Change this to 1/4 on the bar.
As Linden Labs continues to make “updates” to the interface layout, there may be a few differences from the description above and the most current SL viewer layout.
1.5 What are the permission levels for the Orbs?
Atmosphere Orbs are made available as a single item (transfer only), however reseller editions (copy/transfer) are available on request.
1.6 Can I move the sounds & script into my own object to lower my prim counts?
Yes. Simply edit the orb object, move the contents to your inventory, and then move them into your object. It is best to move the sound clips first and then the player script.
Keep in mind that certain scripted functions (changing appearance for example) will no longer be available when this method is used.
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2. Client Services
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2.1 What other services are available?
Acoustic Alchemy offers full sim soundscaping services, temporary vendor staging, custom audio creation, affiliate reseller program, and professional sound scripting. Please see our services page for full details.
2.2 What is the Acoustic Alchemy Group?
This is an in-world group for residents interested in sound effects, audible background atmospheres, and how they can be used to enhance the Second Life experience. It is free to join. Notices are sent out to members when new products and effects are released.
Members receive automatic discounts on selected products. You must have the Acoustic Alchemy Group activated when purchasing the item.
Open enrollment has been closed to help keep spammers off the group channel.
To join the group, please touch the group invitation sign at the main building in Mythos.
2.3 What is the Client Gallery?
In order to better demonstrate the benefits of audible atmospheres in action, I wanted to showcase what my many talented clients have done in their own builds and projects with Acoustic Alchemy products.
The gallery contains pictures, notecards, and landmarks to several client regions. Visitors can visit these locations to hear the audible atmospheres as a live demonstration. This networking arrangement is also intended to provide clients with more promotion, visibility, and traffic.
If you would like to add your region to the Client Gallery, please fill out an inquiry form at the Client Services desk.
2.4 Can I request a specific background effect?
Of course! We always enjoy a challenge to bring new content into SL that people really want. Just don’t request radioactive badgers. Not gonna happen. The majority of our sound archive has not been uploaded to SL yet because of the sheer volume and amount of effort that would be involved.
Please fill out a request form at the Client Services desk with all the details and a quote will be sent to you.
2.5 Can you convert my MP3s into SL?
Conversion services can only be provided for music created and owned by you. We will not convert, upload, or make available media that is protected under copyright.
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3. Vending Machines
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3.1 How do I use the vending machines?
Each machine hosts several different Orbs that you can browse through and listen to a short preview. The machines now use a multi-panel display setup for easier browsing. The large center image is the product currently selected. The floating text above the machine details the full product name, length of the audio track, and $L price. Click on the arrow buttons to move forward or back through the vendor inventory.
3.2 How do I play the preview sound?
Click the “horn” button to hear the preview sound of the selected Orb. Depending on the overall SL grid “weather”, it can take 3-7 seconds to download and play the audio. The sound preview will be a maximum 10 seconds in length. The Orb audio track length is longer and is detailed in every product name.
3.3 I can’t hear the sound sample. What gives?
When the “horn” button is touched, the clip asset data is queried and transferred to your SL client where you then hear it.
On a normal “good weather” low lag SL day, the sample clips typically play after a 3 to 5 second delay.
3.4 How do I purchase the Orbs I want?
Click the arrow buttons on the vending machines to browse the contents. On the multi-panel display machines, Left-click any of the 4 panels to bring up the item on the center display. Right-click on the main item picture screen (not the buttons) and select “Pay”. The fast-pay option should contain the correct amount for the item. If you over-pay the vendor, the difference will be auto-refunded to you immediately.
3.5 Do you have any freebie items?
There are several free items available on the ground level. We also try to keep several seasonal or promotional items free for the community to share.
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4. Troubleshooting
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4.1 How do I place the Orb once I get back to my area?
Rez the Orb on your land or build. The sound clips will begin playing momentarily. It is best to place the Orb near high resident traffic areas. For example, behind a plant next to a walkway. Somewhere close to where people will be near and can hear it. If you have multiple Orbs, spread them out around your area.
4.2 Why am I hearing gaps?
When any looping Orb begins to play, it is normal to hear an audible pause during the first 20-40 seconds. The Orb is sending clip data to your SL client and as the audio track caches on your side, the effects will play seamlessly. This only happens the first time your AV comes within range of the new Orb or if you dump your cache files.
4.3 Can I place my Orb under water?
Yes you can, however be aware that sound effects in SL have a reduced audible range when the sound source and the listening avatar are both underwater. This is the world water, not prim water. If an avatar is on dry land and the sound source is underwater, the effects will be heard normally.
4.4 How can I find my Orb again? It’s almost invisible!
Using “beacons” is the quickest way to find a lost Orb. On your top toolbar; click View, then Beacons.
Ensure that only the following entries have Xs next to them:
X Sound Sources
X Render Highlights
X Render Beacons
Then press CTRL+N to activate the Beacons. All sound sources within your view will displayed with yellow highlights.
Press CTRL+N again to turn off the beacon markers.
4.5 I accidentally moved the orb underground (or into a wall) and can’t get it!
This is an easy problem to fix. Follow the steps in section 4.4 to turn on sound beacons so the Orb is visible.
On the top toolbar, is the “Client” pull-down menu visible?
- If it is not visible, press CTRL+ALT+SHIFT+D.
WARNING! Do not experiment with these other functions unless you know what you’re doing! Please refer to the SL Wiki for more information.
On the top toolbar, click Client, then “Disable Camera Constraints”.
You can now pan and zoom your camera view underground, inside walls, and even great distances depending on your draw distance settings. Many builders “unhook” the camera this way to work on large projects. It is very handy for recovering lost objects.
You should now be able to move the camera angle under the ground to see the lost Orb. Right-click on the Orb and select Edit. You can now move the Orb to your desired location.
4.6 – How do I change the Orb volume?
All GEN2 Orbs are controlled through the pop-up menu system. Just touch the Orb to begin. Then click the Volume button and then select a new level.
The original Atmosphere Orbs that were created had a “chat” volume control system. The default volume is set to the maximum 1.0. Touch the Orb and then speak the new volume in chat using the following format:
/5 LVL
LVL = The volume and can be any value from .1 to 1.0.
If you wanted to set it to half, you would touch the Orb and type the following in chat:
/5 0.5
