MapPainter Help

Overview

MapPainter generates large-scale images in-world using colored prims so that the resulting images will be visible on the grid map after the next map update.

After rezzing MapPainter for the first time, it will register itself with our central server and will display in your chat window a URL to visit to upload an image in JPG, GIF, PNG, or BMP format.

MapPainter can be controlled by either menu or chat commands. Thes are detailed below. It's recommended that you use the menu commands to control the MapPainter.

How To Use

  1. Rez MapPainter by dragging it from Inventory onto the ground.
  2. Sit on the MapPainter box and click on it to bring up the Main Menu. Click on the Teleport button to go up to 300m. This is the best height for MapPaintings, since it's not visible from the ground but will appear on Map updates. You may need to select the MapPainter and move it's X and Y coordinates to move it into the proper position.
  3. Click on the MapPainter box and click on the Upload button in the Main Menu. This will prompt you to open the web page where you can upload an image. Your image should be less than 500K and will be cropped to 256x256 pixels. Typically, the largest size image you'll want to use is 128x128 because otherwise the number of prims needed to rez the image will use all available free prims in the sim region.
  4. The default scale is set for 10%, to keep you from accidentally rezzing a large structure. Once you understand the process, you'll want to remember to set it at 100% or 200%. For now, leave it at 10%.
  5. Bring up the Main Menu again and click on the Rez button. Select 64x64 when prompted for a canvas size. The image you uploaded should be painted as a set of prims. If you don't have enough prims in the parcel you are working in or the prims being rezzed by the MapPainter cross over into other parcels, you may get error messages.
  6. Depending on the lag in the sim region, the map may rez in second or may take several minutes.
  7. Once the image is rezzed, you can delete it by selecting UnRez in the Main Menu. The rezzed prims should disappear. If errors occured during rezzing, some of the prims might not respond to the UnRez command and have to be deleted by hand.
  8. If the image looks good, you can now rez it at the desired size. Go to the Main Menu and select Scale and choose 100% or 200%.
  9. Once the image is rezzed at the correct size, you can change the image at any time but uploading a new image and choosing Update from the Main Menu.
  10. If you intend to leave an image in place for an extended duration and don't intend to change it, you can reduce any potential lag by clicking on Save in the Main Menu. This deletes all scripts from the rezzed prims. If you decide to delete the prims later, you'll have to use the Viewer's Edit Tools to select and delete the prims.

Prim Requirements

Because the Map only displays colored prims and not textures, it's necessary to rez relatively large numbers of prims to draw an image that will appear on the Map. MapPainter uses several tricks to display several pixels on a single prim in order to minimize the number of prims needed.

Here are some prim counts for calculating prims usage:

64x64 at 10% or 100% = 832 prims
128x128 at 10% or 100% = 3328 prims

64x64 at 200% (covers 128x128 meters) = 1024 prims
128x128 at 200% (covers 256x256 meters) = 4096 prims

To find out the exact number of prims for different dimensions, use the following command where <w> and <h> are the width and height in pixels:

/1 painter prims <w> <h>

Common Problems

1. Off-world objects

Second Life: Your object 'PixelPanel' has been returned to your inventory lost and found folder from parcel 
'<ParcelName>' at <RegionName> 0.5, -1.5 because it went off-world.

This occurs if trying to rez an image canvas too close to sim edges. The solution is to Unrez the image, move the MapPainter box, and Rez it again.

Parcel does not allow objects to enter

Can't move object 'PixelPanel2X' to
{ 169.554, 107.954, 600.5 } in region <RegionName> because the parcel does not allow objects to enter.

This occurs if trying to rez an image canvas too close to parcel edges. Unrez the image, move the MapPainter box, and Rez it again.

Parcel full

MapPainter: Can't create object 'Object' because the parcel <ParcelName>' at <RegionName> 18.7063, 241.391 is full.

This occurs because you are trying to rez too large an image canvas for the current parcel. See the section on Prim Requirements, above.

Support

IM Emma Nowhere in-world or email emma.nowhere@gmail.com with support requests and I'll attempt to assist you as best as I can.

Main Menu Commands

Touch the Rezzer to bring up the Main Menu. The following menu commands are available:

Rez Shows a menu to select the size of image to rez
Unrez Delete a rezzed image, only works if the image hasn't yet been "saved"
Upload Open the web page where you can upload your image for use with this rezzer.
Update Updates a rezzed canvas with a new uploaded image
Scale Allows you to choose a scale of 10%, 100%, or 200%
Save Save a rezzed image in place, deletes all scripts and contents from the rezzed image to reduce lag
Background Rezzes a 256mx256m flat white cube at the center of the sim for use as a background
Teleport Sit on Rezzer and click this to be take to 300m
Help Takes you to this web page

Scale Menu Commands

10% Set the Rezzer to generate the image at 10% size, meaning 10x10 centimeters per image pixel
100% Set the Rezzer to generate the image at 100% size, meaning 1x1 meters per image pixel
200% Set the Rezzer to generate the image at 200% size, meaning 2x2 meters per image pixel

Chat Commands

The default channel is 1. If you change this, substitue the new channel # for the following commands:

/1 painter 1x Set the Rezzer to generate the image at 100% size, meaning 1x1 meters per image pixel
/1 painter 2x Set the Rezzer to generate the image at 200% size, meaning 2x2 meters per image pixel
/1 painter background Rezzes a 256mx256m flat white cube at the center of the sim for use as a background
/1 painter channel <num> Set the Rezzer to listen on the channel number specific as <num>
/1 painter help Takes you to this web page
/1 painter list List the available images inside this Rezzer, use these names with the /1 rez command
/1 painter menu Show the main menu
/1 painter prims <w> <h> Calculates the number of prims needed where <w> and <h> are the width and height in pixels of the image to rez
/1 painter rez <w> <h> Rez an image, where <w> and <h> are the width and height in pixels of the image to rez
/1 painter save Save a rezzed image in place, deletes all scripts and contents from the rezzed image to reduce lag
/1 painter teleport Sit on Rezzer and click this to be take to 300m
/1 painter unrez Delete a rezzed image, only works if the image hasn't yet been "saved"
/1 painter update Updates a rezzed canvas with new uploaded image