Tuesday, October 25, 2011

Maximizing Your INTAN


Maximizing Your INTAN 111025


THE INTAN DANCE SYSTEM

When I started in SL in early 2007, clubs were littered with couples pose balls for couples dancing. In 2008 the INTAN Dance System swept through SL Clubs almost eliminating the static pose balls and cleaning up the look of the clubs.

The INTAN Dance System allows couples to rezz two pose balls (blue and pink) anywhere with accessible INTAN Dance Anywhere balls. The INTAN system assisted an explosion of couples dances since many different dances could be in the INTAN system and a couple could switch from one dance to another without hopping off the pose balls.

The system consists of a central prim containing the scripts and dances and the optional Dance Anywhere balls. Clicking on either the Main ball or the Dance Anywhere ball rezzes two pose balls where the individual is. You simply sit on a ball, say yes to the authorization notice and you start dancing. Click again and a blue menu appears and you can select your dances.

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INSIDE THE INTAN

I have an INTAN system that includes a couples main dance ball, a female solo dance ball, a male dance ball, and Dance Anywhere balls with the blue and red ears. These four types of dance balls comprise the system.

Female Dance Ball - This dance ball is red and contains scripts. You simply add dances to the female dance ball. When you click on the female dance ball or the red ear of the dance anywhere ball, you get a menu listing all the dances in the female dance ball. It functions like a regular dance ball.

Male Dance Ball - The male dance ball operates just like the female dance ball. One thing I do when I buy solo dances for my Huddles HUD is put any good copy solo dances in the INTAN female or male dance ball.

The Couples Main Dance Ball - This one is the most challenging. Inside are three types of files: 1. scripts, 2. dances, and 3. notecards. You don't ever have to worry about the scripts unless there is an upgrade of the INTAN.

To add the dances you must remove the dances from the couples dance pose balls or buy INTAN ready couples dances. You need to follow the process for adding the dances precisely. The process is written in notecards that are specific to each dance maker. You get these notecards from the INTAN website. You have to register then go to the configuration card manager. Here you will see all the couples dances in SL (also the cuddles and sex anims). INTAN offers a configuration card (notecard) for each dance maker. Get a notecard for your dance maker and follow the installation instruction exactly.
Once you have the dances in the INTAN, you also need to add the notecards for that dance maker. This notecard not only contains info about how to load the dance into the INTAN, but also tells the INTAN how to position the pose balls when rezzed. This is discussed in the note All About Pose Balls.

Dance Anywhere Balls - These are placed wherever you want for people to click to dance solo or couples. The ball contains a script and the ears each contain a script. The earlier version of the Dance Anywhere Balls has no ears.

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ARRANGING THE NOTECARD

You have two choices for using notecards in the INTAN. The default method is to put the notecards specific to each dance maker in the INTAN Main Dance Ball. For example a dance maker's notecard looks like this:

couple:Ballroom 1;Ballroom 1 - M;0;Ballroom 1 - F;.552,0,0,2;Ballroom
couple:Waltz;Waltz - M;0;Waltz - F;.0,.17,-.026,2;Ballroom
couple:Tango 1;Tango 1 - M;0;Tango 1 - F;0,-.096,-.042,2;Ballroom,Latin;;;Tango 2;
couple:Tango 2;Tango 2 - M;0;Tango 2 - F;0,-.096,-.042,2;Ballroom,Latin;;Tango 1;Tango 3
couple:Tango 3;Tango 3 - M;0;Tango 3 - F;0,-.096,-.042,2;Ballroom,Latin;;Tango 2;


If you use this method, you have no control over the order that the dances are presented when choosing the dance from your INTAN's dance list.

The second way is to remove all of the dance maker specific notecards, but not the other notecards, from the INTAN. You then must replace the removed notecards with your own notecard. The advantage of this approach is that you can control the order that the dances are presented when someone is choosing dances.

You can also control the waiting dances that the male and female avatars use when only one person is on the pose ball and the second has not joined. The INTAN default waiting dances are lousy. Choose the individual waiting dances that you want to use. For example, maybe you want to use swoon for females. Put the individual dances in the INTAN Main Dance ball. Then you have to change the notecard named zzzzzDefaultDemo. Just replace the dance names that are in the notecard with the names of the dancs that you have added to the INTAN Main Dance Ball. Here is the one from my INTAN:

solom:Standing-aM9-HD-m_starter;Standing-aM10-HD-m_starter;VA_boxer10FP2;bow 3;caesar_Standing_3
solof:Standing-aF4-HD-f_starter;ST_PG03;ST_PG05;ST_PG06;VA_stand05_EV01
ENDSETTING


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USING THE INTAN DANCE HUD

There are two ways to manage couples dancing with the INTAN system. Most people just click on the INTAN Main Dance Ball or Dance Anywhere Ball to rezz the couples dance pose balls and, once dancing, use the INTAN Main Dance Ball or Dance Anywhere Balls to obtain the menu to change dances or sync the dancers. The problem with this approach is it is difficult to resync the dancers without a lot of clicks to move through the menu.
The INTAN HUD solves this problem. When you wear the HUD, you get easy access to the resync button at any time.

The INTAN also lets you access the dances that are the type you want using the INTAN Filter feature. You can select categories for your dances in the notecards. For example, you can place dances into one or more categories like Slow, Fast, Tango, etc. Once you have done this, it is a simple process to filter for only the dances in that category. Belowis an example of how I do it at my club for Tango:

How to Tango:
1. Click on the INTAN Dance Ball to rezz the INTAN pose balls
2. Both sit on the appropriate pose ball
3. Wear the INTAN HUD, which I can give you. It goes in the upper right of your screen
4. On the HUD click the yellow Filter Button to bring up a blue menu
5. Choose Tango then Set Group
6. Close the blue menu
7. Click the green menu sign and now you see all the tango dances ... have fun

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Please send additions and corrections to me.

xxx
Nottoo