Particle overlay composer guide

Help

Short answers to what goes wrong most often.

The frame says the tool needs WebGL 2

The tool draws with WebGL 2 on your GPU, and this browser does not offer it. Update the browser, or try Chrome, Edge, Firefox or Safari. If it still fails, turn on hardware acceleration in the browser's settings.

The scene is slow or stutters

Look at the frames a second in the readout at the top left. Lower Star count under Stars and time, lower the counts of your busiest layers, or hide layers you are not using. Big nebula clouds cost the most.

A phone or tablet draws a smaller frame and fewer stars to stay smooth. See frame rate.

Does it work on a phone or tablet?

Yes. On phones and touch screens the frame is drawn at 648 × 472, and Star count stops at 60,000. Every layer kind and setting is there. The controls sit in a bar at the bottom of the screen; tap it to open them.

Nothing is done by touching the frame itself, so a finger and a mouse work the same way.

My picture will not open

The tool takes PNG, JPEG and WebP of up to 25 MB and 40 megapixels, and says so when a file is too big or of another type. Save a HEIC or other picture as JPEG first, or make a very large one smaller.

Press Image A to pick it again, or drop it anywhere on the page.

My picture looks brighter or washed out

The picture goes through the same bloom, exposure and grading as the light. Raise Threshold under Bloom so the picture's bright parts stop glowing, or lower Exposure. Brightness and Saturation under Subject image change the picture alone.

A slider does nothing

The kind sections change only the chosen layer; pick its row under Layers first. While the scene is paused, changes show only when you press Play.

Physics intensity does nothing for Straight and Pulse, and for Fan it shows after Restart. The picture sliders need a picture.

Lightning bolts are gone too fast

Each bolt lasts Flash length and fades from its first frame. Raise Flash length or Brightness under Lightning arcs, or add more with Strikes a second. Time scale above 1.00 runs every bolt faster, so each one is on screen for less time.

My picture was gone after a reload

The picture is kept only while the page is open, on purpose. The scene and its settings come back; add the picture again.

My presets are gone

Presets live in this browser's storage. Clearing site data, a private window, or another browser or device will not have them. The tool says so if the storage is full; delete a preset and try again. Use Save project for scenes you want to keep.

A project file will not load

It must be a file saved by Save project, under 2 MB. If the tool says it could not be read, the file is damaged or is not a project file.

Can I save a video or copy the picture?

No. The tool saves a PNG of one frame, project files and presets. To catch a moment, press Pause, then Save PNG.

Is my picture uploaded?

No. Your picture is read on your device and drawn on your GPU. It is never uploaded, and never written into presets or project files. It is kept on this device, for the lab's tools, until you press × on its tile.

Why is a picture from another tool here?

Pictures you add are kept on this device for every lab tool that takes one, so you need not add them again. Press × on a tile to forget that picture; the scene then has no subject.