- 1). Click the AfterGlow icon to launch the application from your desktop. You also may click the program icon on the system tray. Or, go to the Windows "Start" button and find AfterGlow in the "All Programs" section. A welcome screen will show on the monitor while you wait for the system to load the application. AfterGlow uses a lot of CPU resources and RAM, so this may take over one minute, depending on your computer.
- 2). Click the "New" button on the bottom-left of the Show Manager window to start a new show. The Environmental Settings window will pop up.
- 3). Enter a title in the "Name" field for your show. Type your full name in the "Designed By:" box. If you have registered the software at the official site, enter your user name instead.
- 4). Add a description of your show in the "Notes" box. To include music on your show, use the "down arrow" on the following box to browse your computer for the song you want. Set the language and enter the play time for the music.
- 5). Adjust the settings in the Special Effects section to your liking, such as the wind direction and speed, weather, sky color and smoke intensity.
- 6). Use the "down arrow" in the "Skydome Settings" section to browse for the image you want to use as background. In the dialog boxes, choose a ground color for the image and set the orientation angle and radius for the fireworks.
- 7). Click "Done" to create the new show template. The new template will be in a new window, divided into three sections: the left pane, the top-right pane and the bottom-right pane. The left pane consists of pre-loaded fireworks pattern selection and custom fireworks tools. The top-right pane has the playback options, tools for creating special effects and file management. The background image occupies the bottom-right pane.
- 8). Click the "New" button below the pre-loaded fireworks patterns section to create your own fireworks pattern. This will launch the Shell Editor in a separate window.
- 9). Enter a name for the custom pattern, the shell size and other effects in the appropriate text fields. Click "Save." The pattern will be listed in the pre-loaded fireworks pattern section.
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Select the pre-loaded fireworks patterns you want from the left pane. Hold the left mouse key while dragging the fireworks patterns onto your background image. Note the markings with values on the left edge of your background image. Those are firing heights and distances of your fireworks pattern placements. - 11
Click the "Test" button in the left pane to test the fireworks. Use the magnifying glass at the top of the upper-middle pane to zoom the fireworks display. You can re-position, add or delete fireworks patterns from your background image using the corresponding buttons at the top of the top-right pane. - 12
Click the "File" option at the top of the top-right pane. Select "Save as ..." to save your show. The next time you launch AfterGlow, the saved show will be listed in the left pane of the Show Manager window.
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