Month: October 2018

2018 SL UG updates #42/3: TPVD meeting

Posted on by Inara Pey

Savor Serenity; Inara Pey, September 2018, August 2018, on FlickrSavor Serenity – blog post

The majority of the following notes are taken from the TPV Developer meeting held on Friday, October 19th, 2018. A video of the meeting is embedded below, my thanks as always to North for recording and providing it.

This is again a short meeting with some lengthy pauses, so the following is a summary of key points.

SL Viewer

[1:54-9:07]

The Environmental Enhancement Project (EEP) viewer updated to version 5.1.10.520819 on October 19th.This viewer contains further fixes and tweaks, and the Lab hope to have the viewer on roughly a weekly update cycle through to RC status.

As noted in my week #42 CCUG summary, the Animesh RC viewer updates to version 6.0.0.520636 on October 18th. This leaves the rest of the current official viewer pipeline as:

  • Current Release version 5.1.9.519298, dated September 5, promoted September 26. Formerly the Rakomelo Maintenance RC viewer – No change.
  • Release channel cohorts:
    • Spotykach Maintenance RC viewer, version 5.1.10.520444, October 11.
    • Estate Access Management (EAM) RC viewer, version 5.2.0.520057, September 28.
    • BugSplat RC viewer, version 5.1.9.519462, September 10. This viewer is functionally identical to the current release viewer, but uses BugSplat for crash reporting, rather than the Lab’s own Breakpad based crash reporting tools.
    • Love Me Render RC viewer, version 5.1.8.518751, released on August 20.
  • Project viewers:
  • Linux Spur viewer, version 5.0.9.329906, dated November 17, 2017 and promoted to release status 29 November – offered pending a Linux version of the Alex Ivy viewer code.
  • Obsolete platform viewer, version 3.7.28.300847, May 8, 2015 – provided for users on Windows XP and OS X versions below 10.7.

Viewer Notes in Brief

  • Again, as per my week #42 CCUG summary:
    • Currently, running EEP on the simulator side can result in some strange skies when seen on non-EEP viewers (deep black skies, racing clouds, etc.). Rider and Graham Linden are working to correct this, however, the work involved is a little more complicated than had at first been thought, so there might still be one or two things that continue to “look a little weird” even with a fix in place. Should you enter an EEP region on a non-EEP viewer and experience  odd skies, simply set your environment through the viewer options.
    • [21:06-21:55] It is hoped the October 18th RC update will be the last for the Animesh viewer, and its next update will see it promoted to de facto release status, although right now it hasn’t been available long enough to give a reliable indication of crash rates.
    • The Bakes On Mesh viewer is pending fixes to the Bake Service.
  • Bugsplat viewer: a new version is going through QA that eliminates the need for two viewer icons.
    • This should be the final RC update for this viewer, leaving it in the queue for promotion to release status.
    • The viewer also retains the Breakpad code for those TPVs who wish to continue to use that for bug reporting. However, contributions to this code will be required to maintain it once the Lab has moved to using Breakpad.
  • The Render viewer still has a number of bugs pending a fix before that will be at an RC status eligible for consideration for promotion to release status.
  • The Estate Access Management (EAM) RC viewer hasn’t yet had enough hours of use against it to judge its possible promotion status.

Non-HTTP Asset Fetching

[10:19-12:45] Again as a reminder: for over a year now, LL has used HTTP via their CDN provider(s) for all asset fetching, avoiding the need for the simulator to handle all asset transfers and associated messaging directly. However, the simulator-side UDP code for some asset types has yet to be removed. This will now happen at the start of January 2019, and means that from around January 6th, 2019, any viewers still fetching the affected asset types via UDP after this date will not longer work correctly.

The specific asset types affected by this change are: system body parts, system clothing, gesture, animations, sounds, and landmarks (mesh, textures and avatar appearance having long been HTTP only).

A region will be set-up on Aditi without the code to allow TPVs to test against it ahead of the switch-over.

Inventory Bug and Inventory HTTP Operations

[13:23-19:06]

Inventory Bug Fix

There should be a fix in the  Spotykach RC viewer for an “obnoxious” bug within the inventory database which, on rare occasions during inventory initialisation, could see a specific UDP inventory operation that isn’t supposed to move folders attempt to do so, as a result of an unknown issue within inventory. This then results in the folders being recorded (and appearing) as items in Trash and at risk of accidental deletion.

Inventory HTTP Operations

Oz Linden has indicated he hopes that 2019 will see all inventory operations move away from UDP in order to make them more reliable, but there is a fair amount of systems work to be done to achieve this, including implementing new HTTP inventory operations.

The current plan is to implement the HTTP functions in the first half of 2019 and switch over to them, then disable the existing UDP operations later in 2019, and eventually remove them from both the viewer and the server.

ARCTan and Texture Caching

ARCTan

[22:18-23:12] ARCTan is the code-name for the project to re-evaluate object and avatar rendering costs to make them more reflective of the actual impact of rendering both, which it is hoped will also help correct some inherent negative incentives for creating optimised content (e.g. with regards to generating LOD models with mesh).

It’s a project that has been on a slow burn for some time, and the current order of priorities for anything involving rendering is EEP first, then the updates to texture caching, then ARCTan. As such, there are unlikely to be any changes to ARC calculations, possible changes to LI for objects before the end of the year. Even then, because of concerns over LI changes, the Lab will approach things cautiously – see here for more.

Texture Caching

[23:12-24:52] The updates to improve texture caching are moving forward. Overall the expectation is that the new method for caching will be a lot more robust in terms of the code, and it could lead to some viewer performance improvements for most systems. Focus should switch to this viewer as EEP matures through RC however, with the holiday season approach, the project may not advance too far before the end of the year, but hopefully a project viewer will surface before the year-end No Change window comes into effect.

Other Items in Brief

  • [9:08-9:38 and 26:32-26:57] The US holiday season is approaching – notably US Thanksgiving and then Christmas, so the cadence of TPV meetings may therefore be changing as the end of the year approaches. The next meeting (November 2nd) will take place, after that meeting frequency will be TBA.
  • [19:41-20:18] Return of last names: progress is being made on updating the back-end services. It’s still not clear if this will be deployed before the end of the year.

Scare Me Silly 2018 in Second Life

Posted on by Inara Pey
Scare Me Silly 2018

Scare Me Silly 2018, in support of the American Diabetes Association (ADA), opened its doors on Friday, October 19th, 2018, and will remain open through until October 27th.

Organised by Team Diabetes of Second Life, the event features live performances. DJ parties, a hunt and a quest,  tricks and treats, a haunted mansion, ghostly rides and – of course – shopping!

Participating merchants this year comprise:

oYo Breedables ,RP Roped Passions , Couture Chapeau , SK Kiva Studios Boutique, Xpllicit Designs , Firelight, Spyaralle, Team Diabetes of SL Merchandise Store, Park Place Home, Pixelancer, Esoterica Threads Clothing , Redangel Designs, LC Fashion, Closer to the Heart Creations , Fjordian Slip, BRYNE, Rush Love Your Look, Tayren’s Fantasy Fashions , Feyline Fashions , MMP Muircastle Motors & Parts, Stone Soup, De Baza, Twitchy’s Dragonsmeld, GypsyRose Botanical, The Chrone’s Garden, Mara’s Mysteries , TRS Designs , Just Ordinary, Bento Alive , Khargo Halloween, Cosmos Boutique, Lunar Seasonal Designs, Chiffon, Tylar’s Treasures, @AdReNaLiZeD@, Kushi Textures & Mesh, *DBS* Designs By Soosy, Littlefangs, POM, Kittycat’s Creations , Sweet E’s Designs, Image Essentials, Fae Fantasy Creations, Roosters n cHix, The Art of Talitha Alice, The Pumpkin Head, & Halloween Delights.

Hunts

This year the Evil Pumpkin Hunt offers a number of exclusive prizes available from a number of this year’s merchants. The prizes cost L$10, with 100% of proceeds going to Team Diabetes. Find on more about the prizes and merchants here.

The Skele Hunt can be joined for L$250 (all proceeds to Team Diabetes). Use the HUD to find the pieces of skeleton scattered around the event space and claim a goodie bag of 15 prizes.

Autumn Art Show

The Kultivate Autumn Art Show will also be taking place during Scare Me Silly, with the art display located to one side of the event area. Participating artists include: Eleseren Brianna, Glasz DeCuir, Eucalyptus Carroll, Bellissa Dion, Ilrya Chardin, Veruca Tammas,  Talligurl, Kapaan, Neoma Vasilia, Sheba Blitz, Hadiya Draper, Ladmilla Resident, Marcel Mosswood and IsarValdetaro Resident.

As with the Scare Me Silly shopping event, all artists have at least one piece of art for sale with proceeds to Team Diabetes of Second Life.

Entertainment

Scare Me Silly includes music and entertainment – check the schedule for details.

About the American Diabetes Association

Established in 1940, the American Diabetes Association is working to both prevent and cure diabetes in all it forms, and to help improve the lives of all those affected by diabetes. It does this by providing objective and credible information and resources about diabetes to communities, and funding research into ways and means of both managing and curing the illness. In addition, the Association gives voice to those denied their rights as a consequence of being affected by diabetes.

About Team Diabetes of Second life

Team Diabetes of Second Life is an official and authorised fund-raiser for the American Diabetes Association in Second Life. Established with the aim of raising funds in support of diabetes treatment and to raise awareness of the disease in SL, Team Diabetes of Second Life was founded by Jessi2009 Warrhol and John Brianna (Johannes1977 Resident), who serve on the Advisory Board along with Eleseren Brianna, Veruca Tammas, Rob Fenwitch, and Dawnbeam Dreamscape.

SLurl and URL Details

2018 SL UG updates #42/2: CCUG summary

Posted on by Inara Pey

Storybook Forest; Inara Pey, September 2018, August 2018, on FlickrStorybook Forest – blog post

The following notes are taken from the Content Creation User Group (CCUG) meeting, held on Thursday, October 11th, 2018 at 13:00 SLT. These meetings are chaired by Vir Linden, and agenda notes, meeting SLurl, etc, are usually available on the Content Creation User Group wiki page.

Environmental Enhancement Project (EEP)

Project Summary

A set of environmental enhancements, including:

  • The ability for region / parcel owners to define the environment (sky, sun, moon, clouds, water settings) at the parcel level.
  • New environment asset types (Sky, Water, Day that can be stored in inventory and traded through the Marketplace / exchanged with others.
    • Day assets can include four Sky “tracks” defined by height: ground level (which includes altitudes up to 1,000m) and (optionally) 1,000m and above; 2,000m and above and 3,000m and above, plus a Water “track”.
  • Experience-based environment functions
  • An extended day cycle (e.g a 24/7 cycle) and extended environmental parameters.
  • There are no EEP parameters for manipulating the SL wind.
  • EPP will also include some rendering enhancements  and new shaders as well (being developed by Graham Linden), which will allow for effects such as crepuscular rays (“God rays”)
    • These will be an atmospheric effect, not any kind of object or asset or XML handler.
  • The new LSL functions for finding the time of day according to the position of the windlight Sun or Moon have been completed, and are more accurate than the current options.
  • EEP will not include things like rain or snow.
  • It will still be possible to set windlight local to your own viewer.

Resources

Current Status

EEP is now running on around a dozen Linden-controlled regions on Agni (the main grid). Expect the server-side code to creep to other RCs soon.

Currently, running EEP on the simulator side can result in some strange skies when seen on non-EEP viewers (deep black skies, racing clouds, etc.). Rider and Graham Linden are working to improve this.

Bakes On Mesh

Project Summary

Extending the current avatar baking service to allow wearable textures (skins, tattoos, clothing) to be applied directly to mesh bodies as well as system avatars. This involves viewer and server-side changes, including updating the baking service to support 1024×1024 textures, and may in time lead to a reduction in the complexity of mesh avatar bodies and heads.

This work does not include normal or specular map support, as these are not part of the existing Bake Service, nor are they recognised as system wearables.

Resources

Current Status

Work is contining with fixing the Bake Service issues. however, as Anchor Linden, the lead for the project, is on vacation, this work will likely remain open until his return.

Animesh

Project Summary

The goal of this project is to provide a means of animating rigged mesh objects using the avatar skeleton, in whole or in part, to provide things like independently moveable pets / creatures, and animated scenery features via scripted animation. It involves both viewer and server-side changes.

Resources

Viewer Status

The Animesh RC viewer updated on Thursday, October 18th to version 6.0.0.520636. The sees the viewer merged up to the release viewer and has some fixes for issues, notably:

  • Optimisations for dynamic bounding box computation on avatars and Animesh objects.
  • Animesh attachments should now match the impostor state of the attached avatar.
    • This may cause some discrepancies with the render max avatar setting (as a worn animesh should give a count of 2 (avatar and Animesh). However, this has yet to be tested
  • Animesh objects should no longer disappear when crossing region boundaries using the Mac viewer.

The hope is this will be the final RC update to the viewer, and that it will, in due course be promoted to release status.

Animesh vs. Mesh Alpha Flipping

One of the benefits of Animesh is that it should be more efficient, design-wise than the more usual alpha-flipping, potentially with a lower rendering cost. However, there are still questions around overall efficiency when it comes to general performance.

A problem here is trying to do like-for-like comparisons; something the Lab hasn’t attempted to test. Rather, their focus has been to test whether the overhead of Animesh itself is going to be detrimental to overall performance. As such, creators who have been using alpha-flipping with animating meshes will need to test the potential benefits of switching to Animesh for their existing products for themselves.

In Brief

  • Animesh tri count limit: the debate over whether the 100K tri count per Animesh is “enough” rumbles on (although it often feels as if only one creator perennially believes it should be higher for in-world objects). In short, the total is unlikely to be revised up or down, although project ARCTan might affect it in the future.
  • Mesh uploader: while no formal project has been announced, the Lab is hoping to take a look at the mesh uploader in the future with a view to improving it. So, if you’re a mesh creator and have some ideas on what might be done in this direction, now might be the time to raise your feature requests / bug reports.
  • Are upload fees an encouragement for efficiency? possibly, but questionable, in the Lab’s view.
    • Given that the upload cost is a one-time fee that could be made up after a few sales of the item / item the upload is used in (in the case of textures).
    • Plus, those wanting to use high-res textures directly may complain over an increase in upload fees for larger textures, but would probably keep right on uploading rather than questioning whether or not they need such high-res images on every surface they are texturing.

 

2018 Sansar Product Meetings week #42: licensing changes

Posted on by Inara Pey
Courtesy of Linden Lab

Note: This should have been a Product Meeting summary for week #42 2018. Unfortunately, my PC blue screened on me, some 45 minutes into the meeting, and I lost all audio to that point. As such, these notes focus only on the licensing  / permissions changes as reported in the official blog, with some additional notes from the meeting.

Licensing and Permissions

Following the R26 Thumbs Up release on Tuesday, October 9th, 2018 and the feedback provided, Linden Lab are making changes to the new Licensing and Permissions system. The full details can be found in the official blog post, and summarised below:

  • All items uploaded prior to the R26 Thumbs Up release are re-designated “Unlicensed” objects.
    • Unlicensed items will once again be editable as they were prior to the R26 release. This includes editing values in scripts, editing materials and all other object properties.
    • Unlicensed items can be combined and saved back to inventory, but they cannot be uploaded to the store and sold.
  • All items uploaded after the R26 deployment are designed as “Licensed” objects.
    • These will have fully editable properties  – including materials (so items no longer have to be set to Full Permissions in order to have their materials editable).
    • Unlicensed items can be combined with Licensed objects (e.g. an unlicensed script can be included in a licensed object) and saved back to inventory. However, the combined object cannot be uploaded to the Store for sale.

These changes will come into effect with a Sansar point release due on or around Thursday, October 18th, 2018.

An important point to note with the changes is that all objects uploaded since the R26 release will, by default have materials editing enabled by default as Licensed objects. Therefore, those items for which the creator does not wish to have materials editing enabled will have to be modified after the update has deployed.

Sample of updates properties editing on Licensed and Unlicensed objects. This was a work-in-progress at the time the images were captured, and the final design may be different on release. Credit: Linden Lab

Additional notes:

  • The official blog post on licensing also includes an FAQ that was a WIP at the time of writing this update, therefore please refer to that post for further updates.
  • There will be a further licensing / permissions update (most likely R28 in November) to surface what is, and what is not, an editable parameter on an object.or combined object.
  • As a reminder: all of the above, and the licensing / permissions system in general, only applied to “in scene” objects, Clothing and worn accessories are currently not a part of the licensing / permissions system, but will be added in the future.
  • To become Licensed products, any objects uploaded prior to R26 must be re-uploaded into order to enabled the ownership / license tracking on it.

 

 

 

 

A World of Soap in Second Life

Posted on by Inara Pey

Missing Mile - World of Soap; Inara Pey, October 2018, on FlickrMissing Mile – World of Soap – click any image for full size

We are one of the oldest, grunge style, residential estates in Second Life. We feature opt-in community run role-play and events. Our themes range from the supernatural, to everyday urban life.

– Introduction to World of Soap from the estate’s website

I can vouch for the World of Soap, designed by Loch Newchurch having been around a good while, having first visited it in August 2013 – although I didn’t get so far as writing about it. So my thanks to reader Mili Miklos dropping me a line about it and jogging my memory; the note allowed Caitlyn and I to rectify things with a further visit  and (for me at least) the chance to get re-acquainted with this immersive role-play environment with its supernatural / dark tones.

Missing Mile - World of Soap; Inara Pey, October 2018, on FlickrMissing Mile – World of Soap

Founded by Lock Newchurch, the community covers two regions: the township of Missing Mile and the rural Soap National Park. Both are designed to be set within North Carolina, USA, and the national park includes a reservation for the  Oconaluftee Cherokee. Both regions have their own unique character, and are linked via a road tunnel one to another.

Once the host of ritual murders, disappearances and biochemical experiments by the government, Missing Mile holds its fair share of secrets. Some say this dusty old town has become a lawless haven for the supernatural and the insane. Enter at your own risk! You never know what may be lurking among the humans…

– Missing Mile description, World of Soap website

Missing Mile - World of Soap; Inara Pey, October 2018, on FlickrMissing Mile – World of Soap

Unlike most role-play regions, World Of Soap is opt-in, not opt-out. This means visitors are free to roam the town and the park to get a feel for things while those wishing to engage in local role-play are asked to wear tags to indicate they are players.

Given the supernatural theme to RP, it is open to a number of character types beyond human. These are: infected / zombies; vampires; witches / warlocks; animals; werewolves, and aliens (Greys); according to the website, the option to RP ghosts is “coming soon”. There are also a few character types that are not allowed, as they don’t fit the core role-play theme. These include furries, nekos and fantasy races such as elves.

Soap National Park - World of Soap; Inara Pey, October 2018, on FlickrSoap National Park – World of Soap

The core for role-play in the region is based on the books by Poppy Z. Brite (Billy Martin), the humour from which is also reflected with the regions, as noted above.

A great place for fishing, camping and hunting but beware of the mysterious howls that can be heard late at night beyond the trees. Specially on the night of a full moon.

– Soap Natural Park description, World of Soap website

The World of Soap website provides full details on character types, character creation and role-play rules for those wishing to join the community as players, so I’ll not delve into these further here.

Missing Mile - World of Soap; Inara Pey, October 2018, on FlickrMissing Mile – World of Soap

What I will say is both regions have a lot to offer visually, and present plenty of opportunities for photography, which is welcome within them. I cannot speak for the role-play, although during the three visits name in preparing this article, we did see some people wearing RP tags around the town.

Caught under a foggy sky, Missing Mile has the run-down look of a grunge town that has seen better days. Even so; it is still a township – even if it does have the odd ghost walking the streets and spectres hovering in doorways. Under more open skies, the park offers walks and camp grounds to be enjoyed. However, both also include rental properties for those wishing to make their homes on the region, so do be careful around the houses, etc., to avoid trespass.

Missing Mile - World of Soap; Inara Pey, October 2018, on FlickrMissing Mile – World of Soap

Atmospheric, well designed, with the opportunity for role-play as well as offering a range of events (such as the pumpkin hunt on progress for Halloween), World of Soap is well worth visiting and exploring – and for those looking for new role-play opportunities, it might provide a home-from-home.

SLurl Details

The artful collages of Janine Portal in Second Life

Posted on by Inara Pey
Lin C Art Gallery: Janine Portal – two perspectives, one image, The Twilight Zone 2

Now open at the Lin C Art Gallery, curated by Lin Carlucci, is an exhibition of art by Janine Portal. Untitled, it is a fascinating display of art perhaps not often seen in Second Life, utilising animations and prims to present remarkable collage pieces with a surrealist edge that are quite captivating to see.

At first glance 2D art, Janine’s work is actually more complex than a flat prim canvas. By layering elements together and using animations, she creates pieces that not only incorporate motion (something often seen in 2D art in SL) but which can also offer changing perspectives and one cams over them.

Lin C Art Gallery: Janine Portal

I’m a first life artist, but I’ve also been making art in Second Life for a few years now. Visual effects that I could only dream about on paint and canvas can be realized here in prims and textures and, for that, I’m grateful. Sometimes I use my own images in my work, but I nearly always add found images, most of them in the public domain. This sort of visual collage seems to me to be very similar to the musical practice of “sampling.” I find a bit of this here, a bit of that, there, add unique elements and then weave and layer what I have into a new and pleasing whole.

– Janine Portal on her art.

The result is some of the most unusual art and effects I’ve seen in Second Life for a while, each piece offering an unexpected view of what might otherwise appear to be and ordinary scene or photo, or presenting a melding of ideas and / or narrative this is quite engaging.

To full appreciate Janinie’s work, it is essential a couple of recommendations she offers are followed. firstly, set your local environment to CalWL, if possible. Secondly, rather than standing still when looking at her images, gently cam or tilt from side to side to witness the changing collage / effects, even with the pieces that already appear to be animated. If you have a flycam capability using a Space Navigator or joystick, this is really idea to witnessing the changing face of the images.

Lin C Art Gallery: Janine Portal

I could wibble on about the pieces presented in this exhibition, but really, this is art that should be seen to be fully appreciated, simply because of the way in which it has been created and presents itself to the eye. What I will say is that as well as the mobile elements of the art, there is a marvellous blending of styles and ideas, with some images incorporating layers photographs, others offering almost cartoon elements and still others built from what might be almost classically styled paintings, all of which adds further depth to an already intriguing exhibition.

However, the best way to appreciate Janine’s art is to see it first-hand, so I’m going to suggest that you hope along to the Lin C Art Gallery between now and November 13th, 2018 and have a look for yourself.

Lin C Art Gallery: Janine Portal

SLurl Details