Category: Second Life

2018 SL UG updates #24/2: CCUG meeting summary w/audio

Posted on by Inara Pey

MindPillars, a Scottish themed Sim; Inara Pey, May 2018, on FlickrMindPillars, a Scottish themed Sim – blog post

Updated on June 15th: to include planned RC channel for Animesh deployment – see notes below. 

The following notes are taken from the Content Creation User Group (CCUG) meeting, held on  Thursday, June 14th, 2018 at 13:00 SLT.  These meetings are chaired by Vir Linden, and agenda notes, etc, are usually available on the Content Creation User Group wiki page.

Note that the audio presented here may not be in the exact order of discussion during the meeting; as subjects were at times returned to following their initial discussion, I have attempted to bring together key points of discussion by topic / subject matter. Also, please note that audio drop-out when Vir is speaking appears to be an ongoing problem at his end.

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

Current Status

It now appears that Animesh could be arriving on the server-side release channels on the main (SLS) grid as early as week #25 (week commencing Monday, June 18th, 2018). There are caveats to this: the status of issues with the viewer being one of them – there are certain issues the Lab is focused on, which they would ideally like to have some fix / workaround in place for prior to deploying the Animesh simulator code to Agni.

Update: At the TPVD meeting on Friday, June 15th, Oz Linden indicated that if the Animesh simulator code is deployed to an RC in week #25, it will most likely go to BlueSteel.

Current Viewer Issues

Encroachment / Position / Offsets: this is to ensure that the visual position of an Animesh object is not too far offset from its position as calculated by the simulator (e.g. using things like animation offsets to alter the visual position of all or part of an object). The fix for this is to force the bounding boxes for all joints and the meshes attached to them to remain within a specified distance – most likely 3 metres, although this is still TBC – from the location where the simulator has calculated the object should be.

This update should be in the next update to the Animesh project viewer, and will also utilise new infrastructure on the back-end to allow smarter tracking of the bounding boxes for rigged meshes. This be being done by tracking bounding boxes on a per joint basis, and then transforming them. While it can take a “noticeable” mount of time to do this, Vir’s belief is that it doesn’t unduly impact performance, although if it does become an issue, it may be re-thought.

Concerns were expressed that this would limit the scaling of Animesh creations. Vir states this shouldn’t be the case – the restriction is not ties to scale, but to position. So, for example, a dragon could still be 60 metres in length / height,  but the encroachment fix would mean where it appears in people’s viewers cannot be offset more than 10 metres from where the simulator calculates its actual position to be as a static mesh.

Z-Offset Height Setting: until now the z-offset height setting that can be specified when uploading a mesh to Second Life has been ignored when using meshes with it set to Animesh objects (the offset only works when the mesh is attached to and avatar).

It is hoped an update to fix this will be in the next project viewer update, which should appear before the server-side Animesh code arrives on an Agni RC channel.

Rigged Mesh Level of Detail / Bounding Box Issues: (BUG-214736) – Essentially, attachments on avatars swap their LOD models as if they were scaled to the overall avatar bounding box.

This is a long-standing issue which Graham and Vir Linden are working on, but a fix is unlikely to be available prior to Animesh arriving on Agni.

Broken Rotations Issues:

  • In one (BUG-139251), when some static mesh objects are converted to Animesh, the visual mesh is rotated through 90 degrees when seen in the Animesh viewer, but the physics mesh isn’t, leaving it perpendicular to the model. This is possibly an orientation issue, with the viewer expecting the mesh to be aligned to +x=forward – which not all mesh modelling tools follow.
  • The second problem is that when linking a series of objects into a single Animesh, then are visually located where the avatar skeleton supporting them is located, but the physics shapes remain in the original location of the objects prior to linking / converting.

The recommendation here (for the time being) is that Animesh objects should have a non-mesh root object, and associate any physics representation to that non-mesh root object.  This should hopefully eliminate the current issues and help ensure that any mesh being propelled via scripts in the root object will move in a predictable manner (.i.e. moves forward when driven forward by a script).

Other Issues

Additional bugs: the above are not the only bugs being looked at, but they are the ones causing the most concern due to the risk of behavioural issues / changes they might cause, together with perceived content breakage, when Animesh starts being deployed to the Main grid. Other issues, which are not seen as having so direct an impact will continue to be looked at ad hopefully resolved as Animesh is tested on the Main grid, together with any other issues which may come to light.

GLOD: there is concern that the global LOD values set by the mesh uploader when creators don’t specify their own custom LODs incorrectly encourages poor optimisation, by rewarding those so decrease the calculated LOD values with lower LI post-upload. The feeling is that the reverse should be true. It’s anticipated that Project ARCTan should help to address 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 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 baking service.

Resources

Current Status

A new Bakes on Mesh project viewer arrived on Thursday, June 14th. Version 5.1.6.516270 includes the new “universal” wearable types corresponding to the 5 new bake channels. These are:

  • LEFT_ARM_TATTOO – bakes to the mesh left arm.
  • LEFT_LEG_TATTOO – bakes to the mesh left leg.
  • AUX1_TATTOO – creator definable layer / channel.
  • AUX2_TATTOO – creator definable layer / channel.
  • AUX3_TATTOO – – creator definable layer / channel.

Note that none of these additional wearables can be applied to the system avatar mesh; which continues to use the original six bake channels.

It’s also not clear if alpha layers can mask these new channels at present. If not, that Vir agrees it is something that should be looked at.

Other points of note:

  • There are no plans to extend Bake on Mesh to allow the use of wearable on non-wearable objects. This is because Bakes on Mesh uses the avatar bake service, which is not geared to apply wearables to in-world objects sans an avatar shape.
  • There is no time frame for Bakes on Mesh deployment at the moment; the project is still in the process of being developed, tested and refined with the help of content creators.
  • There is no updated on any form of scripted control for Bakes on Mesh. It hasn’t been ruled out, but no work is currently being done for scripted support.

In Brief

  • Mesh uploader cost formula / calculations: there have been requests to offer a clearer explanation of mesh cost calculations through something like a clarified wiki page. In terms of Animesh, providing guidelines on potential cost is difficult, as the actual conversion of a mesh to an Animesh takes place post upload.
    • One suggestion to help estimate Animesh costs is to add an Animesh model type to the drop-down list of object types in the mesh uploader.
  • Bento .BVH animation issue: the .BVH format allows for custom joint names for animations in addition to the default joint names. One such custom schema is to prefix joint name with “avatar_”. However, it has recently come to light that while the use of “avatar_” on pre-Bento joints works, trying to upload animations using any of the Bento bones prefixed with “avatar_” results in either an error message on upload (the SL viewer) or the animations uploading, but then being ignored on playback (tested with Firestorm). A JIRA bug report has been requested for this.

A visit to a mystical kingdom in Second Life

Posted on by Inara Pey

Eri-Ador; Inara Pey, June 2018, on FlickrEri-Ador – click any image for full size

In Middle Earth, Eriador lies between the Blue Mountains (Ered Luin – or Erid Lindon) to the west and the Misty Mountains (Ered Hithui or Hithaeglir) to the east. It is the land within which – among other places – the Grey Havens, The Shire and Rivendell (Imladris) might be found.

Within Second Life Eri-Ador lies with mountains to the west and to the east (and also, admittedly, to the north and south). While carrying certain echoes of Tolkien’s mythical realm of Middle Earth – within it you will find elven halls and tree houses, Ents and Orcs and even the Dark Tower itself, surmounted by the Eye – it is not intended to be a facsimile of the world made famous through the likes of The Hobbit, and The Lord of the Rings. Rather, it is a region that draws a degree of inspiration from Tolkien and from Second Life itself to present a place edged in mysticism and with a rich artistic vein.

Eri-Ador; Inara Pey, June 2018, on FlickrEri-Ador

The work of Tom Mcgregor (mastersinn) and his SL partner Misty Mcgregor (MistieDream),  Eri-Ador is difficult to really quantify; it is a place which has to be experienced, rather than described. There is so much to see and appreciate.

In the broadest terms, the region is split into two – the west side largely sitting on shallow water, the east a rugged, snow-dusted stretch of land. A visit beings on the western edge of the region, within a gazebo of distinctly elven design. From here, and lying under the guarding branches of arched trees, a grassy avenue sits on the water, pointing the way east to the rise of dry land.

Eri-Ador; Inara Pey, June 2018, on FlickrEri-Ador

To the right and left of this avenue, the waters offer the setting for a garden of sculptures from the likes of Mistero Hifeng, Sharni Lubomir (Sharni Azalee), Groll (Groll Greggan), Kadaj Yoshikawa, Shepherd (BF2 Shepherd), Paco Pooley and CioTToLiNa Xue to name just some. These are displayed either side of the east-pointing avenue, those to the south caught beneath a torrential downpour, about which a line of street lamps guarding a south-pointing board walk can do little: the umbrellas that hold aloft little more than handles and spines…

Travel south through the rains and you’ll eventually come to the elven hall. Imladris it may not be, but it sits, Rivendell like within the shadows of mountains, echoing the Last Homely House and carrying inside it, its own sense of mystery and magic – or perhaps modern elven science …

Eri-Ador; Inara Pey, June 2018, on FlickrEri-Ador

The board walk also branches to the east before reaching the elven hall and, like the grass path under the arched trees pointing eastwards from the landing point, eventually makes landfall. Here, sitting atop a low snow-covered shoulder of rock sits Barad-dûr, a dark finger of a tower, its nail the burning all-seeing eye. Before the tower floats a gaunt wraith, hands cupping fireballs – one of the Nine, perhaps?

Like the watery half of the region, there is much to discover on the rocky landscape either side of the Dark Tower, making careful exploration a must. There is, for example, a harpsichord and harp to be found with a small music stage close by; while elsewhere a balloon-suspended bridge connects a pointed escarpment to a platform floating upon clouds, while a stone stairway climbs even higher into the heavens, its passage marked by more of Mistro’s figures.

Eri-Ador; Inara Pey, June 2018, on FlickrEri-Ador – “Heaven”

All this still only touches on the richness to be found within Eri Ador – from the aforementioned Ents in their confrontation with an Orc through touches of whimsy with bearded dwarves. For those wishing to sit and admire the art and the setting, their are numerous places to sit – and even to participate in the music of the setting. And al of that is without mentioning the two further points of exploration: Heaven and riding area.

The latter are both located overhead, and reached via the teleport disc at the landing point. The riding area in particular offers a very different environment than found at ground level, giving visitors a touch of the Old Western frontier.  This is also not without its sense of sitting outside of time: it’s not every day you travel through a frontier town with saloon, stagecoach and gun slinger to arrive at a farm with a pick-up truck and tractor … I will confess, neither Caitlyn or I were entirely clear on the “riding” aspect of this level; neither of us were successful in finding any kind of horse rezzer – which didn’t stop us from exploring!

Eri-Ador; Inara Pey, June 2018, on FlickrEri-Ador – “Riding Area”

All-in-all, Eri-Ador is a fascinating and unique region; very different from those of recent visits, and definitely a place to visit and explore. I would note that the use of mesh rain and similar effects can have an impact on viewer performance, so some tweaking of viewer preferences might be in order – but this shouldn’t be used as a reason not to make a visit.

SLurl Details

  • Eri Ador (Mystical Kingdom, rated: Moderate)

With thanks to Shakespeare for the LM ♥ .

2018 SL UG updates #24/1: Simulator User Group meeting

Posted on by Inara Pey

Italian Village of Ciampi, Italy; Inara Pey, May 2018, on FlickrItalian Village of Ciampi, Italy – blog post

Server Deployments

As always, please refer to the server deployment thread for the latest information.

  • There was no deployment to the Main (SLS) channel on Tuesday, June 12th 2018, leaving the channel running server maintenance package 18#18.05.25.515749, containing internal fixes and server-side support for the upcoming new Estate Management ban list management changes.
  • On Wednesday, June 13th, the three main RC channels – LeTigre, BlueSteel and Magnum – should be updated with a new server maintenance package, 18#18.05.30.516064, comprising:
    • Additional work to support localised Abuse Report categories.
    • Improvements to object updates as part of ongoing performance improvements.
    • Removal of the logging of a trivial message.
    • Internal fixes.
    • Note that the majority of this updated is the same as 18#18.05.30.515812, initially deployed on Wednesday, June 6th, and subsequently rolled-back.

The reason for the RC channel roll-backs was described by Simon Linden at the Simulator User Group meeting on Tuesday, June 12th:

We had some excitement last week as we rolled a new version out to the RC channels, discovered a crasher bug we didn’t catch in testing, and had to revert back to the main version. That was fixed real quick and we’ll get the updated server again tomorrow … It was basically “go to a region with a crowd”; I’m not sure of the exact frequency, but the new code was in sending attachment updates … it probably happened one in a million times. Put that on a few thousand regions and it becomes noticeable.

SL Viewer

The Pálinka Maintenance RC updated to version 5.1.6.516121 on Tuesday, June 12th, 2018.

At the time of writing, the remainder of the SL viewer pipelines are as follows:

  • Current Release version 5.1.5.515811, dated May 31, promoted June 1 – formerly the Love Me Render Release Candidate.
  • Release channel cohorts:
    • 2-bit Windows Unloop RC viewer, version 5.1.6.515965, dated June 5 – specifically for 32-bit Windows users caught in the 64-bit install loop (see here for more). Otherwise, the viewer is functionally identical to release version 5.1.5.515811.
  • 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.

Other Items

Client-Side Scripting Discussion

During the Simulator User Group meeting, the discussion turned towards client-side scripting support. This is something the Lab looked at several years ago, with Babbage Linden working on a possible C# implementation. Tis could enable things like scriptable UI elements, eliminating the need for HUDs, etc.

There are practical benefit to such an approach – be it with C# or something like Python; but there are also risk with the potential for exploiting the capability, as Simon Linden pointed out:

There’s also a really ugly trust issue with viewer-side code … do you trust someone so you’ll install their code, with the potential they might look into your inventory and such … we could probably sandbox an interpreter, but yes that kind of thing would have to be locked down, or it is definitely scary if it can read/write files … also preventing a viewer interpreter from loading outside modules … which of course are very useful, but can do scary things.

Also during the meeting, Oz Linden didn’t rule out the possibility of looking at the project again at some point in the future. However, it is important to note that currently, there is nothing on the SL roadmap with regards to this kind of work – or anything like it – at this point in time.

 

Colour, whimsy and monochrome in Second Life

Posted on by Inara Pey
DiXmiX Gallery: A DeLauren

DiXmiX Gallery, curated by Dixmix Source is once more hosting three exhibitions by three very different talents – although one of the exhibitions draws to a close during this current week. All three present some very unique art that tends to generate very mixed – in a positive sense – reactions on encountering individual pieces, making all three engrossing as individual displays of art.

Within the Grey Gallery, just inside the gallery’s main entrance, A. DeLauren – (AlessaMendoza) presents Colour Experiments, a display of 12 images split between the lower and mezzanine levels of the hall. As the title indicates, these are pieces where colour, perhaps more than subject, takes centre stage. The various ways in which colour and tone is quite extraordinary, from the violet wash of Rush Heat, suggestive of everything from erotic dancing, through to club lighting to the stunning and subtle use of blue tones  – ocean, teal, cerulean, Arctic, peacock and more – found in Wild Back.

DiXmiX Gallery: A DeLauren

Several of the pieces do draw attention to the central subject – as with Wild Back, and Dots Space; others border on a more surreal approach. Heat Wave 1, Triangles, Blue, and Butterflies Garden, for example, project feelings of motion within them or of looking into 3D anaglyph images without the aid of the required red / blue glasses.  Thus we are offered a most sui generis set of images to appreciate.

“Don’t burn your mind thinking about the meaning of this or that in my works; but if you think there are symbols and hidden messages, feel free to imagine. Go any way the wind blows!” So says Kimeu Korg of hi work, presented at DiXmiX under the title of Osmosis De Un Sueno.

DiXmiX Gallery: Kimeu Korg

This largest of the three exhibitions, occupying the lower floor Black Gallery halls and for me, the most delightful and engrossing of the three. There is something about Kimeu’s art which so often offers us a unique perspective on Second Life, well removed from “the usual”. There is also in some of his work a wonderful blending of physical art with images and settings from Second Life which again gives cause to exercise the word “unique” in its most positive of connotations. Further, there is also – frankly – a depth of whimsy in so many of the pieces, that when viewing them, it’s hard not to feel as if we’re in Kimeu’s company, sharing a nod and a wink with him.

The sheer richness of narrative on offer in these images – be it simple whimsy coupled with a little dark humour, or the melding of physical world art into SL scenes – is extraordinary. The whimsy can be found in the likes of Wind Serenade and Dickens’s The Drunk and, with the dark humour in Curiosity… and  …Killed he Cat, which are a delightful pair of themselves, but in this exhibition sit almost as a triptych with Amanece, que no es poco (Sunrise, Which Is No Small Thing).

DiXmiX Gallery: Kimeu Korg

In contrast, Is This The End Of The World? not only sits as example of how Kimeu combines art from the physical world – in this case part of Michelangelo’s famous fresco The Creation of Adam – with a scene from Second Life to create something which is eye-catching and also rich in motif. Note the ghostly astronaut to the left of the scene, perhaps representing humanity’s pride in technological achievement (and pride, as we know, is said to come before a fall), the presence of an eagle with its Biblical connotations, matched by the presence of a serpent coiled in the lower left corner of the picture.

I could wax lyrical about all of the images in Osomsis De Un Sueno – I’ve not even touched on the sheer evocative power of First Flight or the richness of expression any lover of musical will recognise in Under A Hat Is Always Music. However, suffice it to say that if you miss this exhibition, you are missing an absolute delight. I just wish I could be sure of the provenance of the painting at the centre of the marvellously surreal El Cerco (The Fence); I’m fairly convinced the vessel is HMS Victory (often painted flying the red ensign), but I cannot put my finger on where I’ve seen this particular image before…

DiXmiX Gallery: Kimeu Korg

Rounding out – albeit also coming to an end this week – this trio of exhibitions is Grit by Kato Salyut, which occupies the Mezzanine level White Gallery at DiXmiX.

“I photograph avatars and make them more exciting, more real and very special,” Kato says of his work, and the 14 images presented within Grit certainly offer some unique – surreal, even, in some cases – perspectives on their avatar subjects.

DiXmiX Gallery: Kato Salyut

Presented in monochrome, these images both contract strongly with the colours used in the other two exhibitions above, whilst the tone and approach of several of the pieces offered also complement the surreal and experimental aspects present in some of the works to be found in both Colour Experiments and Osmosis De Un Sueno. They also present a very different perspective on avatar studies often found with other artists.

Due to come to a close on the weekend of the 16th / 17th June, this is another visually powerful exhibition, and one which  – if you haven’t already seen – should be given time to appreciate in-world before it closes.

DiXmiX Gallery: Kato Salyut

SLurl Details

2018 viewer release summaries week #23

Posted on by Inara Pey
Logos representative only and should not be seen as an endorsement / preference / recommendation

Updates for the week ending Sunday, June 10th

This summary is generally published on every Monday, and is a list of SL viewer / client releases (official and TPV) made during the previous week. When reading it, please note:

  • It is based on my Current Viewer Releases Page, a list of all Second Life viewers and clients that are in popular use (and of which I am aware), and which are recognised as adhering to the TPV Policy. This page includes comprehensive links to download pages, blog notes, release notes, etc., as well as links to any / all reviews of specific viewers / clients made within this blog.
  • By its nature, this summary presented here will always be in arrears, please refer to the Current Viewer Release Page for more up-to-date information.
  • Note that test viewers, preview / beta viewers / nightly builds are not recorded in these summaries.

Official LL Viewers

  • Current Release version 5.1.5.515811, dated May 31, promoted June 1 – formerly the Love Me Render Release Candidate – No change.
  • Release channel cohorts (please see my notes on manually installing RC viewer versions if you wish to install any release candidate(s) yourself):
    • The Pálinka Maintenance RC viewer updated to version 5.1.6.515927 on June 7th.
    • The Unloop RC viewer, version 5.1.6.515965, released on June 5th for 32-bit users only – see more here.
  • Project viewers:
    • 360-degree snapshot project viewer updated to version 5.1.6.515934 on  June 6th.

LL Viewer Resources

Third-party Viewers

V5-style

V1-style

Mobile / Other Clients

  • MetaChat updated to version 1.2.700 on June 9th – release notes.

Additional TPV Resources

Related Links

Eclipse: more than a little place in Second Life

Posted on by Inara Pey

Eclipse Tiny Place; Inara Pey, June 2018, on FlickrEclipse Tiny Place – click any image for full size

Update: Eclipse Tiny Place has closed. SLurls have therefore been removed from this article.

It’s the kind of place brought to mind when visiting Eclipse Tiny Place, a superbly designed 1/6 of a full region offered for public consumption by Lagoa. Despite its size – under 11,000 square metres, this is a parcel that offers almost something of everything for people to enjoy.

Occupying the north-east corner of the region on which it sits, the parcel is open to the sea on two sides, looking over a broad ribbon of sand arcing around the parcel and onto open waters. The remaining two sides of the land are backed by high cliffs which help create the feeling that this is a location isolated from the rest of the world. Water tumbles from the corner meeting-point of these two rocky walls, cascading in steps into a pool of clear blue water, a broad swathe of which runs north to slip under a rocky arc to the sea.

Eclipse Tiny Place; Inara Pey, June 2018, on FlickrEclipse Tiny Place

Two islands sit within this channel, each ringed by hedgerows. One is circular and home to an orangery, the other an oval on which sits a tree house – in the most literal sense of the word, the front door being in the trunk of the tree itself. Bridges link these islands one to another and with the rest of the parcel, providing a means for explorers to reach all parts of the parcel that may interest them.

Set out across the rest of the land are as series of garden areas laid out around a house. Paths segregate the various parts of the gardens and offer routes to a pavilion sitting at the southern end of the parcel, separated from the beach by tiered walls of floors.

Eclipse Tiny Place; Inara Pey, June 2018, on FlickrEclipse Tiny Place

To try to describe this parcel in all its beauty would be an understatement so much has been packed into it – and not just haphazardly; the design and placement of gardens, trees, seating areas, event spaces, buildings, has all been carried out almost flawlessly, making Eclipse Tiny Place the kind of place where visitors genuinely want to spend time. To help with this, throughout the parcel there are many places to sit and enjoy the setting.

Art is also very much in evidence here, from the water-like garden of the tree house to the ruler-straight hedgerows separating the gardens from the sands of the northern beach or the dragons guarding the pavilion mentioned earlier.

Eclipse Tiny Place; Inara Pey, June 2018, on FlickrEclipse Tiny Place

There are one or two little incongruities to be found: there is no direct path to the beach; instead, visitors have to scramble through hedgerows or climb over walls to reach the sand and the places people might as sit scattered along it. The local waterfowl are also perhaps on the large size 🙂 . A little more depth might also be added through the addition of an ambient sound scape. However, these are minor points.

Even without ambient sounds, there is a depth to Eclipse Tiny Place that really is astonishing. It is another tour de force of what can be done within a relatively small space (although admittedly, the full region on which Eclipse Tiny Place sits does make use of the full 30K LI available to private regions). As such, a visit and spending time exploring is highly recommended.

Eclipse Tiny Place; Inara Pey, June 2018, on FlickrEclipse Tiny Place

When visiting, don’t miss the little island floating overhead and the hot air balloon sitting offshore. And should you appreciate your time spent within the parcel, do please consider making a donation towards its upkeep and availability through one of the donation points somewhat cleverly described as food within the gardens and buildings.  And, for those who take photos of their visit, there is also the opportunity to share them via the Eclipse Tiny Place Flickr group.

SLurl Details

  • Eclipse Tiny Place (Lombard Park, rated: Moderate)