This summary is published 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.
Official LL Viewers
Current Release version: 4.0.5.315117 (dated May 11), May 18th – no change: formerly the Quick Graphics RC viewer download page, release notes
Cool VL viewer Stable branch updated to version 1.26.18.11 and the Experimental branch updated to version 1.26.19.13, both on June 25th (release notes)
Updated June 30th – please refer to note following a quoted comment from Matrice.
The following notes and audio were taken from the weekly Bento User Group meeting, held on Thursday, June 23rd at 13:00 SLT at the the Hippotropolis Campfire Circle. For details on the meeting agenda, please refer to the Bento User Group wiki page.
Note that this update is not intended to offer a full transcript of the meeting, nor does it present the discussion points in chronological order. Rather, it represents the core points of discussion, grouped together by subject matter were relevant / possible, whilst maintaining the overall context of the meeting.
Apologies for the quality of Vir’s voice in the recording, this is my fault. I had to go afk just after starting the audio recording, and I hadn’t adjusted my local pick-up of Vir’s voice before doing so. As as consequence, Vir sounds a little distorted.
There has been further forum thread discussions on issues with the position of some of the new facial bones when they are used in combination with the head sliders. The core of this discussion commences here, and Mal Vanbeeck has offered a feature request for “shape slider friendly” facial bone positions. Some of this is also tied to issues relating to the range of movement of bones with the sliders or under animation.
Matrice Laville has been looking into some of the issues, and has come up with a proposal for making some amendments to the Bento skeleton to try to address some of the problems. However, any changes which are implemented will change the structure of the skeleton and how the sliders work, and will likely impact some initial content using the affected parts of the skeleton.
Because of this, it is likely the proposed amendments will be built into a test version of the Bento viewer, rather than the current project viewer, together with some test models to allow independent testing of the updates so it can be determined if they address the issues sufficiently and do not have unanticipated additional impact, so that a decision can be made on whether or not to fully implement them into the project viewer.
Specific changes in this test viewer, when available, are focused on issues raised around eyes and jaws, and so should comprise:
Changing the eyelids to have the same centre position as the eyebrow
Changes to the jaw and tongue positions
Changing the lower teeth so that they are parented to the lower jaw bone
Associated slider changes.
Adding to this in text, Matrice said:
All jaw related sliders do no longer translate the jaw except the jaw angle slider; the jaw bone has its default position now right below the faceRoot. The jaw angle slider still moves like crazy but I believe it is not an issue any longer. Actually, I propose to remove the [.LAD definitions for the Bento bones from the] jaw angle slider, because it only is needed for the jaw angle. I bet nobody will miss that slider.*
[NB June 30th: This comment has been updated, as some confusion followed the publication of this report, causing Matrice some embarrassment. The fault is mine, and is the result of copying a text comment verbatim, rather than seeming clarification from Matrice. My apologies to him and any anyone else for the confusion caused.]
As Vir acknowledged, this has been a major amount of work which should hopefully address many of the issues encountered with the complexity of the new face bones and attempting to hook them into a limited set of available sliders.
Vir also noted that when available, Bento avatars using this revised skeleton in the test viewer may look odd when seen on the Bento project viewer, and vice-versa, and that the work has been carried out with the aim of limiting any de-stabilising influences the changes may have if and when they are integrated into Bento as a whole, while at the same time avoiding being so conservative that Bento ends up going live still with issues like these which might impact its adoption and use.
A notification will be placed in the forum thread when the viewer is ready.
Project Viewer Status
There are some bug fixes that will be upcoming in the next Bento project update, which could be appearing sometime in week #26 (week commencing Monday, June 27th).
The Lab is working to get the viewer to Release Candidate status, with the work focused on identifying and prioritising the bugs which really need to be fixed before moving forward. There will also be the work to integrate the modifications to bone positions and sliders noted above, together with associated evaluation, plus the upcoming testing. However, the hope is the viewer will move to RC status in the not-too-distant future.
Medhue Simoni (l) and Coyot Linden (r) wearing the upright coyote avatar Medhue made for Coyot, attending the June 16th Bento meeting
Tool Chain Issues
Some of the recent bugs Vir has been investigating with regards to specific content appear to be down to potential issues within the tools used to create the content introducing irregularities in the models and animations, rather than anything specific to how Bento itself is handling the uploaded models.
Obviously, in such circumstances, there is only so far the Lab can go in investigating these types of issues, as they have no knowledge of exactly how the models /animations were defined within the creator’s tools of choice, etc., and so content creators who have encountered these specific issues have been asked to take them back to the tools creators to make sure things are behaving correctly at that end of the process.
There was not deployment to the Main (SLS) channel on Tuesday, June 21st.
On Wednesday, June 20th, the three RC channels were updated with the same new server maintenance package, comprising minor internal changes and Tool Tip/Constant text fixes.
The RC update includes a fix for BUG-18251, and a further fix for the Bento attachment issue documented in BUG-10979, which doesn’t change Bento models or how avatars are rendered by the viewer.
SL Viewer
The Maintenance RC viewer updated on Friday, June 24th to version 4.0.6.316883.
The remaining official viewers were not updated during the week, leaving them as follows:
Current Release version: 4.0.5.315117 (dated May 11), May 18 – formerly the Quick Graphics RC viewer
Inventory Message RC viewer, version 4.0.6.315555, dated May 23rd – removal of deprecated and unused UDP inventory messaging mechanisms from the viewer
Project viewers:
Project VLC Media Plugin viewer, version 4.0.6.316258, dated June 15th – replaces the QuickTime media plugin for the Windows viewer with one based on LibVLC
Visual Outfit Browser viewer, version 4.0.6.316123, dated June 6th – ability to preview images of outfits in the Appearance floater
Project Bento (avatar skeleton extensions), version 5.0.0.316366, dated June 10th – bug fixes
Obsolete platform viewer, version 3.7.28.300847 dated May 8, 2015 – provided for users on Windows XP and OS X versions below 10.7.
Larger Animation File Sizes
There has been a long-standing request to increase the file size for animations, a request which has been enhanced by the development within Bento, where there is now a far larger number of bones to be pushed around (see BUG-11836).
While the Lab had been open to this idea, it looked as if any change would be deferred until after the back-end services had been updated to deliver animation assets via the Content Delivery Network (CDN), which at the time of writing is used to deliver meshes and textures to the viewer.
However, the Lab has now decided to bring this change forward, rather than wait for the move to the CDN. As this is a server-side update, it is currently due to be in the Release Candidate channel updates for Wednesday, June 29th (from Caleb Linden, talking at the Server Beta User Group meeting on Thursday, June 23rd). This will see the animation file size limit raised from 120Kb to 250Kb.
One thing to bear in mind however, is that until animations are moved to CDN delivery (where they should enjoy somewhat faster delivery to your viewer on a first-time load), they will be delivered to your viewer via UDP, and the larger file size, as it comes into use, will probably mean a slightly longer delay before animations kick-in while they are being downloaded. Obviously, once caches locally, this should be an issue (unless you clear cache).
Vir Linden discussed this change at the Bento Project meeting, and I’m including the audio extract from that meeting below.
There was not deployment to the Main (SLS) channel on Tuesday, June 21st.
On Wednesday, June 20th, the three RC channels should be updated with the same new server maintenance package, comprising minor internal changes and Tool Tip/Constant text fixes.
The RC update includes a fix for BUG-18251, and a further fix for the Bento attachment issue documented in BUG-10979, which doesn’t change Bento models or how avatars are rendered by the viewer.
SL Viewer
There have been no updates to the Lab’s viewers so far this week, leaving the list currently as:
Current Release version: 4.0.5.315117 (dated May 11), May 18 – formerly the Quick Graphics RC viewer
Release channel cohorts:
Maintenance RC viewer, 4.0.6.316614 dated June 16th
Inventory Message RC viewer, version 4.0.6.315555, dated May 23rd – removal of deprecated and unused UDP inventory messaging mechanisms from the viewer
Project viewers:
Project VLC Media Plugin viewer, version 4.0.6.316258, dated June 15th – replaces the QuickTime media plugin for the Windows viewer with one based on LibVLC
Visual Outfit Browser viewer, version 4.0.6.316123, dated June 6th – ability to preview images of outfits in the Appearance floater
Project Bento (avatar skeleton extensions), version 5.0.0.316366, dated June 10th – bug fixes
Oculus Rift project viewer, version 3.7.18.295296, dated on October 13, 2014 – Oculus Rift DK2 support
Obsolete platform viewer, version 3.7.28.300847 dated May 8, 2015 – provided for users on Windows XP and OS X versions below 10.7.
In terms of the Oculus Rift viewer, speaking at the SL13B Meet the Lindens event on Tuesday, June 21st, Ebbe Altberg indicated that he’s been invited to a demonstration of the updated viewer. This doesn’t necessarily mean the viewer will be updated in the Oculus project channel immediately, but it might be taken as a sign of the continuing progress with the viewer.
Other Items
Utility Server Maintenance
There will be further maintenance on a cluster of the Lab’s utility servers on Wednesday June 22nd, at 01:00 SLT. During this time:
Residents served by the cluster may be logged off of Second Life, and unable to relog until the maintenance is complete
Resident groups served by the cluster may be unable to send messages or initiate group chats during the maintenance.
Users are advised to monitor the Lab’s Grid Status Twitter feed at @SLGridStatus. This is reportedly the last phase of current Utility Server Maintenance work, with previous phases occurring on June 17th and June 21st. While it is only speculation on my part, I suspect this work might be in connection with the core database cluster issues experienced on Friday, June 10th.
CTRLALTStudio Withdraws from Third Party Viewer Directory
The Oculus Rift supporting CtrlAltStudio viewer has withdrawn from the Second Life Third-Party Viewer Directory following an announcement by its developer, Strachan OFarrel (aka David Rowe), in which he states that while the viewer remains available for download, it is no longer being maintained.
Many thanks to Dave for his work in developing CtrlAltStudio and for his ongoing work with High Fidelity.
This summary is published 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.
Official LL Viewers
Current Release version: 4.0.5.315117 (dated May 11), May 18th – no change: formerly the Quick Graphics RC viewer download page, release notes
Maintenance RC viewer updated to version 4.0.6.316614 on June 16th – fixes and updates (download and release notes)
Project viewers:
Project VLC Media Plugin Viewer updated to version 4.0.6.316258, on June 15th – replaces the QuickTime media plugin for the Windows version of the viewer with one based on LibVLC (download and release notes)
Cool VL viewer Stable branch updated to version 1.26.18.10 and the Experimental branch updated to version 1.26.19.12, both on June 18th (release notes)
Singularity Windows (32/64-bit) and Linux 64-bit updated to version 1.8.7.6861 on Thursday, June 16 (release notes)
Thursday, June 16th saw the first full release of Singularity in almost two years, with version 1.8.7.6861being offered for download.
As the release notes explain, the delay in updates for the viewer have been due to a number of reasons – not the least of which was the sad passing of Latif Khalifa (to whom this release is dedicated), and also the departure of one of the viewers core developers for pastures new. There have also be various infrastructure and hardware issues which have frustrated attempts at update.
The new release is currently for Windows 32-bit and 64-bit, and Linux 64-bit only, The team hopes to get the Mac version back on track as well, and are currently seeking a Mac developer to help with this.
Given the length of time since the last full release, there have obviously been a lot of changes, including getting back towards parity with many of the Lab’s own updates, as well as singularity’s own bug fixes and the adoption of elements from Alchemy.
As usual, I don’t propose giving an in-depth review of all the changes to the viewer here, but will attempt to highlight some of the more significant.
Lab-derived Changes
Tool Chain Update
Perhaps the most significant change with this release is under-the-hood. Singularity is now built using the latest tools and libraries recommended by Linden Lab. For Windows, this means that with the 1.8.7 release, the viewer no longer supports Windows XP. It also means that when the Mac version of the viewer is updated, Singularity will no longer support anything earlier than OSX 10.7 going forward.
TLS 1.2 Support
Singularity 1.8.7 is TLS 1.2 complaint, meaning you can use the built-in web browser to make LindeX transactions or SL marketplace purchases if you so wish.
Hover Height
The Hover height slider is available via the Quick Prefs panel
The Lab’s Hover Height functionality has been added to the Singularity Quick Pref panel (click the UP arrow button, lower right-hand corner of the viewer window). As per the official Hover Height it works to a range of +/- 2 metres.
Independent of Hover Height, but a little similar in nature and so worth mentioning here is a new /hover command, which is described as “supporting values of -50 through 50”, however, during testing on Aditi, I found that the maximum height by which I was moved was around 5 metres, regardless of anything set above that. I therefore assume the release notes should read “supporting values of -5.0 through 5.0” – although admittedly I’ve not referred this back to the Singularity developers for confirmation.
Other Lab-Driven Updates
Latest inventory protocol (AISv3) support has been merged in to maintain future SL inventory handling compatibility
QtWebkit browser has been replaced with a Chromium variant
The SLVoice plug-in (Vivox) has been updated to parity with the SL viewer
Server-Side Baking (avatar appearance has been updated
Avatar rendering information is now reported to the simulator (although the local complexity limit slider has not been implemented in Preferences > Graphics) so this is not a full Avatar Complexity implementation).
Preferences Updates
Input and Camera
For combat enthusiasts, Preferences > Input and Camera includes two new options:
Display targeted avatar’s name under the crosshair
Display position and avatar health (your own avatar, in damage-enabled regions)
The new Mouselook options in Preferences > Input & Camera
Communication Chat Preferences Updates
Preferences > Communications: you can now select which conference calls to accept / block (Accept all, accept Friends Only, Block all)
Preferences > Adv. Chat > Chat UI allows you to select displaying user names, display name, display name with user names or user names with display names from a drop-down list
Preferences > Adv. Chat > Autoresponse now splits auto response options into separate sub-tabs. Also, autoresponse options can now be selected via the World menu > Status sub-menu
Revised auto response options layout
Adv Chat > Spam includes a new option to block LM offers.
Inara Pey: Living in a Modemworld 