Category: SL Tech

Parametric deformer: Linden Lab formally engages

Posted on by Inara Pey

It’s taken a little while – understandably, as wheels have to be set properly in motion – but the parametric deformer project has its first official update today, in which Max Graf gives an overview of what is happening:

“Karl [Qarl Fizz, aka Qarl Linden as was] has begun working on the code and was contacted by LL in order to facilitate development of this feature. He will be working directly with LL from this point forward to supply them with code as the project moves forward, allowing them to check the feature with compatibility for the official LL releases as he progresses so that when it is done it can quickly and easily be included without weekes of additional testing. They contacted him directly to expedite the process and work together from the start of this, which means it will be working correctly and will make it a lot easier for TPVs and other grids to implement once it is done!

“This is great news and in addition to the comment Charlar made about further development with open source features is indicative of some serious new possibilities for development. Kudos to LL and Karl for being able to come to the table together for the good of the SL community. This is a best case scenario for this project, and indicates a strong willingness on LL’s part to adopt and implement this new feature that we have wanted since July.”

Kudos indeed to Linden Lab!

As Max says, this is a best case scenario for the project, and will do much to ensure the completed deformer can be smoothly integrated into the Snowstorm code. This is turn should make the code easily more adaptable by those TPV developers who maintain V3.x-based Viewers, although older V1.x Viewer developers may still have a little work on their hands. Once again this is a win-win-win scenario for all: Second Life, Linden Lab and OpenSim (which faces similar issues when it comes to mesh clothing).

Estimates put the work of code development at around four weeks or so; given that LL are now going to help ensure the code can be integrated into the Viewer code more readily, the development cycle may well stretch a little – but the end result will be more than worth it.

It’s great to see the Lab respond so positively and openly with a user-based project in this way, and again demonstrates that the Lab is willing to engage and work cooperatively with the community as a whole.

It’ll be interesting to see whether this project yet proves to be a new building block in the way the Viewer is developed and enhanced in the future.

Viewer snapshot floater overhauled

Posted on by Inara Pey

The latest Development – 3.2.3 (244722) Nov  8 2011 – and Beta  – Second Life 3.2.2 (244666) – Viewers include a new snapshot floater that presents a set of simplified controls and some new features.

Snapshot folder – old (l) and new (r)

Send Snapshots to Your Feed

There is a button to send any snapshot directly to your feed ay my.secondlife.com. There is no charge associated with this option, and clicking the button allows you to:

  • Set the image size
  • Optionally include a caption for the snapshot and the location where the picture was taken

E-mail Revised

The option to send an image via e-mail has been revised; clicking on the button now opens the message options in the snapshot floater, rather than in a separate floater, and buttons allow you to toggle between the message view and the image settings.

Advanced Options

The advanced options for snapshots are now access by clicking the right-pointing chevrons at the top of the floater. Here you’ll find the familiar check boxes for including the interface and your HUDs in an image, and to set the auto-refresh function. However, there are two options some might not be familiar with that are worth mentioning.

Colour / Depth

Available when saving images to your computer via the drop-down menu, this option allows you to take a full colour image or something more atmospheric. The DEPTH option appears to work with the Viewer’s DoF (Depths of Field) option active in the PREFERENCES -> GRAPHICS tab. Examples of both settings are below.

Save options: Colour (l); Depth with Viewer DoF active (m); Depth with Viewer DoF disabled (r) – note loss of detail in (r)

Freeze Frame

This is probably the feature that will excite most people. Check the option will switch the Viewer to full screen mode, and freeze what you are seeing in-world while allowing you to position the camera for the shot you require!

With freeze frame active, you can pan, orbit, zoom until you’re satisfied, then take the shot. Clicking the refresh bution with the option active will update you screen to the last moves made by any avatars / moving objects in view.

All told, this is a very well-presented update with some fun new features. I like it!

With thanks to Opensource Obscure

Update 11th November

As has been pointed out – I’d somehow missed the fact that freeze frame has been around a while; as has, tbh the colour / depth options. Put this down to me staying up far too late at night looking at things when I should be a-bed!. Article revised to reflect these errors.

Viewer 3.2 launched, I make a few suggestions

Posted on by Inara Pey

Quick note: A couple of other blogs have linked to this piece as a review of the new UI. If you are looking for a review, you can find mine here. This article only references the fact the new Viewer is released, and doesn’t carry any specifics.

Well, well.

After blogging yesterday that Viewer 3.2 had reached Beta – lo and behold, and with no fanfare whatsoever, it’s released!

Apparently there was a blog post about it that Tateru spotted on Monday, but it appears to have vanished into the sub-etha.

Version 3.2.0 (244443), dated Nov 3rd, doesn’t have the latest revisions that the Beta release has – there is no Destination Guide open by default, and there are no translation options on the Chat Preferences, nor does Inventory have the Direct Delivery revision (not surprising, given yesterday’s announcement). The new attach points (Neck and Centre) have yet to appear – although they are in the Beta, so expect them & translate, etc., shortly.

However, everything else I covered in my First Looks piece on the new UI is there – including the direct-to-marketplace shopping button top right of the screen which is liable to annoy many who have in-world shops.

3.2.0 UI

I’m not sure when on Monday the switch-over occurred; I’ve been checking the download page daily of late (sometimes more than twice), and when I downloaded the latest Beta, the release Viewer was still 3.1.2.

Short Random Thoughts on the UI

Given we have a button-based UI, I’m not going to suggest anything radical, but here are some thoughts:

  • Make the Chat  bar optionally “sticky” so that if positioned over the bottombutton area, it displays a-la V1, without the floater surround (i.e. so the “nearby chat” floater title and X to close vanish). This would:
    • Reduce screen space used by the bar
    • Allow a further V1-like feel to the Viewer, helping those moving over from V1 feel more at home
  • Add more button options for greater flexibility, for example:
    • Environment settings to access the Environment Settings floater (and add sun positions as buttons on the floater)
    • Quick Preferences button, a-la Phoenix / Firestorm, that provides access to frequently used options such as the Draw distance, Particles count, Height offset, Physics and LOD sliders, etc, and WindLight presets

Button floaters were an idea that crossed my mind as well, but I’m not convinced they’d be a benefit.I hope the code is such that TPVs adopting the UI can add their own buttons easily enough.

I’m a little surprised that the improved camera controls / floater still hasn’t appeared and can’t help wondering what LL are doing with it.

Would also be nice at some point to see some form of client-side AO option included in the Viewer. TPVs have these as standard, they don’t impact on the sales of AOs (as people still need the walks, etc.). On that subject, LL, isn’t it about time the default waddle was reworked into something of a “unisex” walk?

Anyway, random thoughts aside, if you’ve not given the new UI a test, I recommend you do, even if you’re not a regular official Viewer user – it’s worth a look-see, and even if buttons aren’t to everyone’s liking, they at least allow a greater flexibility of approach to screen layout – and even allow a sort-of pseudo Viewer 1.x layout.

Updates: 9th November

Two excellent JIRAs on the UI have been raised, and they are certainly worth Watching (which, as we all know, is the new Voting – although putting in a vote as well won’t do any harm!)

  • VWR-27388 – make all menu options draggable to the button areas – thanks to Pat Perth
  • VWR-27455 – make button groups repositionable within the button areas (i.e. move to left/right or top/bottom edge of placement areas – thanks to Gwyneth Llewelyn
  • I’ve also raised a JIRA for the addition of a “Quick Preferences” button to access specific sliders: VWR-27457.

Also on the 9th, LL’s blog post on the Viewer reappeared, together with a number of links:

This post also included information on my.secondlife.com Direct Messaging, which I covered last month.

LL move to continue built-in Viewer translation

Posted on by Inara Pey

As most know, changes to the Google translation services are coming. The v1 service was depreciated in May of this year while free access to v2 service was discontinued for “new” application requests on the 24th August (access switching over to their paid service), with all existing access to the free service started prior to the 24th August due to be discontinued from December 1st.

The Lag – via Oz Linden mulled over alternatives for a time, via JIRA, and this has resulted in two options for continuing to use an in-built translator in the future, by using either the paid-for Google Translate API, or by using the Microsoft Bing translation API.

The new translation options are not live as yet, but can be seen in the latest Development Viewer (3.2.2 (224260) or above or the latest Beta Viewer (3.2.1 244227 or above and which also has the new Viewer UI incorporated in it).

Accessing the Translate Options

To access the translation options, go to PREFERENCES -> CHAT and click on CHAT TRANSLATION SETTINGS. This will open a further floater:

New translation service options

As can be seen, the Google translate option is retained – but you’ll have to sign-up and pay for the service yourself.

The Bing option provides a means to continue with a free translation service, but will require you register for a WindowsLive ID, if you don’t already have one.

Using the Bing Translator Service

To obtain a Bing AppID:

  • Click on the Bing AppID link in the floater. If you have a WindowsLive account and are logged in, you’ll be taken to the application registration page
  • If you don’t have a WindowsLive account or are not logged in, you’ll be taken to the sign-in registration page
  • Once you are signed-in or have gone through the registration / verification process, you’ll be taken to the application registration page. This isn’t a terribly helpful page, but essentially:
    • In Application Name type “bing” or “bing translator” (although I get the impression just about anything will work)
    • Fill-out the rest of the required fields and accept the terms & conditions
  • Clicking SAVE takes you to your Applications page – this may take a while to load, (and may even time-out – did on me the first time) – but it should eventually display the application name you gave, and an ID – highlight and COPY this
  • In the Viewer Chat Translations Settings floater:
    • Check ENABLE MACHINE TRANSLATION WHEN CHATTING
    • Click the Bing Translator API radio button
    • Paste your copied AppID into the Bing AppID field.
    • Click OK
  • Close the floaters and away you go!

Note that as this is a Development Viewer, as such details on the Chat Translation floater may change between now and it reaching a formal release (work was still on-going last week).

New Viewer UI reaches Beta

Posted on by Inara Pey

I actually missed this at the start of the month (blame it on my birthday and work…). The new Viewer UI has taken a step closer – it’s now at Beta (3.2.1 244227), and includes all the latest revisions, including:

Interestingly, the Direct Delivery Received Items section of Inventory, that was present in the Development Viewer is not present in the Beta release (nor is it visible in the latest Development Viewer release (3.2.2 (224260)). Is this an indication that LL are heed calls from merchants not to release DD before the New Year, or that the code slipped into the earlier Development releases in error?

I’ve taken it for a quick spin, and found performance to be equitable to earlier releases, and other than the translation and Destination Guide tweaks, I’ve not come across any significant changes – but it was a quick spin.

Given the UI is now in Beta and caveating the DD situation and – more importantly – the progression of the OpenGL fixes, this could be taken to mean the UI will be in a release update sooner rather than later – although admittedly not as soon as part of me thought LL might shunt it out.

Watch out – your avatar is about to get it in the neck (but in a good way)

Posted on by Inara Pey

There have been a couple of recent Viewer updates in the last 24 hours. Yesterday I reviewed the latest Exodus Viewer release; it wasn’t alone – Dolphin 3 also saw a new release – 3.1.1.21151.

Both of these are interesting as they include support for two new avatar attachment points: Neck and Avatar Centre.

  • Neck will allow the wearing of items at the neck point (such as necklaces, collars, etc.), which will move with normal avatar body movement
  • Centre is a “fixed” attachment point which is static – so it does not move with your avatar’s movements (i.e. in response to an animation such as a dance, etc). This allows attachments that do not need to be seen to be attached to the body, or can be used with reference to vehicles, etc.
New attachment points

Both attachment points are also available in the latest SL Development Viewer (3.2.2.244260 or above) and in any self-compiled builds from the latest Firestorm code release.

There are a few things to remember when using these new attachment points:

  • As one might expect, items will require a degree of adjustment to fit correctly – especially on the Neck attach point
  • Don’t use the Avatar Centre point for anything you wish to be visible and needs to move with your avatars movements – it won’t. Avatar Centre isn’t the place for skirts and belts, unless you want them standing on their own on the dance floor while you gyrate!
  • Until the code is fully supported across all Viewers, to anyone not using a Viewer supporting these attachment points it will appear as if you’re wearing items incorrectly (as with the old Emerald multi-attach issue). Once the code is absorbed into all Viewers, this issue should go away.

If I’m totally honest, there is perhaps too much movement encountered with the neck attachment point – if your AO causes a lot of natural head movement, you may find necklaces, etc, vanishing into your collar bones or into your chest rather a lot. Those familiar with wearing collars may find that rather than the collar remaining relatively static compared to head movements (as when attached to the Spine or Chest points), the collar moves rather disconcertingly.

However, if you want to try the ne new attachment points out, why not give the SL Development Viewer (3.2.2.244260 or above), Exodus 11.10.31 (b) or Dolphin 3 3.1.1.21151 a go?