Category: SL Tech

Text clients reviewed 2: Metabolt

Posted on by Inara Pey

Metabolt-logoWe’re all familiar with the Second Life Viewer in one flavour or another. But what about the non-graphical “lightweight” clients that are available for accessing SL when using a “full” Viewer isn’t always an option?

Like the Viewer, these “lightweight”, or text-only clients come in a number of flavours, some of which can run on computers and others on mobile devices. Given I don’t have a suitable mobile device, I thought it might be interesting to take a look at the former, focusing on the Windows platform, and given some kind of insight into their features and capabilities for those who have never used them. So over the course of three articles, I’ll be taking a look at Libretto, Metabolt and Radegast – all of which are on the SL TPV Directory, and all are still very much under enhancement.

Metabolt

Metabolt modestly describes itself as, “a thin text client with rich features to enable users to perform most important functions in SL”

Installation comprises downloading a ZIP file, extracting the contents to a temporary folder and then installing from there, which is somewhat long-winded, but the results are worth it.

From the start it is clear that Metabolt is intended to cover a lot of bases, allowing you to not only log-in to Second Life’s Main grid, but also to the Beta aditi grid, and to a number of pre-defined OS grids. You can even define a custom log-in for any grid not on the list, providing you have the necessary login uri. As with a graphical Viewer, you can additionally set your preferred log-in location. Finally, on logging-in, your avatar’s details are saved by Metabolt & can be selected from a drop-down drop-down list (First Name), simplifying the logging-in process in future sessions.

A successful log-in to Metabolt takes you directly to the Chat window (below).

Menu bar

  • Applications Menu: provides access to a comprehensive set of preferences, some of which (Text, etc.), mirror the chat preferences in the SL Viewer, while others (such as the AI icon), are specific to Metabolt
  • World: provides a series of in-world and avatar-specific options, including the ability to animate your avatar (so you can dance if you log-in at a club, rather than standing like a lemon); allows you to Tp Home or set a Tp point where you are, rebake (useful if someone informs you that you are a cloud in-world), go to your account history page at secondlife.com, etc.
  • Tools: provides access to a range of tools, including a searchable grid map, complete with teleport options, a separate teleport option, an exceptionally powerful Object Manager (see below), an upload tool for images, and various other tools
  • Logs: allows you to define save locations for for Metabolt chat and IM log files (a-la the Viewer), and accesses a log of all teleports made while using Metabolt
  • Utilities: Reloads the AIML libraries associated with the AI plugin and allows you to launch the official SL Viewer, if you have it installed.

Window Tabs

  • Chat: displays the chat window, show above.
  • Friends: opens the Friends tab. Here you can:
    • IM a friend, view their profile (in a Viewer 1-style profile window), offer to teleport them to you, pay them, or remove them from your friends list.
    • IMing a friend opens a new tabbed window which in turn provides options to view their profile, save a log of the conversation, review the history of the conversation and even mute them
    • You can also set / revoke map, edit and see permissions against Friends from this tab
  • Groups: displays a list of your current Groups, and allows you to start a Group IM, activate a Group tag, view Group information, leave a Group, invite someone into your Groups, and even create a new Group
  • Inventory: is a powerful window that allows you to view, sort and organise your inventory, look at item properties and wear / remove / transfer items, as well a perform a number of other tasks as shown below.

  • Search: opens a Viewer 2-type search window, allowing you to search in-world and the SL forums and related sites
  • IMbox: allows you to review and reply to unread IMs you’ve received from other avatars.

To the right side of the window tab is a small computer icon which will display a drop-down menu:

  • Merge with: allows you to merge a selected window with another window and display them in a single tab. The option will then change to Split, allowing you to separate the two windows once more
  • Deatch: will detach a selected window tab from Metabolt and display it in its own floater. Use the Reattach option in the floater, or simple close the floater to redock the window with Metabolt.

Object Manager Window

This is a powerful feature within Metabolt when interacting with objects around you. Using this tool you can:

  • Scan your immediate vicinity for objects (set your desired scan range)
  • Interact with objects using the In-world tools – walk to an object, point to it, sit on it, stand up from it, mute it, etc.
  • View the contents of an object (CONTENTS) to check scripts and other items it might contain
  • Display a 3D image of the object (3D View) and:
    • Zoom in/out on it, rotate it, etc., using the ALT key and your mouse
    • Right-click on the image to display a list of actions you can take with it (sit on it, return it, etc.)
    • Use the camera icon at the bottom of the image window to save the image to your hard drive
  • You can additionally view details of a selected object and its child components.

The Object Manager includes a button to touch items around you and which should – I think – bring-up any menu associated with them to allow you to interact with it; however, this option does not appear to work as expected at present: a window is opened for the Touched object, but no actual menu is displayed.

Moving using Metabolt

Moving around in-world using Metabolt is obviously not easy – you can’t see where your avatar is going, or who or what is in the way. However, movement is possible in a number of ways, including:

  • By using the Object Manager window and selecting an object then clicking on GO TO (to walk to it) or LOCATION to teleport to it
  • By opening the map (TOOLS -> MAP or CTRL-M) and displaying a region before setting your desired co-ordinates and teleporting to it
  • Using the movement and direction keys, in combination with the map / mini-map
  • Having someone teleport you to them (TP offers appear in red alongside the Window Tabs)
  • Getting friends around you to help direct you as you use the movement keys.
  • Using the radar FOLLOW or GOTO buttons (see below).

None of these options – other than teleporting to fixed points – are terribly effective, but can at times help with things, and can be fun to try!

Radar Buttons

Another useful set of tools are the radar buttons, which are displayed in the Chat window. These become activate when an avatar name is selected from the list of nearby avatars, and are described below

Metabolt and other Grids

A major plus point for Metabolt is that it supports other grids, making it a good contender if you have a presence on several grids and need a text-based client to access them. I tried Metabolt with both InWorldz and Avination – neither of which are on the default list of grids, and logging in to both was as simple as giving my avatar details, selecting OTHER… from the drop-down list of grids and then giving the login URI for the grid to which I wanted to connect. If I have a complaint here, it is that the grid name isn’t added to the list of available grids, so you have to re-enter the URI each time you wish to enter a grid that isn’t listed.

Website

The Metabolt website is very polished and provides excellent support in the form of a set of wiki pages, one of which provides a series of additional plug-ins to the “basic” client, as well as a reasonably-good Help section. There is also a forum for users as well, which appears to be in reasonable use, suggesting that there is lots of help to be had there from other users, should you need it.

Use and Opinion

Metabolt can appear a little off-putting with the log-in page ads (although there is an option to remove these if you donate to the project) – but don’t let them stop you trying out the client, as it may prove to be what you’re looking for when you can’t use the full Viewer.

Despite the apparent complexity of the main window, getting to grips with Metabolt is very easy, and you should encounter few problems in using it for basic tasks. That said, refinement of some of the more advanced options – such as touching objects – is required.

I’m personally not convinced of the need to include movement keys – unless there are plans to include some kind of 3D real-time rendering tool, a-la Radegast. I also felt the overall colour scheme could be improved; some of the background colours on the Object Manager buttons might make reading the button labels hard for some people. Sitting on a object was also sometimes touch-and-go due to not being able to define precisely WHERE on an object you might want to sit (unless a poseball is available for selection); but this is an issue for any non-graphical client offering this type of functionality.

That said, Metabolt is certainly a more involved text client than Libretto, and can enable you to do a lot more while without full graphical access to a grid. Overall a very good application with an impressive feature list.

Related Links

Text clients reviewed 1: Libretto

Posted on by Inara Pey

Note: Libretto ceased development in 2013.

We’re all familiar with the Second Life Viewer in one flavour or another. But what about the non-graphical “lightweight” clients that are available for accessing SL when using a “full” Viewer isn’t always an option?

Like the Viewer, these “lightweight”, or text-only clients come in a number of flavours, some of which can run on computers and others on mobile devices. Given I don’t have a suitable mobile device, I thought it might be interesting to take a look at the former, focusing on the Windows platform, and given some kind of insight into their features and capabilities for those who have never used them. So over the course of three articles, I’ll be taking a look at Libretto, Metabolt and Radegast – all of which are on the SL TPV Directory, and all are still very much under enhancement.

Libretto

  • Platform(s): Windows
  • Available from: http://www.librettoviewer.com/
  • Version reviewed: 0.13.0

Libretto describes itself as, “A light weight, text-only viewer for Second Life. It’s designed to resemble and function as an instant messaging client, that can be used in an office environment, on low performance/bandwidth computers, or when multiple instances are needed.”

It is delivered as a standard .EXE install file for Windows, requiring a quick A/V scan prior to a double-click to install it with minimal fuss.

Once installed, it certainly looks somewhat like Microsoft Messenger, with the log-in screen comprising a window onto Libretto announcements and a log-in area with the obligatory check-box for accepting the SL ToS (with link for reviewing!) for people using the client for the first time.

A nice touch is once you have logged in with an avatar, the details for the avatar are saved by Libretto and can be accessed from the drop-down list displayed next to NAME.

As you are logged in, the Libretto window splits into a two-pane display, with any Message of the Day from LL is displayed in the upper section (where all messages appear), while the lower section lists all those in your immediate vicinity (if any).  There are several elements to this display, which are explained below.

The Menu Bar

  • File: allows you to Logout of Second Life and return to the Libretto log-in screen, or Quit (log out of SL and shut down Libretto)
  • Edit: currently displays the Preferences pop-up which allows you to:
    • Define your e-mail preferences
    • Select whether to run Libretto whenever you start Windows
    • Select Libretto to automatically log you in to Second Life when it is started (useful if you predominantly use only the one avatar with Libretto)
  • World: currently allows you to teleport to your home location – note this can cause Libretto to go unresponsive while the teleport is in progress
  • View: allows you to display / hide the Window tabs (see below) at the bottom of the Libretto window, and change the default colour for the Libretto client
  • Help: displays information about the Libretto client.

Action Buttons

The Action buttons are displayed in both the “people nearby” window pane and the Friends tab, and allow you to carry out a range of tasks:

  • View a person’s profile (seen in a separate pop-up window that closely resembles the old Viewer 1.x style of profile display)
  • Open an IM conversation with them
  • Teleport them to you
  • Pay them
  • Remove them as a Friend
  • Invite them into a Group.

A down-pointing arrow to the right of the buttons takes you to an option to remove or add buttons to the list. Buttons are activated by left-clicking on an specific avatar name and then clicking on the required button (buttons become coloured when active).

Window Tabs

Controlled from the VIEW option in the Menu Bar, these provide access to a range of dedicated tabbed windows:

  • Friends: displays your Friends list, complete with the Action Buttons, described above
  • Groups: displays all your Groups, with a set of Action Buttons that allow you to: display information on a specific Group (left click the Group name to select); IM the Group; activate the Group tag for your avatar; leave the Group
  • Objects: displays a list of objects surrounding your avatar (may need to use the Refresh button to get the list to display), together with buttons to Sit on a selected object (left-click to select the object from the list), and your avatar’s status will change to SITTING at the bottom of the Libretto window while the SIT button will change to STAND; and a button to Touch a selected object
  • Inventory: allows you to peruse your inventory, with a Share button to give items to other avatars (click on the item to be given, then SHARE & select the name of the avatar (from those nearby & your Friends list) to whom you wish to give the item (permissions allowing). Note that you can also accept inventory offers from others using Libretto as well
  • Find People: opens a search window allowing you to search for a specific avatar (first name; first name+ last name). Matching results are displayed in a list, and the window includes the Action Buttons described above to view an individual’s profile, etc.

Clicking on an tab name in VIEW will open the associated tab, which can then be closed either by clicking on the tab name in VIEW or by clicking on the X in the tab itself, at the bottom of the Libretto window.

Multiple Instances

Libretto handles multiple instances without issue – simply double-click on the application icon to start an additional session.

Website

The Libretto website is adequate, if a little basic in looks and information – but then, the application is so intuitive, you’re unlikely to be spending a lot of time there.

Use and Opinion

Using Libretto is very intuitive and easy to get to grips with. It may not offer all the capabilities found in other text clients, but it really does do, “exactly what it says on the packet” without the need to refer to lengthy help files or anything. Working in chat or IM is easy, while the Action Buttons provide enough functionality to get things done.

Libretto is still a work-in-progress, and it is certainly the most lightweight of the three clients I’m reviewing. The window layouts are all clean and easy-to-follow (although the colours are perhaps not so easy on the eye: for “red” read “pink” and for “blue” read “violet”). The current options are sufficient to take care of many basic tasks that don’t rely on an in-world view.

Overall, an extremely intuitive application that exceptionally easy to pick-up and use.

A very *simple* guide to mesh in SL

Posted on by Inara Pey

Mesh is coming: testing on the Main grid has started, LL are feeding us snippets of information and those watching it draw nearer are getting excited / concerned / upset / indifferent.

But what exactly does it all mean for those of us who have only a passing interest in such things? What will be the impact on the consumers among us rather than the content creators? What are we going to be seeing, what do we need to be aware of?

There are a lot of very basic questions such as these that are being asked – some of which are, in fairness, addressed in the SL mesh wiki pages (albeit with a lot of techspeak) – so I thought I’d try to put together a very simple outline of some of the key aspects to it all.

Note that this is not in any way a technical discourse on mesh and its pros and cons or how to create and upload mesh objects – articles penned by others far more competent than I are available in a number of blogs. Nor is it meant to be an exhaustive overview of mesh. It is simply a primer on the subject from the point-of-view of the consumer rather than the creator, and a look at what some of the fuss (good and bad) is about.

What is mesh?

A mesh – or rather a polygon mesh – is a means of generating 3D computer graphics. Polygon meshes come in a variety of forms, and can be created using a range of software applications. Second Life actually already uses meshes to some degree: avatars, for example are basic mesh objects. “Mesh” within Second life therefore really refers to the ability for users to create polygon mesh objects using suitable 3D rendering tools and then import them into Second Life for general use.

Why have mesh?

Second Life has often been critiqued for it’s somewhat primitive look: the in-world tools and shapes can be very limiting when it comes to trying to replicate more organic, natural, and real-world shapes. The use of mesh should allow content creators and Second Life users to import far more realistic-looking objects and items, overcoming this perceived limitation.

Multi-face rigged avatar mesh textured in SL (with thanks to LL)

Three types of mesh can be imported into Second Life:

  • A simple mesh is a mesh with a single face. It can have a single colour and texture
  • A multi-face mesh is a mesh that can have multiple colours and textures
  • A rigged mesh is a mesh that conforms to your joints and motions. This means that you can wear a rigged model that changes the length and orientation of your avatar’s limbs and animates accordingly.

Note: it is possible for a mesh object to be a combination of these types; it can, for example be a multi-face rigged mesh, like “Seymour” in the image above. Meshes can also be textured prior to upload, as a part of the creation process, or once in-world.

Mesh objects for use in SL can be created in any 3D modelling tool that support the use of Collada 1.4 .DAE files for export. Such tools include high-end applications such as Autodesk Maya ($3,000+) through to the free tools like Blender and Google’s Sketchup. Linden Lab maintain a list of suitable applications on their wiki pages.

Common terms associated with mesh

Those familiar with building in SL may find it easier to consider mesh in the following ways:

  • Mesh – A collection of triangles with a single transformation matrix, roughly analogous to a “Prim” in SL (although not necessarily the equivalent of a prim – see PE, below).
  • Submesh – A subset of a mesh, equivalent to a face/side on a normal prim.
  • Model – A mesh or collection of meshes, equivalent to a coalesced (or linked) prim object.

PE – Prim Equivalence (now Land Impact)

Prim Equivalence (or to give it the official title: Prim Equivalent Weight) – abbreviated to PE, is one of the most important concepts for the “casual” mesh user / consumer, as well as a vital consideration for mesh creators. It has also been the subject of much controversy even before mesh has been launched on the Main grid. So with these points in mind, excuse me if I go on about it at some length.

Basically, PE is a means of trying to ensure that mesh objects and traditional prim objects receive fair shares of Viewer and server resources. Perhaps the easiest way to understand PE is to think of it as the number of prims that would be required to achieve the same level of detail, were they to be used instead of the mesh object.

PE itself is arrived at by taking the highest result from three performance weighting calculations made at the time a mesh is uploaded to Second Life. These are:

  • The server weight – (also referred to as the simulation weight in the wiki) the impact an object has on the server-side resources needed to manage it.
  • The streaming weight – essentially the bandwidth required for an object to be downloaded to your Viewer and rendered. Basically, the more complex the object = the higher the streaming weight
  • The physics weight – possibly the hardest to grasp, refer to the complexity of an object’s physics model. (This is also where Viewer developers have issues with coding their Viewers to enable mesh uploads, as I’ve reported on previously, as the code used by LL to calculate the physics weight utilises the Havok physics engine, which is not open-source. Therefore TPV developers need to find a means of calculating the physics weight either by using a suitable open-source physics engine, or by obtaining a Havok license.)

These weightings are calculated based on the complexity of the mesh itself and how well it has been defined and optimised during the creation process; they can also (in the case of the streaming and physics weights) be adjusted during the upload process. Get everything right, and a mesh object should have a manageable PE value. Get anything wrong, and one can end up with a horribly-massive PE count.

And even when it is done right, it is possible for an object to still end up with a PE count in the high hundreds, or for a mesh object to come off less favourably than it’s prim / sculptie equivalent (take a mesh tree with a PE of 9 or 10; are you more likely to buy that, or a sculptie tree that is just 1 or 2 prims, even if it is of a potentially lower visual quality?).

The PE for a mesh object can be seen using the Build menu of any mesh-capable Viewer, as shown below.

(model originally created for mesh upload testing by Jennifur Vultee)

Continue reading “A very *simple* guide to mesh in SL” →

LL announce mesh on the Main grid

Posted on by Inara Pey

Linden Lab have issued a further mesh update, detailing the Mesh Upload status page is now available on Main grid user dashboards.

As I reported a week ago, the new status page can be located by logging-in to your dashboard at www.secondlife.com. When your dashboard is displayed, click on ACCOUNT in the menu at the top left and then Mesh Upload Status.

Mesh Upload Status page

For an overview on getting yourself certified to upload mesh, see my earlier post on the subject.

Mesh uploads: more details

Posted on by Inara Pey

Update, May 2017: These requirements have now been replaced. See:  Second Life mesh upload prerequisites revised.

Back at the start of June, we learned that the ability to upload Mesh to SL is to be gated. You can currently take a peek at how this works by going to your Beta (aditi) Grid status page.

Click on the right-pointing arrow next to Account to display your account options, then click on MESH UPLOAD STATUS (located between SCRIPTED AGENT STATUS and CHANGE PASSWORD, as circled below).

Mesh Upload Status page

To qualify for Mesh uploads, you must provide payment information to Linden Lab, and complete a Mesh Intellectual Property Right tutorial / questionnaire, which comprises a series of multiple-choice questions, as shown below.

Questionnaire

The questionnaire is not mind-bogglingly difficult – and it shouldn’t be, the idea is to make people aware of what will not be tolerated and can lead to their ability to upload meshes being revoked; not to try and catch them out before they even get started. As such, it is possible to go back a step should you get any question wrong and then take the question again.

Completing the questionnaire results in you being informed that you are now cleared to upload meshes, and provides a link to some additional information related to trademarks and copyright under US law. I was actually surprised that there are (currently, at least) no links to Linden Lab’s own policies around mesh and IP.

Upload away (at least on the Beta Grid)!

Important Notes!

  • This is still currently *only* available on beta grid dashboard pages (https://secondlife.aditi.lindenlab.com/my/).
  • You won’t currently see the option if you are using your main Grid dashboard page (at https://secondlife.com/my/).
  • It is possible what completing the questionnaire at this point in time may only apply to the Beta grid – you might have to complete the questionnaire again once the link is available from main Grid dashboard pages.

Firestorm: usage grows & new video out

Posted on by Inara Pey

firestorm-logoThe Firestorm development team report that Linden Lab has confirmed Firestorm is now the third most popular viewer by number of distinct users and in terms of hours spent using SL. This moves it into third place in terms of popularity, ahead of the old official 1.23 Viewer.

According to the Viewer Directory (last updated 12th July), Firestorm sits in sixth place overall in terms of crash rates, putting it directly behind the official 2.7.2 release, and up on the official 2.7.5 release. Interestingly, the current full release of the official Viewer (2.7.4) isn’t listed.

To aid people making the transition from the Viewer 1.x environment, Phoenix have produced a new video tutorial, which is well worth a look-in:

(with thanks to CS Pfeffer for the nod on the video)