As always, please refer to the server deployment thread for updates or changes.
There was no deployment to the Main (SLS) channel On Tuesday, September 27th.
On Wednesday September 28th, all three RC channels should receive the same new server maintenance package, which includes a fix for BUG-40565, introduced as a result of the deployment of the week #38 server maintenance package.
SL Viewer
Unless something untoward has happened with the latest RC version, it is anticipated the VLC Media Plug-in viewer will be promoted to de facto release status this week. A new maintenance RC is also anticipated. In the meantime, the current batch of official viewers remains unchanged from week #38:
Current Release version: 4.0.8.319463 (dated September 9), promoted September 15 – formerly the Visual Outfit Browser RC viewer
Project Bento (avatar skeleton extensions), version 5.0.0.319893, dated September 22nd
VLC Media Plugin Viewer RC, version 4.1.1.319856, dated September 20th – replaces QuickTime in the Windows viewer with a media plug-in based on LibVLC
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.
Experience Scripted Sits
As per my blog post of September 23rd, Rider Linden is working on a new scripted sit capability for Experiences. The new LSL functions form Project Espeon (after the Pokémon character), and Rider has produced a proposal document on the new functionality, which can be read in PDF format. The capability can also be tested on ADITI (the beta grid) in the following regions: Leafeon or Umbreon or Sylveon, with test content is available on Leafeon. If anyone testing them has suggestions or feedback, please raise a JIRA against Project Espeon.
The majority of the notes in this update are taken from the TPV Developer meeting held on Friday, September 23rd. The video of that meeting is embedded at the end of this update, and references to it are indicated through the use of time stamps in the paragraphs below. My thanks as always to North for recording and providing it.
This is not intended to be a transcript of the entire meeting, which featured discussions of some situations specific to individual region rather than SL as a whole. However, key discussion points have hopefully been highlighted.
Server Deployment
There was no update on the Main (SLS) channel on Tuesday, September 20th. On Wednesday, September 21st, all three RC channels should receive the same new server maintenance package, containing further “minor internal changes”.
SL Viewer
VLC and Project Bento RC Viewer Updates
On Tuesday, September 20th The VLC media plug-in viewer updated to version 4.1.1.319856, while the Project Bento RC viewer updated to version 5.0.0.319893 on Thursday, September 22nd. In both cases, the updates were primarily intended to bring the viewers to parity with the de facto release viewer code base.
It is hopes the VLC media plug-in viewer will be promoted to the de facto release status in week #39 (week commencing Monday, September 26th).
64-bit Versions
Clarifications was given at the TPV meeting that the 64-bit version of the official viewer will be Windows, Mac and Linux, with the 32-bit version of windows continuing, Mac and Linux moving purely to 64-bit. Active development of the 64-bit viewer is expected to resume in week #39, with the intention of getting the viewer out and available sooner rather than later.
Autobuild, Public Sources and Viewer Building
Part of the 64-bit viewer work involves viewer build infrastructure changes. These include updates to how public sources should be built and to the viewer Autobuild process. In particular, these updates allow the viewer library files to all be built using the same compiler switches regardless of build system. The wiki documentation for viewer builds will be updated to reflect these changes, and there may be a presentation on things at the next TPV Developer meeting. There is a separate file for controlling the compiler switches, so if TPVs and self-compilers wish to build their viewer with different compiler settings, they can swap this file with their own.
Viewer Blocking
As per the Lab’s recent blog post, all official viewer versions older than 4.0.5 have been blocked from accessing Second Life. Users on such viewers will be required to update their viewer to a more recent version. This has been done to encourage users to keep up with the numerous changes and improvements being made to the viewer.
That same blog post indicated that the Lab are discontinuing support for Windows Vista and for Mac OSX versions below 10.9. The Lab is doings its best to maintain back compatibility wherever it can, but where the underlying technology loses support, etc., then it is not possible for the Lab to continue maintaining support either (the more recent versions of CEF, for example, do not work on Windows Vista).
Crash Rates
The recent changes to the viewer code are said to be significantly reducing the crash rate for the official viewer, and it is hoped this will continue with further improvements to the code and through the coming availability of 64-bit versions of the viewer.
Maintenance RC
The next Maintenance RC viewer could be appearing in the early part of week #39.
Avatar and Object Rendering Investigations
[12:12] Vir Linden is starting to work on a new project (concurrent with Bento) involving digging into avatar and object rendering, and land impact. The work is due to an accumulation of issues raised concerning rendering costs by users, and the investigations at this point are focused on what might be improved and what cannot be (due to issues like backwards compatibility) .
This will involve taking “a bunch” of representative / problem cases, and try to take a set of carefully defined measurements of what the real impact is during rendering on a wide range of systems. It is hoped this will allow the Lab to adjust the formulas used to make a reasonable generalisation in the rendering cost of things, and whether or not objects are being reasonably accounted for in those calculations. At this point in time, it is not a given that anything will chance – simply because it has been a long while since the Lab took a similar “deep dive” into rendering, but there is a “good possibility” changes will result from the investigations.
Avatar Rendering Calculations
[14:54] Avatar rendering calculations were expanded upon by Oz in terms of what happens now, and what the intent was behind things.
The viewer, providing it is using LL’s code unchanged, sends to the simulator a report on what it believes is the rendering cost of all the avatars it can “see” in a region. The simulator then averages the reports from the various viewers, with heuristics to remove excessive values at either end of the scale, back to everyone in the region.
Right now, the viewer decides how to render each avatar it its view purely on its own per-avatar calculation, using the full dataset for each avatar. However, by using the average value calculated by the simulator, it should be possible for the viewer to start making decisions on whether or not to render avatars in a field of view based on that average (compared with its own Max Complexity setting), without having to wait for the full data on each avatar to be received. The viewer-side code to allow this has yet to be written and implemented, but may form a future project.
[18:34] The other aspect of avatar complexity calculations is that the viewer sends to the simulator a single bit of information for each avatar it can “see”, on whether or not the avatar is rendered as a Jelly Doll. The Simulator then counts how many viewers are reporting on each avatar, and how many of those are rendering that avatar as a Jelly Doll. This information fed back to that avatar roughly once a minute to generate the pop-up notification we see in the top right corner of the viewer window.
Due to the nature of the system, the updates can be delayed, or include out-of-date information. For example: data on avatars who have left a region isn’t immediately discarded by the viewer, but is held for a certain amount of time. Similarly, when changing outfits, you get an immediate update on your complexity (as it is a local calculation), but the number of those who are not rendering you fully is delayed by around 90 seconds while your updated appearance is sent to other viewers and they respond to the simulator with their information on whether they are rendering you fully or as a Jelly Doll, and the simulator feeds that information back to you.
Complexity Variances
[25:15] As noted in my Avatar Complexity updates, the complexity value assigned to an avatar can differ by up to 2K in value between those looking at the avatar. There are a number of reasons for this, including differences in the rendering capabilities of the systems viewing an avatar, and level of detail seen / distance. While it is not a high priority, the Lab is considering tuning how complexity is calculated (such as removing the LOD / distance factors from the calculations).
There are two significant bug reports for issues with the current viewer-side avatar complexity calculations:
BUG-37642 – an avatars complexity value can double or triple following a teleport or relog without changing its outfit. This appears to be triggered by certain outfits / attachments.
BUG-37631 – wearing a rigged mesh with any amount of transparency applied to it results in a 4 times higher complexity value. This appears to be due to x4 multiplier used in the Mesh/Rendering Weight calculation for an alpha being applied to the entire avatar complexity calculation, rather than just the vertices using the transparency.
BUG-37692 – llRezObject() and llRezAtRoot()
[39:30] BUG-37692 has been raised at a number of recent UG meetings, and is seen to be causing a wide range of issues, notably for weapon systems used in combat environments. The Lab does not currently have a response for the issue, which will be looked at during the next triage period, on Monday, September 26th.
The following notes and audio were taken from the weekly Bento User Group meeting, held on Thursday, September 22nd at 13:00 SLT at the the Hippotropolis Campfire Circle. and chaired by Vir Linden. 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.
RC Viewer
The Project Bento RC viewer updated to version 5.0.0.319893 on Thursday, September 22nd, 2016. This update contained no functional changes to Bento, but merged it with the current release viewer code (e.g. the addition of the visual Outfit Browser code).
The Lab’s focus on the viewer at the moment is seeing how more widespread testing goes (in general use terms, rather than Bento-specific, although this is still of interest), whether issues or regressions arise in the viewer as a whole and watching the crash rate. The latter has been high, but it is hoped the merge with the current release viewer will reduce these. If not, it may be that there are some Bento-specific issues still requiring deeper investigation.
A further preview demonstration of the Catwa mesh head rigged for Bento
Sliders and Bones / Joints
Avatar Sliders Wiki Page
Matrice Laville has put together documentation on which bones in the avatar skeleton are affected by the various appearance sliders when editing your shape. This can be found on the Avatar Sliders wiki page. The tables list the affected bones per slider, and how they are affected (translate / scale / both). The eyebrow slider is also included, although this is actually a part of the hair wearable.
The was a general discussion on sliders and joint positions, which I’ve attempted to break down by topic point for ease of reference.
Locking Scale with Sliders – Proof of Concept Viewer
At the start of September, Vir produced a proof of concept viewer adding the ability to override the scale as well as position for joints in uploaded mesh models. A joint with both position and scale overrides would be effectively “slider-proof” – no sliders that affect the joint would have any effect on the model. This might be useful for those wishing to produce (non-human?) avatars where it might be preferable to have certain parts of the body locked from slider-driven changes to prevent distortions / conflicts arising, without necessarily locking in the entire mesh against slider changes (e.g. the face could be “frozen” to prevent distortion, but body height or tail length, etc).
There’s been little feedback on the option to date,so anyone who is interested in the option or has views on how it works / should work, to try this version of the viewer and provide their feedback through the forum ASAP, otherwise the option won’t be included in the Bento RC.
Sliders and Custom Joint Positions
At one time it had been possible to use sliders with custom joint positions. This is not longer the case, due to inconsistencies in how avatars would appear to themselves and one another (and changes would revert following a re-log). As the option wasn’t an intended feature for Bento, and given it can lead to inconsistencies (some of which can be fixed using Reset Skeleton, although this doesn’t work in all cases), the decision has been made not to allow sliders to operate on custom joints.
Locking Sliders / “Partial Shapes”
The above discussions flowed into questions on whether it might be possible to just lock individual sliders at upload, rather than disabling their impact on a joint basis. This is viewed as not being possible, as it would require a more extensive overhaul of the avatar system and permission system.
Paralleling this idea was a question on “partial shapes” for Bento heads, raised by Elizabeth Jarvinen (polysail). The idea here is that many shape creators sell their shape as No Modify, but if such a shape is used with a Bento head, it defeats the idea that the Bento head can be modified via slider.
Again, there is no real means to achieve this without an extensive overhaul of the avatar system. There are also the points that if people are buying No modify shapes as they are unsure of using the sliders, they are unlikely to want to fiddle with the sliders with a Bento head, and those wishing to modify their body will likely use their own shape anyway, removing the problem of No Modify shapes (although re-creating a No Mod shape by approximation or XML export / import – via Develop > Avatar > Character tests > Appearance to xml – might be a hassle, with the latter requiring a suitable TPV for re-import). A further side to this is that a number of shape creators are already supplying body shapes intended for use with the various mesh bodies already on sale, as which are supplied Modify, which could be used with Bento heads.
Gestures and Outfits
As I noted last week, gestures – such as for speech – can be stored as a part of an avatar’s outfit in the Outfits folder, allowing them to be automatically activated / de-activated. However, this has to be done by copying a link to the gesture into the required folder, as the Save Outfit function currently ignores gestures. Replacing outfits should then trigger gesture activation of those being added, and de-activate those gestures associated with the outfit being removed.
This is not an optimal solution, but changes to have gestures made a part of the Save Outfit function are outside the scope of Bento, and Medhue Simoni has indicated he’ll raise a feature request on the idea for future consideration.
Other Items
Avastar Version Numbers
Those using the development versions of Avastar 2.0 may have noticed a recent change in version numbering. This is because people were getting confused between the technical release number and the public incremental “Alpha” version numbering.
There was no update on the Main (SLS) channel on Tuesday, September 20th. On Wednesday, September 21st, all three RC channels should receive the same new server maintenance package, containing further “minor internal changes”.
SL Server
As noted in my article at the time, on Thursday, September 15th, the Lab promoted the Visual Outfits Browser viewer to de facto release status.
Also as similarly reported here in a separate article, the Bento viewer reached release candidate status on Wednesday, September 14th. This leaves the current list of official viewers as follows:
Current Release version: 4.0.8.319463, dated September 9th, promoted September 15th – formerly the Visual Outfit Browser RC viewer
Project Bento (avatar skeleton extensions) RC version 5.0.0.319688 released on September 14th
VLC Media Plugin Viewer RC, version 4.1.1.319583, dated September 13th – replaces the QuickTime media plugin in the Windows viewer with one based on LibVLC
Project viewers:
None.
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.
The following notes and audio were taken from the weekly Bento User Group meeting, held on Thursday, September 15th at 13:00 SLT at the the Hippotropolis Campfire Circle. and chaired by Vir Linden. 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.
RC Viewer Release
As indicated in an official blog post, and in this blog, the Bento viewer is now at release candidate status with the release of version 5.0.0.319688 – which can be obtained through the Alternate Viewers wiki page. This means that TPVs can now officially adopt the Bento code and release it in their own viewers. Cool VL Viewer already has Bento merged into its experimental branch, for example, and Firestorm has the code merged ready for their next scheduled release.
There are a number of small updates in the RC version of the viewer, chiefly typos in the sliders which were preventing them from having symmetrical effects. These affected the lip thickness slider, the square head slider, and the body thickness slider, together with a slight tail bone issue.
The RC Viewer and “Distorted Avatars”
If you opt to experiment with the Bento RC viewer and Beno demons etc., keep in mind that any Bento-enabled items to you wear will only appear as intended when viewed from another Bento capable viewer. Anyone using a non-Bento viewer see you is at best going to see things incorrectly positioned on your avatar, and at worse, see whatever you are wearing utterly deformed.
Bento creations will only appear correctly when viewed in a Bento-enabled viewer, as shown in these two pairs of images. On the left: a Bento head seen in a Bento viewer (note; the jewellery is out-of-position on the first image as I didn’t bother repositioning it to fit the head for the photo) and then on a non-Bento viewer – note the head is now located in the small of my back (arrowed). On the right, a Bento avatar seen respectively in a Bento and a non-Bento viewer (click for full size)
Obviously, as the Bento code is more widely adopted and reaches release status, these issues will decline – but for now, if you’re using the Bento RC viewer (or other viewer with Bento support), do keep this in mind when venturing out in public.
In extreme cases, older viewer versions may crash if a Bento avatar / Bento content is encountered; but these cases should be rare. The Lab added code to the viewer some time ago to specifically prevent Bento updates from crashing the viewer, so as long as a viewer has these updates – as should be the case with all currently maintained viewers – it should not crash.
Reset Skeleton
The Reset Sketon option is available from the right-click context menus for both avatar name tags (l) and avatars (r)
There are occasions (when changing between avatars, for example) when those who are on a Bento viewer may see themselves or another Bento avatar distorted. This is due to variances in how appearance updates are received / handled (and even with non-Bento avatar models has in the past required a re-log to fix).
To overcome this in the Bento viewer, there is a Reset Skeleton option, which can be used on either yourself or other deformed avatars in your view. This can be found in the avatar name tag context menu, or the avatar context menu, either of which can be access by right-clicking on the name tag or avatar respectively.
Vir notes the solution is not ideal, but the only other way to fix such issues would be extensive re-working of the viewer code – and at least this approach avoids the need for a re-log to correct matters.
Time Frames for Release
Questions were asked on when the viewer might go to release. this is actually dependent on a number of factors, including:
The viewer’s crash rate compared with the current release viewer and other RC viewer in the release channel
Whether exposure to a wider audience of users uncovers non-bento bugs or regressions which require additional fixing
Relative priorities between Bento and other projects.
Avatar Vertical Position (height above ground) Calculation
This has been a running topic for some time. In short, a n avatar’s vertical position relative to the ground is determined by a complex calculation which involves using a number of joints running up through the body from the left foot to the skull. The idea is to present a consistent view of an avatar standing on the ground, rather than in the ground or over the ground. However, if any of the joints used in the calculation are changing position unintentionally when the calculation is made, it can result in the avatar seeming to bounce up-and-down (see here for more).
To help overcome these kinds of issues, Vir has now documented the body height calculation bones, and the details can be found here: Avatar body size
Joint Position and Volume Bones
Visualising volume bones
It’s been noted that zooming in on a Bento avatar or attempting to click on a part of the avatar can be difficult. This is generally because the collision bones are not set-up correctly. The positions of the volume bones can be seen using Advanced Menu > Avatar > Show Collision Skeleton.
This will overlay the avatar with a series of oval shapes (official viewer – other viewers may render the collision skeleton slightly differently) which show the position of the volume bones. The closer these match the shape an avatar (something which may not always be possible, depending on the avatar type / size), the easier it will be to zoom in on the avatar and / or click on it.
Setting volume bone positions can either be done within the mesh model or via animation, although there was some confusion whether collision volumes now get included in joint offsets.
OK, I admit I wasn’t expect this until next week, but on Wednesday, September 14th, the Lab announced that Project Bento is now officially available as a release candidate viewer – version 5.0.0.319688 – which can be obtained through the Alternate Viewers wiki page.
And just in case anyone has missed all the Project Bento news, the best way is to catch-up through the official video. In short, Bento adds a wealth of new bones to the basic avatar skeleton (30+ to heads / faces and to hands alone!), making a wealth of new avatars (humans and non-human) and mesh wearables possible.
The reason I wasn’t expecting the viewer to get promoted just year is that the Lab also has a proof-of-concept viewer being tested, so I assumed any push to RC would come after a decision had been made on incorporating those changes (if they are to be adopted). So, not for the first time, I’m been wrong 🙂 .
The move to release candidate status doesn’t mean the project is at an end. There is still further work to be done as remaining bugs are fixed, etc (so updates such as the slider locking in the proof-of-concept might yet arrive in the viewer). What it does do is three things:
Makes the viewer available to a wider audience through the Lab’s RC distribution mechanism, thus allowing any unforeseen issues in merging the Bento code into the current release viewer code (and which may be outside of direct Bento testing) to be identified and fixed
Potentially makes the viewer more widely available to content creators who may not have so far tried the viewer
Means that TPVs can now officially start incorporating the Bento code into their viewers (in fact, Cool VL Viewer has had Bento in its Experimental branch from some time, and Firestorm have also been working to merge the Bento code as well – but this shouldn’t be taken to mean there will be a new release of the latter in the near future).
In keeping with the status of the Bento code, the Lab do ask people – particularly avatar content creators – to give the viewer a go, and to file a JIRA against any issues found.
As noted above, Bento offers a range of opportunities for mesh wearable and avatar creators – you can see a couple of video exploring the AK and Catwa preview Bento mesh heads in my SL project update. Also, back in August, Vista Animations produced a video illustrating the potential of finger animations:
Then, of course, there is a huge range of non-human avatars: centaurs, “rideables”, winged creatures – all of which can be achieved a lot more efficiently through Bento than has previously been the case.
Inara Pey: Living in a Modemworld 