Category: Viewers

Catznip version R12.3 surfaced on Tuesday, October 15th, and made it the default download / update version on Wednesday, October 16th.

This is a maintenance release, following on from version 12.2, which saw a “de-coupling” of updates that are more focused on bug fixes and improvements from larger releases that include significant updates and new capabilities. However, it does include one major new feature: support for Linden Lab’s Bakes on Mesh capability.

As always, details of updates are available through the official release notes, although given the size of the update, just about everything included is noted below.

Linden Lab Derived Updates

Viewer Parity

This release brings Catznip to parity with Linden Lab viewer release 6.3.1.530559, formerly the Umeshu release candidate viewer (Dated September 5th, promoted to de facto release status by Linden Lab on September 10th).

Bakes on Mesh

R12.3 provides support for Bakes on Mesh (BoM). This is a capability to allow system wearable layers as used with the “classic” Second Life system avatar – skins, tattoos, underwear, shirt and jacket layers – to be used with mesh bodies and heads, and without the need for additional applier systems.

The system requires mesh bodies and heads to be “BoM enabled” – and many creators have already updated their products, or are in the process of updating their products to support Bakes on Mesh. In addition, some applier makers are producing applier systems that leverage Bakes on Mesh to apply wearables to mesh bodies and heads – although these may be limited in some respects due to differences between how skin textures and mesh bodies are made).

Through Bakes on Mesh, Linden Lab hopes:

• Users can avoid the need to use appliers, but can add wearables to their mesh avatar directly from inventory.
• Creators will be able to simplify avatar mesh bodies and heads by removing the need for some of the “onion” layers. This should – if done – reduce the rendering complexity for bodies and heads, thus hopefully improving people’s SL experience (as avatars won’t be quite so resource intensive or require quite so much “assembly time” when encountering them on logging-on or after teleporting somewhere).

Bakes on Mesh support is required to both use the BoM capability and to correctly view mesh avatars using BoM.

For more detailed information on Bakes on Mesh, please refer to the following links:

Linden Lab:

• Bakes on Mesh knowledge base article.
• Linden Lab Bakes On Mesh release notes – includes a list of known issues.
• Bakes on Mesh sub-forum.

Creator-related BoM documentation:

• Slink Redux and Bakes on Mesh FAQ – Slink brand specific and general Bakes on Mesh FAQ.
• Maitreya Bakes on Mesh – How to use BOM with the non-BoM Maitreya Lara mesh body.

• Bakes on Mesh – A Basic Primer – this blog.
• Get Baked – A Quick Beginners’ Guide to Using Bakes on Mesh – Virtual Bloke.

Catznip Fixes

Release 12.3 also includes the following updates from the Catznip team:

• Minor installer issues.
• Revert SL-1579 and allow taking rezzed items if their originating folder was Received Items.
• Crash in busy/crowded places while camming around (thank you Nicky from Firestorm).
• CATZ-532: Avatar (sometimes) ends up deformed when detaching something while an Animesh attachment is worn.
• CATZ-535: Remove Google+ links.
• CATZ-539: Creator Name on the build floater is always disabled.
• CATZ-542: Render Everyone As setting affects your own Animesh attachments.
• RLVa – FIRE-24230: Login crash when RLV @showloc restricted with no teleport history file.
• RLVa – BoM universal layer is missing from @getoufit.

Related Links

• Catznip 12.3 Release Notes
• Catznip Download page