Category: Viewers

Increasing your Zen: Viewer updated

Posted on by Inara Pey

Update January 27th, 2013: The Zen viewer has been discontinued by its creator.

Zena Juran released a new version of the Zen Viewer over the weekend – something I almost missed due to being busy with other things in-world (of which I’ll say more another time). As mentioned in my original review earlier in the month, Zen is aimed at bringing an enhanced build experience to the V3.2 environment.

Currently still only available for windows, this new release (3.2.8.7) remains based on LL 3.2.8 Development / Project Viewer code, but sees some major changes and additions in terms of the TPV code that has been merged.

Installation and Start-up

The EXE retains more-or-less the same size as the 3.2.8.6 release, and the Viewer installs the same, complete with dedicated user folders and cache locations (rather than using the SL defaults).

Logging-in reveals little in the way of changes between 3.2.8.7 and earlier releases – other than the fact that the UI buttons are no longer transparent (more on this in a moment), the layout is the same as 3.2.8.6 and prior releases. However, open up Preferences, and the updates immediately make themselves apparent.

New Preferences Tabs

In my original review, I commented that Preferences were little-changed from V3.2, but Zena would be adding to the list of capabilities over time. Well, she has – and massively so! At the same time she’s also re-arranged things somewhat.

Expanded Preferences

Release 3.2.8.7 sees one tab in Preferences removed (LSL Pre-processing), and five new tabs added, together with an overall re-ordering of things which may initially catch used to operating by wrote a little off-guard (Graphics, for example has gone from near the top of the tab list to fairly well down the order of things). This shouldn’t interfere with overall usability, however.

The five new tabs are (in the order displayed:

  • Name Tags: Pulls together the V3.2 (usually found in the General tab) and popular TPV options relating to name tags (setting colours, etc.) together into a single tab
  • Shadows: pulls-in the shadow options popular among TPVs, and which can be found in a variety of locations (a sub-tab under graphics, for example)
  • Camera: pulls-together “standard” options such as view angle & distance (from MOVE & VIEW),  disabling camera constraints (from the Advanced menu), depth of field on/off (duplicated from Graphics), and camera / DoF sliders again found in other TPVs
  • Build: presents  the Build enhancement tools first seen in the likes of Emerald / Phoenix, and now widely used in TPVs

Visual Auto-Mute

This is perhaps the most interesting change within Zen (and potentially the most drama-risk feature to pop-up in the Viewer code in general for a while), and is the first merge I’ve seen of a new functionality from LL that was recently released as a changeset (my apologies to other TPVs if they’ve in fact merged it as well, I’m still trying to catch up on 3 days of missed blogging and updates).

Visual Auto-mute

Essentially, this functionality allows you to set thresholds above which avatars with a very heavy load (high-res textures, complex attachments (multiple prims, flexi prims, sculpts, and what have you), etc., – but not scripts, which are a completely different kettle of fish) will not be rendered by your Viewer. Instead, they will appear as “grey ghosts”, similar to when you’ve muted someone; however, you will still be able to IM them and chat with them. This should theoretically reduce the load placed on the Viewer and your system in terms of rendering, and lead to an improved SL experience.

I’ve covered Visual Auto-mute elsewhere, so will not dwell on it further here.

Graphics Preferences

The Graphics tab in Zen’s Preferences has also been updated, with an improved overall layout, largely due to the removal of the low-med-high-ultra slider from the top of the tab (itself no real loss), although a full screen option has yet to appear.

Graphics tab updates

UI Skins and Button Transparency

This release sees the range of skin options (colours) expanded, with gold, purple and red being added to the original LL teal and Zen blue. It also appears that Zena has taken-up the comment I made in my original review about having the transparency of the UI buttons user-adjustable. This release sees an opacity slider for the buttons added to the UI Skinning tab – so while the buttons are initially solid on first-time start-up, you can adjust them to a level of transparency to suit your needs.

Zen Menu Updates

Zen menu

The Zen menu sees a couple of updates. The Notifications to Top for moving incoming notifications to the top right of the screen has gone (it can now be found in PREFERENCES->NOTIFICATIONS). This moves the Pie Menu option (on by default) to the top of the menu, while an option for accessing Preferences slips-in at the bottom.

I’d still prefer to see a button added to simplify accessing preferences, but this is still a logical addition that streamlines access to frequently used menu options.

Opinion

This release moves Zen up a notch. While performance is unchanged on my usual system (no surprises there given it’s still effectively the LL 3.2.8 Development / Project Viewer code base), the additional preferences options help make the Viewer more accessible and potentially feature-friendly to SL photographers who prefer something closer to the “official” Viewer rather than plunging into Exodus or Niran’s (although Zen does not have the advanced capabilities of either of these two Viewers, obviously).

The Build heritage for Zen is clear – drawing heavily on Firestorm in terms of floater layout and the availablity of popular tools. I’d personally still like to see the camera floater get some button functionality, and still am undecided on the complete removal of button-based functions from some of the menus. Some might find it feature-light compared to other TPVs (the list of what’s not there is still pretty much as it was for 3.2.8.6), but I don’t count this against Zen in any way. Overall this is still a Viewer that presents something of the best of both worlds – good, solid building capabilities wrapped up in LL’s 3.2 code. With it now listed in the TPV Directory, it’s worth a look by anyone who might be considering easing away from the official Viewer to take advantage of TPV-originated tools, but who doesn’t necessarily want to get swamped with additional features and options.

 

Visual Auto-mute: a farewell to ARC/ADW upsets?

Posted on by Inara Pey

A new set of functions has been released by LL as a changeset, and is starting to find its way into SL Viewers.

Essentially, this functionality allows you to set thresholds above which avatars with a very heavy load (high-res textures, complex attachments (multiple prims, flexi prims, sculpts, and what have you), etc., – but not scripts, which are a completely different kettle of fish) will not be rendered by your Viewer. Instead, such avatars will appear as “grey ghosts”, similar to when they’ve been muted; however, IMs and chat can still be exchanged. This should theoretically reduce the load placed on the Viewer and a your system in terms of rendering, and lead to an improved SL experience.

It’s important to note that the functions only affect how such avatars are rendered in your world-view; they will still render normally in their own view, and for anyone who hasn’t set thresholds / has higher thresholds than you. Also, your avatar will remain visible in your view, no matter how you set the limits.

The thresholds are governed by two functions, initially released by LL as a set of debug settings:

  • RenderAutoMuteByteLimit – Maximum bytes of attachments before an avatar is automatically visually muted (0 for no limit)
  • RenderAutoMuteSurfaceAreaLimit – Maximum surface area of attachments before an avatar is automatically visually muted (0 for no limit)

These currently require numerical values to be entered. However, it is possible that they’ll find their way into at least some Viewers as Preferences options, possibly using sliders. Zena Juran has already opted for this approach with the latest release of the Zen Viewer (below).

Visual Auto-mute as presented in the Zen Viewer

The functions are supported by a new addition to the Develop menu: Render MetaData->Attachment Bytes. When active, This displays a set of figures over / near avatars, which can be used to help you to determine the byte and area thresholds you should set.

Rendering Metadata->Attachment Bytes display enabled

The approach has already come in for considerable discussion on the SLU forum, where opinion seems to be weighted towards the favourable.

Certainly, it can’t be denied that avatars can impact Viewer performance enormously, so any moves that enable the user to have a greater degree of control over what is hurting their SL experience is potentially a good thing. But lag is a very sensitive subject – as anyone who has encountered upsets in the past due to people using ARC as a Big Stick can testify.

This approach would appear to be a lot more beneficial than something like ARC and its successor, Avatar Draw Weight (or ADW) are concerned, as it should hopefully reduce the amount of finger-pointing and hostility that goes on when people have arbitrary figures in red floating over their heads like a glaring accusation of wrong-doing.

It’s also somewhat friendlier than the other alternative to “blocking” “overloaded” avatars: that of audio mute, which denies any communications capabilities where some might be preferred and which can, if done on a group basis, leave a poor soul ostracised in silence with no idea why.

There are, however, some drawbacks. On the minor side, it is possible that setting the options when entering a popular venue may well result in you finding one or more friends around you turn into grey ghosts  – or that you end-up greyed-out in their view. This might in turn result in strained relations, but shouldn’t really be anything reasonable people can get past – and even joke about privately.

This isn’t necessarily a “one size fits all” solution as well; it is possible that, depending on the type of venues a person visits (in terms of popularity popularity, nature of the activities carried out, etc.), the thresholds may need adjusting from time-to-time in order to gain the best benefits / compromise in terms of performance benefits and visual appeal. This may limit the scope to which the new functions are used, as people are not always willing to fiddle around with sliders as they teleport around SL.

It also needs to be remembered that avatars aren’t the only load placed on the Viewer, and using functions like these might not help tremendously when moving around an environment that has dozens upon dozens of high-resolution textures all over the place (such as a store or mall). In this regard, the effectiveness of the system needs to be balanced against alternative approaches (such as the use of avatar imposters, or by simply turning-down your draw distance and turning down / off various options within the Viewer Preferences) in order to improve one’s in-world experience.

The biggest question-mark over the new controls, however, is that of effectiveness. If the results of playing with the new options is an improvement of a couple of fps in overall performance and/or a very slight improvement in rendering time, then it is unlikely that they are going to gain a lot of traction. But if people see a demonstrable improvement in their overall experience, then it is liable that the functions are going to prove more popular.

That said, anything tha moves us further away from the finger-pointing extremism that has been the plague of ARC /ADW, has to be a step in the right direction, doesn’t it? One possible benefit from this approach is a greater awareness and consideration of just how one’s own avatar might be impacting other people’s experience within SL, simply by seeing that it exceeds the thresholds one is setting against other avatars.

Well, one can hope, can’t one?

Taking stock of Inventory: LL ask for feedback

Posted on by Inara Pey

ProductTeam Linden (who he/she? is it Rhett in disguise?) has posted to the Technology Forum about a new option for presenting Inventory within the Viewer. Apparently, when the Viewer was split between the Basic and Advanced modes, moves were made to try to improve / simplify inventory presentation, but they never made it to a final cut of the Viewer.

Now they have, and Linden Lab is asking for feedback. The announcement reads in part:

For new users, managing and understanding inventory is often challenging. Drag and drop over large inventories can be problematic and daunting. New users are often confused about the meaning of certain system folders.

Today we have released a Project Viewer beta that includes this simplified presentation of inventory as an option. Before we consider any widespread changes to inventory, we want to know what you think about the Simple Inventory UI, noting that the target user is someone just starting out.  

The Simple Inventory UI offers new users:

  • A simple display presenting only one folder at a time
  • Improved wayfinding and findability
  • Faster load of inventory items

The article then invites users to download a Project Viewer which includes the new Inventory presentation, and to provide feedback (via the SL forum), with any bugs that are found logged in the SINV Project JIRA. In doing to, the article notes:

It’s important to note that Simple Inventory was intended for Basic mode before Basic and Advanced modes were merged. It is still experimental and so it is unclear how it will function with extremely large Inventories, so if you have a large Inventory we don’t recommend using Simple Inventory as your only view. 

There are also some incomplete features and some known issues, again as LL note.

So, what is it like? As I have a fairly extensive inventory that (if I say so myself) is well-managed and ordered that I’m in no mood to mess with, I tapped my CTA (Crash Test Alt) on the shoulder and took the Project Viewer for a spin.

Quick Tour

The Viewer has an initial release number of 3.2.8 (248008), and installs into is own folder but shares the standard cache and user folder locations as all other SL installations. Once started, the Viewer has the same funky blue/teal UI as the DD Project Viewer – so I assume this is to provide a simple means of recognising that you’re running a Project Viewer. Otherwise, the Viewer looks and behaves like a “normal” release.

Opening Inventory initially reveals a familiar panel (for those that use the official Viewer), but one with a new SWITCH TO FOLDER VIEW link in the top right corner (below left). Clicking this brings-up the revised layout (below, right).

Inventory: from hierarchical view to folder view

Key points of the new layout:

  • Inventory is divided into clear sections: MY INVENTORY, LIBRARY, RECEIVED ITEMS (for the forthcoming Direct Delivery) and TRASH
  • You can have more than one section open at a time
  • Sections can be resized by hovering the mouse at the bottom of an open section so the cursor changes to a double-headed arrow. Click and hold the left mouse button to drag the sections beneath the open section up/down
  • Within a section, folders and contents are listed alphabetically (so system folders do not appear at the top of MY INVENTORY by default, and folders are not sorted to the top when mixed with objects)

As the view is not intended to be hierarchical, there are no arrowheads to the left of folders or any ability to open them within the displayed panel. Instead, opening a folder is now achieved in one of two ways:

  • You can hover the mouse over a folder to highlight it with an ACTIONS option. Clicking this will displays context menu from which you can select OPEN IN NEW WINDOW (below, left)
  • You can double-click on the folder and have a new view of the contents slide neatly into the existing panel, replacing what was already there.

Note that to prevent accidents, system folders automatically have the options to move, rename or delete them disabled.

Whether you opt to open folders in a new window, or display them in the existing panel, the end result is the same in terms of what you see (below, right).

Opening folders: either hover the mouse over the folder and Click ACTIONS for a menu (l) or double-click a folder. The contacts will be displayed (r)
Inventory breadcrumbs

If you opt to drill down through your folders by opening each in a new window, then navigating back and forth is a relatively simple matter of swapping between windows and closing those you’ve finished with.

However, the system also makes it possible you to navigate up / down a set of nested folders within a single panel by adding breadcrumbs to the top of the panel (right) as you open each successive folder, allowing you to navigate back up the tree. At the same time, hovering the mouse over MY INVENTORY will reveal another ACTIONS option from which you can elect to go BACK TO TOP FOLDER.

Once in a folder, items can be highlighted and the ACTIONS menu used to manipulate them (e.g. wear, move, rename, delete) – again displayed options are context-sensitive (so if you are wearing an item, that option is not displayed, for example).

You can move items around your inventory in several ways:

  • Use the ACTION menu to select MOVE for an item / folder. This opens an additional window in which you can navigate to your desired destination (double-click through the required folders), before clicking MOVE TO SELECTED FOLDER to finish the task
  • You can also simply drag-and-drop items / folders within a panel
  • You can drag-and-drop between inventory windows
  • You can drag-and-drop between sections (between RECEIVED ITEMS and MY INVENTORY, for example) – the destination section does not have to be expanded in order to do so.

A couple of things I did notice during testing were that a) worn items are not highlighted / indicated in any way and b) there is no option to remove / detach a worn item. There also appears to be a bug, as selecting WEAR appears to ADD the selected item to your avatar, rather than replacing anything already worn – my CTA ended up clumping around in two pairs of boots….

Feedback and Thoughts

I don’t really have any issues with the functionality presented here per se. It works OK, the overall layout within a panel is fine, and (known issues and bugs notwithstanding), it all works pretty much as expected. There do appear to be some issues that do need addressing, however, and as LL asked for feedback on the system as presented (and allowing for the fact it is only an initial iteration, here’s mine:

  • Add the ability to see what is actually being worn or is attached to the avatar within the Folder View
  • As most people are likely to be moving folders from RECEIVED ITEMS to MY INVENTORY, it would make sense to move RECEIVED ITEMS above LIBRARY, to reduce the chances of a mis-click dropping items into the Library section
  • As currently supplied, the functionality is perhaps a little too limited – no ability to create sub-folders, for example, so the ability to organise one’s inventory is  restricted to drag-and-drop into whatever is already there
  • Don’t be afraid of using menu options at the top of the inventory panel (File, Create, Sort, etc.) – they are lot more intuitive for users new or established than having options buried behind obscure “+” symbols and cog-wheel icons.

Also, if it is intended provide both views (Hierarchy and Folder) within the inventory panel of the a release Viewer at some point in the future, then I’d also suggesting ensuring that the top-level folder presentation is consistent between them (i.e. scrap the “system folders to top” default in favour of an alphabetical listing for the Hierarchy View), as this will assist familiarity in switching between views.

Thoughts

Candidly speaking, this alternative presentation comes across as yet another Linden curate’s egg. On the one hand, it cannot be denied that there are issues around how the inventory panel functions (the “high-speed scrolling” that can occur when trying to move an item from one folder to another, for example), and that things could be improved in terms of presentation. On the other, this approach is perhaps a little too simplistic to make a valid judgement at this point; too much functionality has been stripped away. Looking at it in the form presented, it’s hard to see the direction in which it’s liable to grow (if any) – which I think may be the issue LL are having, hence the low-key call for assistance.

I also cannot help but think LL “misunderestimate” new users here. While people are new to SL, it’s doubtful they are new to computers and things such as file management tools like Windows Explorer and the Mac Finder. After all, they’ve managed to find their way online, navigated the web to the SL website, found the Viewer download link, downloaded the Viewer, found the installer on their computer and installed it… As such, is understanding the nuances of inventory management that big an issue for them? I’m not convinced.

That said, there are undoubted benefits in some aspects of what is presented here: a “flat file” view may well be more to some people’s liking (providing it is better integrated with a hierarchical view as well), and the use of a pop-up “move” window could be preferable to some than relying on drag-and-drop – and it’s good to provide alternatives. I just can’t escape the feeling the perhaps LL are missing an opportunity. Given most people are liable to be familiar with the likes of Explorer and Finder, why not grab the bull by the horns and make inventory more approachable by presenting it in a similar manner to those tools – perhaps a two-panel display, with scrollable hierarchical view to the left, open folder view to the right with the associated drag-and-drop capabilities?

I’m not saying it would be easy to do (or even necessarily a short-term development). but were it possible to achieve, I’d venture to suggest it would meet with significant approach from established and new users alike.

I’ll certainly be keeping my eye on this to see how things develop. In the meantime, and given feedback is being sought, if you’ve not already taken a look at the Project Viewer, I’d encourage you to do so & pass your thoughts / suggests to LL via the forum.

Niran’s Viewer: release 1.13

Posted on by Inara Pey

Update Jan 24th:  Version 1.14 is now available which fixes the snapshot floater iessue meantioned in the article, and which also see the Main Menu moved to F1 from ESC, thus resolving the camera / Mouselook reset issue also mentioned here. The download location remains the same.

Nirans-logoGood grief! I turn my back on SL for 1/2 a day to go shopping and take care of that “real life” thing, and what happens? Another Viewer update pops up! :).

NiranV Dean has been busy scribing away (do coders scribe, I wonder?) on Niran’s Viewer of late, with 1.12 appearing earlier in the week and now we have 1.13 arriving. NiranV’s aim with the Viewer is not to come up with the fastest (in terms of frame rates) or the most features and functions – but rather to focus on developing better graphics and a more flexible user interface. This combination has made Niran’s Viewer daringly different  – and release 1.13 continues with this.

Main Menu

On starting the Viewer there is also little sign of any changes within the release. However, tap ESC and you’ll receive an interesting surprise: the Viewer has a “main menu”!

Niran’s: Main menu

The options on the menu are self-explanatory, and NiranV clearly states this is only an initial pass at the menu – the style and layout will be subject to change, and constructive feedback on the idea is welcomed via his blog.

I have to admit that when the idea was first explained to me, I was sceptical as to its use – but I’m not sure I fully understood what NiranV was proposing. On seeing the menu, I can see that there is potential here. However, I’m not sure that using ESC is the right key function. While I understand it may be a common approach in “traditional” games (I’m genuinely not qualified to comment either way on computer games), it has to be said that ESC has long had a “traditional” use in SL: for resetting your camera view or popping out of ML. Ergo, there is a risk here that putting ESC to another use is going to cause frowns among some users, other options for getting into / out of ML notwithstanding.

I did have problems with the My Profile and Outfits options on the menu (neither worked for me), but again, this is an experimental feature.

Snapshot Floater

The revised snapshot floater in V3.x has always struck me as being a tad on the large size. Niran’s addresses this by offering a more compact floater, although it needs a couple of tweaks to finish things off – the “expand” chevron and image resolution information is somewhat squeezed by the image preview pane, and the expanded Advanced Options slider could do with being just a little wider (the closing bracket of “(fullscreen)” seems to “fall off” the edge of the panel a little. However, this is, to me at least, an improvement over the default floater in terms of size.

Snapshot floater: a trifle squeezed?

Looking at Snapshot actually reminds me to comment on the top-to-bottom fade found in the floaters on Niran’s Viewer. I’m not sure how recent a change this is – I first noticed it on the 1.12 release – but it is really rather smart and I find it adds a little something to the Viewer as a whole.

Gestures Enhanced and Other Bits

This release sees gestures enhanced with additional trigger options, as NiranV explains, “You can now use additional trigger keys for gestures, which are E Q R F I T Y Z G C V M O P and Space, you can set them in the Shortcut key combo NOT MODIFIER!”

Also in this release as an experimental option is the ability to bulk upload .anim files via NV->FILES->UPLOAD->BULK UPLOAD.

The revised Build floater, introduced in 1.12 has gained popular feedback from the core Niran’s Viewer users and has received some nips and tucks as a result.

Build floater: nips and tucks

Version 1.12 also suffered from locking issues that appeared to be related to Shining fixes. However, following investigations, NiranV found the problem seems to actually be connected to inventory loading, and has this to say on the issue and Shining fixes in general within 1.13:

“Well with 1.12 I added some Shining fixes that seemed to cause initial freezes on login, but no ….its your Inventory! IF you freeze several times on login before [the] World turns smooth, then your Inventory has been fetched … If you want, I can do an option to disable initial fetching.

“Apart from that, I´ve added a few other Shining fixes which fixed the Underwater Crash I´ve noticed when you look into the “void” (the blue water fog at the end of a sim) and transparent meshes -> meshes should now render correctly when setting them to 1% transparency or having a transparent texture on them … instead of vanishing completely. [Be aware that] the bump map on mesh crash is still present; don’t set bump maps on meshes unless you want to crash. The bump map will be set after your relog.”

Feedback

Niran’s Viewer doesn’t have everything I like to see in a Viewer – but then again, if it and every other Viewer did have everything we all wanted, they’d all likely be exactly the same. However, it is still very much a Viewer I enjoy using. However, recent releases have suffered where I’m concerned, as they have tended to push my system to its limits when I’ve wanted to use the bells and whistles.

While Niran isn’t focused on the “traditional” elements of performance (and remembering that they are always subjective and subject to a myriad of factors that cannot always be managed in everyday use of the Viewer), I have to say the 1.13 has so far reversed performance issues for me somewhat, and has been more amenable to me running with shadows, occlusion and so on switched on. This has been a pleasant surprise, as alongside Exodus, Niran’s is my Viewer of choice for what passed for photography in my hands.

Outside of this, I think the main menu idea could well have more traction than I’d given previous credit. The inclusion of such a menu may seem out-of-step with Viewer development to date, but I have to admit that were it to be used in a Viewer specifically aimed at new users, for example, it could have considerable positive impact. As it is, it’ll be interesting to see how the idea develops within Niran’s Viewer, and whether any other TPVs adopt the approach.

All-in-all, an interesting update, with more to come in the future, going on NiranV’s blog comments!

Links

Restrained Love, Dolphin 3 and Niran’s updated

Posted on by Inara Pey

This week has seen a number of TPVs updated. Rather than dwell interminably on each of them, here’s a rapid rundown, based on the individual blog entries for the three Viewers.

Restrained Love Viewer

Release 2.8.3 brings with it many bug fixes and:

Added

  • New keyboard shortcuts for builders (they are also added to the Build > Options sub-menu):
    • – Alt+W to edit linked parts
    • – Alt+T to set to stretch textures
    • – Alt+B to set to stretch both sides
    • – Alt+R to set to set grid mode to World
    • – Alt+F to set to set grid mode to Local
    • – Alt+V to set to set grid mode to Reference
    • – Alt+G to set to set current selected object as Reference and set grid mode to Reference
  • Debug setting “RenderMeshDeformed” to switch Qarl’s parametric alpha mesh deformer on and off (it is off by default
  • LL’s patch for the new inventory features (i.e. no accidental nudity)
  • Allow to click in-world while in Mouselook mode, even when your controls are taken, but only while pressing Alt

Fixed

  • Inventory offers were unreadable (the Show button used to overwrite the URL), same for teleport offers
  • Shift+Right-click on an object in world failed to open it
  • In Mouselook mode, we could only click on something or fire with a gun once
  • RLV_50: Fix to the alignment tool in the Build floater is broken (thanks given to Lance Corrimal and Jonathan Yap)
  • RLV_52: another avatar sitting down while in ML resets my camera (with thanks to Lance Corrimal)

Changed

  • Unable to be force TPed when in Busy mode.

Links

Dolphin Viewer

Version 3.2.4.22939 brings with it:

  • The main inventory tab can now show or hide links, or show only links (the recent and worn tabs always hide links). Switch it on via the Inventory gear icon
  • The use of private memory pools has been switched off. If you notice more crashes than before, switch it back on with the Debug setting “MemoryPrivatePoolEnabled” and let Lance know (via a post on the forum)
  • This version of the Dolphin Viewer 3 does not send “LookAt” data anymore, if you switch on “Do not point at objects” (Preferences->Dolphin Viewer 3->Miscellaneous). Lance notes that, “The options to have the LookAt / PointAt crosshairs on-screen will be gone in the next release, unless someone points out good use cases for having them that are not based on drama or paranoia.”
  • The inventory patch recommended by Oz Linden has been implemented – no “accidental nudity” for Dolphin Viewer 3 users
  • Updated to RLV 2.8.2.1
  • When you take a Snapshot to disk using the keyboard shortcut CTRL-SHIFT-D, it uses the file format that you selected for your last “snapshot to disk” from the snapshot floater
  • The check boxes for switching AutoCloseOOC and AllowMUpose are back in Preferences->Dolphin Viewer 3->Miscellaneous
  • The linux version of the Dolphin Viewer 3 now uses dbus calls in the secondlife: handler script to send SLurl to whichever viewer is running at the time. Lance comments, “This is not available on 64-bit Windows, so please vote for VWR-28073 and VWR-28074. Thanks.”
  • The Windows installer should not use the term “Second Life” anymore anywhere in any language. It should read “The Dolphin Viewer 3″
  • Some Windows build issues have been addressed.
  • Fixes:
    • The tips of the handles of the Align tool in the Build toolbox point in the right directions
    • Sharing inventory items with more than one inventory window is open is now working correctly
    • The hovertip on the local chat bar mentions whispering as well
    • Previews of textures show the checkerboard pattern again under transparent areas. Lance notes: “This version still does this with the old deprecated OpenGL calls. The next version of Dolphin Viewer 3 will do it “right”, thanks to Shyotl from Singularity”
    • Fixed: the “Preview As” dropdown in the texture upload preview is not covered by the texture anymore.

Links

Niran’s Viewer

Release 1.12 brings with it:

  • New Build floater
  • Ability to select the use of your right arm when selecting / pointing / building
  • Revised pie menu
  • Ability to see UI when in Mouselook
  •  Shining updates.
Niran’s: UI visible in Mouselook (note ML crosshairs in the centre of the image)

The UI-in-Mouselook is interesting – NiranV mentions it as coming via Dolphin, but I’ve failed to notice it in that Viewer (or any other V3-based TPV) – not that I’m a major user of ML at the best of times and so may well have missed it if it is a debug setting (or I managed to skip the option in Preferences). It’s an interesting addition to direct 1st person use of the Viewer, especially given UI options can be accessed using the Alt key. For those who prefer a more traditional Mouselook view, the UI can currently be hidden using a debug command: AllowUIHidingInML.

As a semi-regular user of Niran’s Viewer, I have to say, I’m not totally convinced with the build floater changes (which need a small amount of tidying-up) on two counts. Firstly, because Niran’s is one of three Viewers I routinely use, and so the layout cuts against the other two – this is admittedly more *my* problem than the Viewer’s.

Secondly – and more importantly – while the “traditional” builder floater is getting increasingly crowded (and one could argue it does need a bit of a re-think), it does have a certain logical flow in the way information is presented – and scanned by the user. This is something that appears to have been lost in this initial presentation within Niran’s Viewer.

Links

The Zen of Second Life

Posted on by Inara Pey

Update January 27th, 2013: The Zen viewer has been discontinued by its creator.

Note: January 17th, 2012: I’ve received a number of complaints from the Firestorm team relating to elements included in the Zen Viewer. One in particular relates to the client-side AO, which in its current form I’d previously been given to understand had its roots in another Viewer & enhanced in Firestorm. However, I’m more than happy to correct this and give due credit to the Firestorm team.

No, I’m not going all metaphysical on you. Yet.

Zen is the name of the latest Second Life Viewer to cross my path, coming to me by way of a Twitter-poke from Cinder Roxley. Being developed by Zena Juran, this is a rather nice take on the LL Viewer, not altering too much, while adding some very nice touches.

Core Data

Currently available for the Windows platform, Zen is based on the latest 3.2.7 code from Linden Lab. This means it has the very latest in the Shining fixes, mesh upload, the  updated snapshot floater, etc. In addition, it also includes:

  • The alpha parametric deformer
  • Client-side AO and particle editor
  • Temporary texture & sculpt uploads and local sculpt and texture browsing
  • Area search
  • Pie menus
  • Toggle notifications between top / bottom right of the screen
  • LSL pre-processor and save / load scripts locally
  • Copy/Paste Object/Texture Parameters
  • Qarl’s prim alignment tool
  • Texture Refresh
  • Derendering option
  • Fetch inventory at log-in
  • Move orphaned system folders for deletion
  • Copy UUID on right-click
  • Resized View/Camera floater
  • Adjustable region restart timer.

In addition, the Viewer also has some useful defaults pre-set from the get-go which are liable to save most people using it time in getting things initially set-up.

The version I review here is version 3.2.7 (1), released 15th January, 2012, although version 3.2.7 (2) is available as of the 16th January, incorporating various tweaks and fixes.

Installation and First Looks

The installation EXE is 26.9Mb in size, pretty much par for the course nowadays, and installs Zen directly into its own directory without any hitch. On starting-up, Zen reveals the familiar 3.2 UI with a couple of interesting alterations from the norm: the Destination Guide doesn’t open by default, and the Mini-location Bar is displayed in preference to the Navigation/Favourites bars.

Zen default UI presentation

Transparent Buttons

Another, perhaps more obvious difference, is that the buttons – all positioned along the bottom of the window – are semi-transparent. Some may find them harder to see as a result, but I have to say I quite like it, although an option to adjust the level of transparency (if possible) would be welcome.

The buttons that are active by default are, it’s probably fair to say, the ones most people will prefer to see active from the get-go: Chat, People, Snapshot, Profile, MiniMap, View, World Map, Search, Build, Inventory and the AO buttons (on/off & settings). Other than the AO buttons, there are currently no additional buttons included in Zen’s Button Toolbar.

Menus

Menu-wise, Zen offers something of an eclectic mix, with a couple of the menus somewhat altered from the V3.2 offerings, others largely unchanged. Of particular note in a couple of the menus is the absence of many of the options that have corresponding buttons; there are no menu options for Choose an Avatar, Picks, Places and Camera Controls in the ME menu, for example, and World lacks a Destinations option.

Button access only: the ME menu from Zen (l) and from V 3.2.7 (r)

On the one hand, this appears to make sense – if the functions have buttons, why have duplicate menu option to access them?  Where a function is in frequent use, then it is likely it will be accessed through the button far more than through the menus. There is also the argument that experienced users (and Zen is aimed at those more familiar with SL, as are most TPVs) are unlikely to require access to some options (such as Choose an Avatar) while others will be more routinely accessed via Search (such as Destinations).

However, in some cases the menu options do offer a convenient means of accessing options that may not otherwise be used frequently enough to warrant having the button active at all times. As such, I’m not totally convinced removing some of the menu options (such as Picks and Places) is perhaps the right way to go.

Also missing from the ME menu, given it is built from the official 3.2.7 code, is the Merchant Outbox. However, this actually makes sense, as Direct Delivery isn’t yet available on the Main grid, so it’s hardly something people are going to miss at this point in time.

Zen menu options

Like many TPVs, Zen has its own dedicated menu called, appropriately, ZEN. This provides quick access to a number of  functions not found in the official Viewer: the ability to turn off / on Pie menus, disable / enable the mesh parametric deformer alpha, etc.

There may not be a lot of options here – but that’s intentional; Zen isn’t meant to be a feature-heavy Viewer, and to compare it with those that are would be a mistake. Zen is aimed at a very specific niche: building, as Zena explained to me, “I prefer to use  the official Linden Lab Viewer It has the best performance, but it does lack features found in other TPVs that I find very useful for content creation on the grid”. Full marks to her for defining the goal of the Viewer so clearly.

Preferences

This approach is also reflected in PREFERENCES, which currently sees little deviation from the official Viewer in terms of tabs and options. The only easily spotted differences are the inclusion of a LSL Pre-processor tab for scripters and a UI tab for skinning the Viewer.

LSL pre-processing options

The skin options are currently limited – you essentially get a choice of a blue highlighting for things like menu selections, etc., or the more traditional LL teal effect (complete with options to change other aspects of the UI). However, this is something Zena is again working on, so more options are liable to be available with future releases.

UI Skinning

Defaults

However, just because there aren’t a lot of extra menus options and Preferences, doesn’t mean there aren’t a lot of “under the hood” tweaks to the Viewer that may not at first be obvious. Zen actually differs itself from the herd in that several common defaults are pre-set to how many experienced users prefer them. For example:

  • Limit select distance is OFF
  • Camera constraints are DISABLED
  • Inventory is pre-set to SORT BY NAME and SYSTEM FOLDERS TO TOP is OFF
  • Inventory hover tips are disabled by default
  • Default cache size set to 1Gb rather than 512Mb
  • Network bandwidth is set to 1500Kbps (see this article on bandwidth settings) rather than the usual 500Kbps.

All of these tend to make getting started on Zen a lot less fussy, although it might be fair to say that many users would also like to see Chat and IM pre-set to use the “old style” non-header layout as well – Zen currently uses the LL default with headers active.

Camera Floater

The Camera floater in Zen has been nicely resized, and includes an option to quickly reset Draw Distance. The resizing is welcome – the camera floater on the official Viewer is somewhat supersized. However, in achieving the resizing, the more familiar zoom slider and viewing angle buttons have been removed. Again, I have very mixed feelings towards this approach.

Take the Mouselook button for example. While it is true that press the M key will drop you into Mouselook – it is equally true that this only works if you have your WASD keys set to move your avatar. For those that don’t, and who prefer to have WASD set to starting local chat (rather than having to tap ENTER first), the lack of a Mouselook button on the camera floater might cause a frown or two.

Animation Overrider

This is the “standard” client-side AO first seen in Firestorm and now found in most recent TPVs, which includes the ability to run multiple AO configurations, “build” AO sets “on the fly”, etc. In keeping with Dolphin, Zen currently uses the two-button configuration as mentioned above (one for accessing the AO floater, the other for turning the selected AO on / off), rather than the single-button approach used within Exodus.

Build Options

Zen offers all of the most frequently used build options found in the TPV “market” today. The build menu accepts four digits after the decimal point, there is Qarl’s alignment tool, the ability to copy / paste parameters, temporary uploads, sculpt and texture browsing, additional scripting tools, and for those working with mesh clothing, the parametric deformer alpha. Add to this the choice of using either the context menu or the Pie menu, and creators are supplied with a good range of options.

For me, there is only one item I’d like to see added, which is currently in Exodus, and that’s the ability to save / load position and rotation information of an object into /from it’s description field; when working on a number of builds and having limited space on my build platform, I find this a real boon for my work over copying / pasting co-ords manually.

What’s Not There

Again, it’s important to remember that this is focused Viewer aimed at delivering an improved building experience based more closely on the “vanilla” official Viewer when compared to other TPVs and that Zen is also something of a new development. As such,  the Viewer doesn’t currently include options such as radar or things like RLV and the media filters. This doesn’t mean these options won’t appear in time, but it would be unfair for people to dismiss the Viewer on the basis of their absence.

Viewer Status

Zen is TPV Policy compliant, and Zena informs me that, “I have an application submitted to be listed on the TPV directory and have been in contact with Oz Linden. As soon as Oz reviews the Zen Viewer it should (hopefully) be listed on the TPV directory.” The source code is available on Bitbucket, as is a fledgling wiki for documenting the Viewer and an issue tracker, which Zena requests is used for support issues / requests, rather than contacting her in-world.

Performance and Opinion

As Zen is based on the official 3.2.7 release I was expecting it to perform well on my usual system given my recent experiences with 3.2.5 and 3.2.6. So far, I’ve not been disappointed. Performance has largely matched my experiences with 3.2.5 (different environmental variables accepted, and remembering this is not intended as precise benchmark test), and frequently improved upon them (having shadows enabled at altitude, for example had the viewer running at around 15-16fps, slightly faster than 3.2.5, while on the ground, the rates were around those of 3.2.5 (about 11-12fps).

Overall, and in running Zen for a couple of days, I’ve found it to be a pleasant, crash-free experience (other than one issue which Zena fixed in the 3.2.7 (2) release). When building, the Viewer is easily as capable as my “default” Viewer choices (and I’ve given it a good run in this respect, given I’m (again) rebuilding my house…). Certainly, the additional build options made getting the work done a breeze, and it was nice to have a Viewer in which I can both build and have shadows running without suffering refresh stutter every time someone enters or leaves the sim.

Overall, the Viewer offers some nice build enhancements over the official Viewer, and those who prefer to use the LL-supplied Viewer, but would like to have some of the additional build options at their disposal without necessarily swapping to a TPV for general use should find Zen offers a very solid alternative.