Tag: Server Updates

2016 SL project updates 37 (1): server, Bento preview head videos

Posted on by Inara Pey

Vintage Romance; Inara Pey, September 2016, on Flickr Vintage Romance – blog post

Server Deployment: Week 37

On Tuesday, September 13th, the Main (SLS) channel received the same server maintenance package previously deployed on the RC channel in week #36. This comprises “minor internal logging changes” which may help with some of the problems occasionally seen with estate bans; at a minimum the Lab will be able to gather more information on them.

There iss no planned deployment or restart set for the three RC channels during the week. RC deployments will resume in week #38. This may involve further serve-side updates to reduce certain griefing vectors.

SL Viewer

The VLC Media Plugin viewer updated in September 13th to version 4.1.1.319583. This viewer replaces the QuickTime media plugin for the Windows viewer with one based on LibVLC.

In addition, and as indicated in my TPVD meeting notes, this version should include changes for exception handling in the viewer intended to ensure exceptions are better handled and recorded. These may not prevent crashes occurring, but should provide the Lab with better data on the exception throws and catches. Overall, they are describes as “fairly small, widespread changes” to the viewer code.

The remaining viewers in the various pipelines remain as per the end of week #36:

  • Current Release version: 4.0.7.318301 (dated August 8), promoted August 11 – formerly the Maintenance RC viewer download page, release notes
  • Release channel cohorts (please see my notes on manually installing RC viewer versions if you wish to install any release candidate(s) yourself):
    • Visual Outfit Browser viewer,  version 4.0.8.319143, dated August 30 – ability to preview images of outfits in the Appearance floater
  • Project viewers:
    • Project Bento (avatar skeleton extensions), version 5.0.0.318969, dated August 25 – avatar vertical position update; SLM files are by default not created or used; show bones display uses colours differently; animation of collision volumes fixed
  • 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.

Project Bento

Following my last Bento update, Matrice and Gaia have been working on Avastar 2, which has now reached Alpha 10, supporting the current version of the project viewer (5.0.0.318969).

Demo Heads

In that update, I also blogged about the AK Bento preview head. On September 13th, Catwa offered some bloggers a preview look at an upcoming Catwa head, as  well as a preview video. – Doubtless, more heads will be appearing in the near future.

An important point to note with Bento heads is that while they will offer considerably more options for customising your look that “conventional” mesh head, it won’t simply be a case of buying Bento head, wearing it, and having it conform to your existing facial features – you will obviously need to adjust many of the head / facial sliders to get a close / approximate look, and even then, just how close a look you can achieve will depend a lot upon the base mesh of the head itself. So careful testing of Bento heads to find one which bears some initial resemblance to your desired look is likely to be required, and it may be that multiple heads are still required to achieve all of your desired looks.

Strawberry Singh has produced a video based on the AK Bento preview head, demonstrating how it currently works with the sliders.

As Whirly Fizzle pointed out to me, on the day Catwa issued preview copies of her Bento head work, fashion blogger Daeberethwen Arbenlow also put a video together running through the capabilities on that head as well

A further point of note with Bento mesh heads is that the degree of customisation available will depend on which bones of the face and head a model is rigged to, and the weighting assigned to it. An example of this is the nose division, mentioned in both videos. This can potentially be  more prominent, providing the head is rigged to the mFaceNoseBase bone and has a suitable weighting applied.

As Cathy Foil, developer of MayaStar, and one of the core members of the Bento development team points out:

Each mesh head designer will have to decide what sliders they want and will have to experiment with different weighting. It will be very exciting to see how face weights will evolve over the next few months and years.

Which again underline the need for careful comparisons when selected Bento heads as they become more and more available once Bento moves past RC status, and more Bento products start to appear.

SL Wiki

The Wiki remains locked to the majority of users for editing, no news on when it may be unlocked, or what might be done to address the current issues.

2016 SL project updates 36 (1): server, viewer

Posted on by Inara Pey
Little Yoshiwara
Little Yoshiwara – blog post

Server Deployments

There was no main (SLS) channel deployment on Tuesday, September 6th.  On Wednesday, September 7th, all three RCs received the same new server maintenance package, defined as containing “minor internal logging changes”.

Commenting on the update at the Simulator User Group meeting on Tuesday, September 6th, Simon Linden indicated the updates might help with some of the problems occasionally seen with estate bans; at a minimum the Lab will be able to gather more information on them.

SL Viewer

There have been no significant changes to the SL viewer channels since the end of week #35. A further RC update to the VLC viewer had been expected following comments at the August 27th TPV Developer meeting, but has yet to materialise. As such, this leasing the viewer channels as follows:

  • Current Release version: 4.0.7.318301 (dated August 8), promoted August 11 – formerly the Maintenance RC viewer download page, release notes
  • Release channel cohorts (please see my notes on manually installing RC viewer versions if you wish to install any release candidate(s) yourself):
    • Visual Outfit Browser viewer,  version 4.0.8.319143, dated August 30 – ability to preview images of outfits in the Appearance floater
    • VLC Media Plugin Viewer RC, version 4.1.1.318504, dated August 15 – replaces the QuickTime media plugin for the Windows viewer with one based on LibVLC
  • Project viewers:
    • Project Bento (avatar skeleton extensions), version 5.0.0.318969, dated August 25 – avatar vertical position update; SLM files are by default not created or used; show bones display uses colours differently; animation of collision volumes fixed
  • 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.

Other Items

Windows 10 Performance Issues Due to KB3176938

As noted in BUG-37795 and my related article, some windows 10 users are experiencing issues after installing the Microsoft Windows 10 Cumulative Update KB3176938, with reduced FPS after tabbing between other applications they may be running and a Second Life viewer. The issue appears to be related to how Windows 10 handles OpenGL. Linden Lab are apparently going to (/already have) contact(ed) Microsoft on the problem, which also affects a number of PC games. Please refer to the JIRA for further information.

SL Wiki

The SL wiki remains closed for user editing.

2016 SL project updates 35 (1): server, viewer

Posted on by Inara Pey

Crystal Gardens; Inara Pey, August 2016, on Flickr Crystal Gardens – blog post

Server Deployments

There are no scheduled deployment for week #35. If you have a region you believe is experiencing issues, the advice is to contact support and request a restart or, for specific issues, file a bug report.

It is expected that the current dearth of simulator deployments will be coming to an end in the near future, as the current round of infrastructure / operating system updates comes to an end and the summer vacation season winds down.

SL Viewer

As expected, the Visual Outfits browser RC viewer was updated to version 4.0.8.319143 on Tuesday, August 30th, largely to correct an elevated crashed rate, as reported in my last TPV Developer meeting update. The VLC Media plugin view is also expected to receive a further RC update for the same reason. Until it does, the current list of the remaining official viewers remains as:

  • Current Release version 4.0.7.318301, dated August 8th promoted August 11th – formerly the Maintenance RC viewer
  • Release Candidate viewers (refer to my notes on manually installing RC viewer versions if you wish to install any release candidate(s) yourself):
    • VLC Media Plugin RC viewer, version 4.1.1.318504, dated August 15th – replaces the QuickTime media plugin for the Windows version of the viewer with one based on LibVLC
  • Project viewers:
    • Project Bento (avatar skeleton extensions), version 5.0.0.318969, dated August 25th – final updates and tweaks prior to a move to RC status
  • 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.

SL Wiki

As noted under a separate article, the SL wiki remains locked for general editing by users.

2016 SL project updates 34 (1): server, viewer, wiki

Posted on by Inara Pey

Binemust; Inara Pey, August 2016, on Flickr Binemust – blog post

Things are still a little quiet, so not a lot to report at the start of the week.

Server Deployments

There are no scheduled deployment for week #34.

SL Viewer

No changes since my last SL project update, leaving the current official viewer list as:

  • Current Release version 4.0.7.318301, dated August 8th promoted August 11th – formerly the Maintenance RC viewer
  • Release Candidate viewers (refer to my notes on manually installing RC viewer versions if you wish to install any release candidate(s) yourself):
    • Visual Outfit Browser RC viewer, version 4.0.8.318686, dated August 17th – ability to preview images of outfits in the Appearance floater
    • VLC Media Plugin RC viewer, version 4.1.1.318504, dated August 15th – replaces the QuickTime media plugin for the Windows version of the viewer with one based on LibVLC
  • Project viewers:
    • Project Bento (avatar skeleton extensions), version 5.0.0.317597, dated July 14th – incorporation of final skeleton and slider updates from the test viewer
  • 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.

SL Wiki

As noted under a separate article, the SL wiki is currently locked from public editing due to spamming issues. There is currently no ETA on when it will be made generally available for access. Those with a definite need to have edit rights should raise a support ticket requesting access.

2016 SL project updates 33 (2): server, viewer, Bento update 23

Posted on by Inara Pey

West of the Rain; Inara Pey, August 2016, on Flickr West Of The Rain – blog post

My apologies for the latest of this update. Working on my recent Sansar Summary pushed this update completely out of my mind!

Server Deployments – Recap

There were no deployments to the Main (SLS) channel or the RC channels this week. It is currently “doubtful” there will be an RC deployment next week – although this may change. A contributing reason for the slowdown is that the Lab is currently focused on server-side operating system upgrades.

SL Viewer

The Visual Outfits Browser RC viewer updated on August 17th. Version 4.0.8.318686 sees the viewer merged to the current release viewer code, and the following additional updates:

  • A fix for Outfit Gallery failing to use local files Select Photo Picker
  • A fix for Snapshot preview being corrupted
  • A fix for a crash in the viewer when using the snapshot preview.

All other official viewers remain as per my Current Viewer Release List.

Project Bento

The following notes were taken from the weekly Bento User Group meeting, held on Thursday, August 18th at 13:00 SLT at the the Hippotropolis Campfire Circle. For details on the meeting agenda, please refer to the Bento User Group wiki page. No audio is supplied, as the meeting was fairly short and sharp, without a major amount of discussion.

SLM Files

SLM files are produced alongside of the Mesh .DAE files. They can be a problem as by default, the official viewer is set to check for any existing SLM file when uploading a mesh model, and this can lead to confusion when trying to fix issues by overwriting the original .DAE, only to have the viewer reference the existing SLM file, either causing problems on upload or giving the impression the issues in the model haven’t actually been fixed.

Firestorm has always avoided this by having the debug setting MeshImportUseSLM set to FALSE by default, and the suggestion going forward is for the official viewer to do them same.

Mesh Distortions with Altitude

The issue of facial distortions with altitude when software skinning is used continues to prove difficult to resolve. The general recommendation is to use hardware skinning (my Bento Update #19). The root cause of the problem appears to be a floating point error which can affect any mesh. The Lab is still looking at it, but given there is a workaround by using hardware skinning, the problem is not seen as a major blocker.

The issue of facial distortions at altitude when using software skinning in Bento has yet to be fully resolved (images courtesy of Cathy Foil)
The issue of facial distortions at altitude when using software skinning in Bento has yet to be fully resolved (images courtesy of Cathy Foil)

Proposals for NOT Having Mesh Influenced by Sliders

There have been requests to not have the avatar bones influenced by the shape sliders (i.e. by a creator optionally locking both the scale and position of a joint). The Lab is looking at this, but if any work is done, it will not be prior to the Bento viewer reaching release candidate status. Whether anything may be done was the RC version of the viewer progresses towards release (the work is not seen as a huge amount of effort), or whether it is a piece of “post-Bento” work is still to be decided.

Avatar Test Files

Cathy foil has now updated the Maya male and female avatar models on the Bento Test wiki page so they match the latest Bento skeleton updates (as of August 17th, 2016). Then both utilise the same (female) skeleton, the male version have a male mesh / morphs applied. Cathy has used the Avatar Bento angel weights and apply them to the models, so the faces and fingers are all fully rigged, although both are sans wings and tails.

Cathy will be making a set of .FBX files of the models, which will also be placed on the Bento Test page when available, for those who are not using tools such as 3D Studio Max for their work.

Elizabeth Jarvinen (polysail) is also working on a tool for 3D Studio. Max which is intended to provide a second means of producing animations / meshes etc that isn’t reliant upon Blender / Avastar. However, this requires a considerable amount of work, not least in providing slider support, and Elizabeth has received offers of assistance from Vir and Cathy, who will also see about having the AvaStar team lend assistance.

Rigs Modifying Collision Volumes

As noted in my Bento update #22, recent reports of people encountering problems with Bento rigs which modify collision volumes (see here for details). As noted in that  update, this was not something that the Lab planned on supporting, particularly as it did not come up during the initial Bento development meetings with creators.

However, and as further indicated in my update #22 (with thanks to Whirly Fizzle), an update will be included in the next project viewer release for Bento which should hopefully fix the issues being encountered.

Release Progress

There has been a lot of questioning over the Bento release time frames recently, both within the Bento user group meetings and elsewhere (e.g. at TPVD meetings). Currently the plan is to get a further project viewer released in the near-term (possibly before the end of August), and then progress to release candidate status from there.

However, time frames beyond that become nebulous, because the Bento viewer, as a release candidate, will be vying for release alongside other RC viewers, some of which may have a higher priority, some of which may need to be issued in sequence, or have other pressures, and so predicting a date when Bento will be the de facto release viewer is difficult to predict.

This is further exacerbated by the fact the recent changes and requirements have required extensive updates to  AvaStar, much of which is still work-in-progress (see my Bento updates #22 and #21 for more). Once completed, this work will require further testing in order to confirm any problems within AvaStar are resolved, and any remaining issues (if uncovered) are viewer related, rather than external tools related. Then over and above this, there is the list of existing Bento issues which needs to be worked through, depending on the severity of the problems reported.

That said, it would appear the overall hope is to get Bento formally released before the end of 2016.

2016 SL project updates 33 (1): server, viewer

Posted on by Inara Pey
Prehistorica: Dawn of Time - apatosaurus
Prehistorica: The Dawn Kingdom – blog post

No Server Deployments

There was no deployment to the Main (SLS) channel on Tuesday, August 16th, and there will be no deployment on Wednesday, August 17th.

It is currently “doubtful” there will be an RC deployment next week – although this may change. A contributing reason for the slowdown is that the Lab is currently focused on server-side operating system upgrades.

SL Viewer

Release Viewer

BUG-37646 “Attachments get ghosted at login on 4.0.7.318301”; and BUG-37653 “Every time I delete Cache and Relog, my Saved Appearances do not load and I am left as a White Cloud in Second Life Viewer 4.0.7.318301”, noted in my last TPVD meeting update have both been accepted by the Lab and are being worked on.

VLC RC Viewer

As expected, the VLC Media Plugin RC viewer, which contains the LibVLC-based replacement for QuickTime for Windows, updated on August 15th to version 4.1.1.318504. An additional fix is included with the update, which should correct an issue with new MOAP objects losing audio.

Remaining Official Viewers

This leaves the remaining list of official viewers, at the time of writing as follows:

  • Current Release version: 4.0.7.318301 (dated August 8), promoted August 11 – formerly the Maintenance RC viewer
  • RC viewers:
    • Visual Outfit Browser viewer updated to version 4.0.7.318263, on August 1 – ability to preview images of outfits in the Appearance floater  – due to update
  • Project viewers:
    • Project Bento (avatar skeleton extensions) updated to version 5.0.0.317597 on July 14 – incorporation of final skeleton and slider updates from the test viewer
  • 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.