…this situation is funny… I can empathize with Niran clearly remembering my bouts of depression and periods of grieving. So, it’s not like I’m unsympathetic. But, seeing human nature in play in others makes it easier to see the silly and humorous aspects that make us human. I wish him all the best. …is he staring at her… ummm… chest, that a good word.

Today Niran is more into things and has obviously taken the time to take a serious look at the Exodus viewer and compare it to his viewer. He has posted a new article explaining what he found and how he perceives the match up. See: Exodus vs Nirans.

Exodus vs Nirans

Niran sees his viewer as providing a better render of Second Life. He could be biased. He has a comparison set of pictures. I have a small version of the images above. Please don’t try to use them for making a comparison. Visit Nirans blog and take a look at them. Once there click on one to bring them up in full size. Take a close look at them and see what you think. Niran didn’t say which image is from which viewer. That makes it interesting figuring out which is which.

There are striking differences between the two images. I use Photoshop and edit images for web and print, which may explain why I think the difference is so striking. I find I usually need to add pop to most images I capture from SL viewers. Increasing the saturation and tweaking levels are my most common tweaks. I turn the top image into something between the two. The tweaks often wipe out the sky, the way it is in the lower image. Then I have to correct that too.

You’ll have to decide which image you like. The technical issues in the images are way too esoteric for me to say one is better than the other. Also what we have today is unlikely to be what we have tomorrow… literally… tomorrow.

Also, it doesn’t really matter to me whether Exodus or Niran’s provides a better image. The important point in the ‘VERSES’ is Niran thinks he is and can provide a better render. That likely means the Niran Viewer development will continue, which is a good thing. I think I’ll benefit from having two groups working on improving the render of Second Life.

Of course we will likely see drama erupt over which has the better render engine. The drama seldom provides useful information. But, it does cause people to reveal who they are. That can always be useful information.

Both Exodus and Niran’s are good viewers. My hope was that Exodus would focus on speed and Niran would focus on render quality. I don’t have a problem with the Exodus team focusing on speed and quality. But, many times graphics speed and quality are mutually exclusive. Technology is allowing us to have more quality at better speeds, but it has not eliminated the trade-offs. I like having specialized viewers. For a couple of years I used Kirstens Viewer for my photos and Phoenix/Imprudence for building and general use. Now I use the SL Development viewer for general purpose use. For photos I would use the current Niran’s. As the current Exodus I have installed (12-01-02) has the Transparent Textures problem I can’t use it for photos. I think that will fix pretty quickly.

Over time I will decide on which I like best for photos. That others like a different choice doesn’t bother me. I like hearing why they like a different viewer. Often it comes down to how their eyes, monitor, and computer work… it’s not just the viewer.