Category Archives: General Computer Stuff

Blender 2.8 Coming Soon

by

5

A Blender update is coming… soon. The Alpha version and nightly builds are available now, here: Blender Latest. But, I want to know if this is an update I need or want. So, I went looking through what people are saying. The big one for me is… the User Interface is changing. Ugh.

So, here is a video (8/13) that does a decent job of showing us the changes.

The video producer provided these time stamp entry points. I suggest you start at the 2:12 TM. Or if you are only interested in how it affects those of us using it for Second Life™, just read my comments below.

TIME STAMPS
1:22 – Alpha, Beta & Release Candidate
2:12 – UI Redesign
3:24 – EEVEE, the Physical Based Real Time Render Engine
4:43 – New Work Engine: OpenGL
5:19 – Grease Pencil (2D Animation Toolset)
6:38 – Matcaps (Material Capture)
7:48 – Zootopia Hair Shader
8:01 – Pixar Open Subdiv
8:34 – Dependency Graph, Asset Manager, Static Overrides and More
9:16 – Daily Blender Build Download
10:16 – Blender Resources

The new render engine looks to be awesome. But, the User Interface (UI) is going to kill me. They seem to be trying to make Blender easier for new users to learn.  …like 3D modeling and animation can be easy to learn? Still probably a good thing no matter how annoying I find it.
They moved most of the stuff at the bottom of windows to the top… give me a break… That will take a bit to get used to. Continue reading →

NVIDIA 1180 Almost Here…

by

2

We had rumors for months as to what the next NVIDIA card would be, when it would release, and what it would cost. But, we are getting closer to a possible release. NVIDIA only goes so long before they release a new card. So…

Ray Tracing is a way of rendering a scene. Its big advantage is in rendering very realistic images. For instance, most of an Ikea catalog is made from rendered images that for a long time I thought were RL photos.

The reason it isn’t used so much in games is the cost of rendering the images. So, software like AutoDesk’s AutoCAD use it as real time rendering isn’t needed. The primary task is prototype product images, pictures of products not yet existing in RL. Only within the design process… a computer.  Making it more of a snapshot thing than a  movie camera.

NVIDIA adding in a Ray Trace feature will being higher quality graphics to more games. Less time will be spent calculating the effect of lights and shadows.

For use in Second Life it isn’t going to be a big plus or even a change. The SL render engine is required to support older systems. So, adding a ray trace feature to the engine is not going to be a high priority, if it is even a consideration.

However, the card will be faster and likely have faster video memory.

Photoshop: Masking Impossible Hair?

by

0

Even in SL I run into this problem. The tutorials I usually see are elementary typically masking only high contrast images. This one is an exception. The basics and easy stuff is shown. But, the painful, tedious stuff is too.

Along the way there are some neat shortcuts he uses. I had to back up a couple of time for ‘How did he do that?’ things.

If you like his video, give him a thumb up on YouTube.

NVIDIA 1180 Rumors

by

1

The release date is the big rumor. It ranges from July to September 2018.

It also looks like NVIDIA may be the only manufacturer releasing a major video card in 2018. The collection of information available as of June 2nd, 2018 is in this nerdy video.

The TL:DR take away is it will be the best card of 2018 (…is that because it is the ONLY card?), pricy, somewhat faster but no one is for sure, will use the newest GDDR6 VRAM which is in short supply… But, this is only speculation even when based on educated guesses.

From an earlier video we get more specific details and for the visually oriented (aren’t all SL peeps visually oriented?) it is in an easier to compare format. Continue reading →

Intel vs AMD for Second Life

by

14

Second Life™ users want performance. Most of you know Second Life is NOT an optimized game world but rather a hobbyists-built world that can drag even the best gaming machine down to single digit frame rates. So, performance is a thing among SL users.

CPUs are the heart of performance with the GPU being the legs.

Both Intel and AMD have new CPUs out. So, the natural question is which is best for running Second Life?

In general, this is how the two stack up in head to head testing. (8+ min)

For some data processing in the beginning AMD is noticeably ahead. Yet in the games similar to Second Life the Intel consistently renders about 5±% more frames. Continue reading →

Windows 10 Spring Update – Part II

by

1

Here is the scoop on the Windows update… Does it work with Second Life™? Short answer, yes.

This morning I had an update notice… maybe ‘warning’ is more accurate. I choose to go ahead with it. They warn it may take longer than most updates. It took between 60 and 90 minutes. (i5-6600k @ 4.1GHz) So, you may want to choose a time to update, they give you the option to schedule the update, which is smart.

Life Goes On, Whether you choose to move on and take a chance in the unknown, or stay behind, locked in the past, thinking of what could have been...

Life Goes On, Whether you choose to move on and take a chance in the unknown, or stay behind, locked in the past, thinking of what could have been…

I’ve noticed a few complaints in the Second Life forum. Seems some are having issues with NVIDIA drivers. My NVIDIA 388.13 (23.21.13.8813) made the transition. But a couple of my hardware monitoring tools didn’t make it.

Win 10 removes those apps it thinks are incompatible. Seems the nanny-state propaganda is soaking in everywhere. So, Microsoft in its awesome wisdom is taking care of us. The language I would use to thank them is generally considered inappropriate.

Apparently, Firestorm and Linden viewers are considered appropriate. Firestorm launches and runs. Everything seems to run. On my front porch I get about 58 FPS. In January with 5.0.11 I was getting about 90. In my green screen room at 1500m I was getting 140 FPS and now 180. Jumping over to the near buy newbie hub, I was getting 40-50 FPS with 20± people around. With 28 around (according to world map) I get 57±. For easier comparison; Continue reading →

Windows 10 Spring 2018 Update

by

2

As of April 30, 2018, a new update is rolling out. It was once upon a time to be called the Spring Creator’s Update. I am not sure what happened to that name. Whatever, the update will bring your version number up to 1803.

Here it is May 7 and I am still running Version 10.0.16299 Build 16299…

Fierce...

Fierce…

If you really want the update you can get it here: download instructions.

This version will have the Timeline Feature. This feature will enhance what you see when your press Windows-key + Tab. Try it. Mine shows the programs I currently have running. The newer version will show the current programs and previously run programs, opened docs, and viewed web pages.

A future version of this feature is to include a history of what has been happening on all your devices…  Continue reading →