Viewers

General Viewer Information

Dolphin Viewer 3 Update

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Lance has a new release of the Dolphin viewer out: 3.2.1.22181. There isn’t much new in this release. The download is the same. Performance is the same.

Inventory

A fix from Firestorm has been adopted. It has to do with how Tool Tips work in Inventory. Tool Tips are the popup messages we see when hovering the cursor over an item for a few sections. The SL Viewer has an annoying trait of popping up a tip that contains an inventory item’s name and hiding the item below. The colors in SLV are such it can be confusing.

The Firestorm fix limits the popup to long names that do not fit within the inventory window. So, unless an item description runs out the right side of the panel, there is no popup, which is really nice, IMO. Plus the coloring is better.

Languages

Lance has included translations. Lance is fluent in German (native) and English. Those wanting other translations will need to help out. If you want to help, post a note in the Dolphin Viewer Forum.

Exodus Viewer Delayed

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I hadn’t seen any new posts from the Exodus viewer. Taking a look at the Exodus blog I find that Ayamo Nozaki, the lead developer, had a hardware failure. Ayamo’s video card, an nVidia GTX 470, died. Until Ayamo can afford a new one, development is delayed.

If you want to help out, visit the blog: ExodusViewer.com. At the bottom of the post is a place to donate toward a new card for Ayamo. GTX 470’s go for US$150 to $250. A GTX 570 goes for US$240 to $350.

#SL Texture Loading Freeze

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SH-2738 – Texture fetching freezes due to LLcurl. If you have seen textures refuse to download and/or rez completely you may be having a problem described in SH-2738. (There is no link because the JIRA item is one of the Lab’s private items. I should point out the JIRA tends to make items in some topics private, unless the Lindens remember to override it.)

Whatever the reason for privacy, this fix was included in an SL Viewer 3.2.5 build. Presumably it is in the Beta version of the viewer (246559) and later, but I can’t be sure. If you are having texture loading problems you may want to try the Beta version of the viewer.

Remember. The Beta is a beta and there is no guarantee it will work. It is a testing viewer, which means no whining about it. If you have a problem, file a JIRA report and send in your crash logs.

A related texture problem SH-2512 – Some avatar textures in welcome area never load on first visit. Could also be in this Beta release.

SH-1912 – Shiny metal texture characteristics entirely lost when Lighting and Shadows turned on. This fix could also be in the 3.2.5 version. Runitai made this fix in the Shining branch about 2 weeks ago. I see where it made it into the Dev Viewer (branch) about 12/12.

 

 

Firestorm-Phoenix QnA

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The Firestorm-Phoenix team is going to have a Question and Answer secession this Saturday. The announcement is on the Phoenix blog.

Firestorm Release

The meeting is at 1 PM SLT in three regions; Rockcliffe I, Rockcliffe Library, and Agile 3D. Arrive early and divide up by name:

Check your script weight before linking. Get it as low as possible.

Bring your questions about the viewers and their future.

If you can’t make it, they will have a video available later.

#SL Phoenix Viewer Problems

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Users have found some problems in the recent Phoenix 1.6.0.1591 release. Three errors were considered critical and quickly fixed. The result is a Phoenix 1.6.0.1600 release.

Visit the Phoenix Viewer Download page and get a new copy.

This release fixes:

  • Opening of scripts while LSL Preprocessor enabled causes crash to desktop. PHOE-3593
  • Scripted dialogs from deeded objects fail. PHOE-3600
  • Right click > wear from inventory is broken. PHOE-3583

#SecondLife Global Illumination

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You may not have noticed the Graphics Setting feature: Global Illumination. It began appearing in viewers some time ago. But, now it has disappeared from the SL Viewer. So, what’s up?

What it is…

Global Illumination is the label used to describe how light is handled in 3D games. Its purpose is to make lighting more realistic. It adds ‘reflected’ light effects. This means if you are standing with a blue wall to the right and the sun to the left, some blue light will be reflecting on to your right side.

Status

Back in May 2009 the Lab, Runitai Linden, posted a video showing new features they were working on. See: SL Tech Demo above.

The video (above) includes Mesh and Global Illumination. At about 1:34 in the video you can see a sun cycle that shows an example of Global Illumination. (GI) Notice how the sun seems to reflect off surfaces and illuminate other surfaces. That is the Global Illumination.

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