Viewers

General Viewer Information

Second Life News 2013-32 #4

by

The third party viewer (TPV) development meeting was Friday August 9th. This is information from that meeting. This is usually the stuff that is fun to know.

TPV Developers Meeting 2013-32
TPV Developers Meeting 2013-32

Viewer Release Pipeline

There are currently 5 release candidates in the people line. Oz Linden says this is going to a larger number of candidates than he expects to be normal. This is a backlog of viewer work winding its way through the testing process.

The Vivox candidate viewer has made it all the way through the new process. It is now the new primary release for the SL Viewer 3.6.2-279258. The updates in that viewer are now being merged into the remaining candidate viewers. We should see those all updated during week 33.

Read more

Pages: 1 2

SL Materials Viewer 2013-32

by

We have a new version of the Materials Project Viewer as of August 8. It is version 3.6.3-279651. You can get the download here:  Official Alternate Viewers.

The Release Notes provides an impressive list of fixes, about 5.5 screens of JIRA items. There are 8 known problems listed. This is a significant improvement over the previous release.

This viewer is classed as a Project Viewer. So, if you opt’d in to use Release Candidate viewers you are NOT going to be running this one or any other ‘project’ viewers. At least I am pretty sure you won’t. So, what happens when you install this viewer? 

Read more

CtrlAltStudio Viewer 1.0.0.34218 Released

by

CtrlAltStudio Viewer is about 3D display. This release is a ‘Main Release’ version.

This viewer does a render for use with shutter glasses, nVidia 3D Vision.

3D Controls in CtrlAltStudio Viewer
3D Controls in CtrlAltStudio Viewer

David Rowe the programmer says this is the final release for now. As the Lab and Firestorm update their viewers he will be updating the CtrlAltSudio Viewer.

Earlier I had speculated that he would be headed toward the Oculus Rift. But, in the announcement he says he will be waiting for the Lab to provide Oculus Rift support. So, am wrong. But, he does seem to intended to add Oculus support when it arrives.

Currently there are some interesting things going on. David reports he has been told about someone using an NVIDIA Quadro FX 4500 Windows system, projecting onto a 9 foot screen (2.7m) using two Christie LX34 projectors through Polaroid filters…

Someone else is using 3DTV with the viewer.

David says, “GeForce Windows and GeForce Max OSX with NVIDIA 3D Vision appear to work well, at least with recent graphics chips.”

You can download the viewer for Windows and Mac here: CtrlAltStudio Viewer 1.0.0.34218.

Note: to use 3D Vision software you need a monitor that can handle 120hz display. Most flat panels are 60hz.

Viewer Release Pipeline Update

by

We have a new release of the Main SL Viewer: 3.6.2-279258. If you don’t have automatic updates enabled get the newest version here: Second Life Download. You can find the Second Life Viewer’s Release Notes here. Look for the version with the 279258 number.

Download Page Changes
Download Page Changes

This version got the Vivox updates. Vivox™ is the service that provides voice chat for Second Life™. We cannot see the JIRA notes on MAINT-2696, so we cannot know exactly what changed. My understanding this only affects reliability of the service. You should have fewer problems with voice chat failing. 

Read more

Pages: 1 2

Second Life News 2013-30 #2

by

Some of the most interesting news comes from the Third Party Developers meetings. This is not a meeting that is well publicized. I suspect many think that having just the well informed attend is more productive. I tend to agree.

This article is 2,600+ words. It has some work-around methods for some current problems that people are experiencing. It covers some of the most informative news about SL that is available.

TPV Dev Meetin 2013-30
TPV Dev Meetin 2013-30

Server Side Appearance

SSA is going extraordinary well. The stats coming in are as expected, which means the backend is performing as expected. This means the Lab’s estimates for the amount of hardware needed are going to be correct.

View adoption is going pretty well. About 75% of users have adopted an SSA capable viewer. (84% of Firestorm users – see chart) Looking at that the other way, something like a quarter million people login each day with an old viewer. Also, the numbers vary quite a bit from day to day. 

Read more

KokuaViewer.org Down

by

I’m not sure what’s up today. The kokuaviewer.org blog and wiki are down today, just when I need a copy of the viewer for my new Win7. I’ll use an older copy.

The domain name is still working but PING is dead and a TRACERT dies in Comcast’s LA area. So, I don’t know if it is Kokua’s site or Comcast that is the problem.

Their back!