Second Life News 2013-48

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Viewers

The GPU Table Viewer was promoted to main viewer status. So, it is gone from the RC Viewers’ page. This should fix several problems for those with newer video cards. From what I have heard, it may also have created some problems for those with cards that do not meet system requirements. But, there isn’t enough information to know. Reports in the forums are always lame.

The Break Pad Viewer is undergoing updates and doing a better job of error reporting. So, for now you won’t find it on the RC Viewers’ page. It will be back. The Lindens are getting the system figured out. But, they still are figuring out problems. Once this is in place and released it will help the Lab and TPV Dev’s find bugs faster.

TPV Meeting 2013-47
TPV Meeting 2013-47

Interesting Viewer 3.6.11.283895… yep it is still out there, still getting fixes. I was using it, until Fitted Mesh came out. It does make a difference in render performance.

The Fitted Mesh Viewer  3.6.11.283899 currently includes the GPU update. I think it excludes the Interesting and Breakpad code, but I’m not sure.

All the RC and Project viewers are getting fixes. But there will not likely be any new RC releases this week as it is a no change window, US Holiday Thanksgiving Nov 28 to Dec 1. 

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BatKid

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If there is some place in the world that this isn’t news, Google Batkid. Otherwise, just enjoy.

[youtube 2XqJfTHfp60]

Update: Well, it was fun while it lasted… Video taken down.

Second Life News 2013-47 #2

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There is nothing new on the server front since Tuesday. See: Second Life News 2013-47 for details on the servers.

Next week (48) is a no change window. That means no rollouts. Also, there will not be a Server Beta User Group meeting that week.

Server Beta User Group 2013-46
Server Beta User Group 2013-46

Since the revised Grey Goo fence settings came on line the Lindens have not heard complaints in that regard. So, they are assuming their fix is working. This is about large building rezzers failing because the tighter settings for the fence was catching them. Unless the Lindens see complaints, this problem is considered fixed.

There was discussion of problems with scripts using collision detection and crossing regions. Air planes using Mono scripts with collision cannot cross regions. This may be related to BUG-4084. 

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Fitted Mesh Update

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It seems the FBX file provided in the wiki does not load into Blender. It is something to do with the Blender FBX importer.

Avastar has a new test version out that has the new avatar collision bones. It is version: avastar-1-1-905_blender-2-64.zip. If you have purchased Avastar, you can download and install the test version using your download URL. AFAIK, there is no raw file up yet. Gaia found a problem and corrected it. But, the fix is not official yet. There is a JIRA bug report: FITMESH-2.

If you don’t have Avastar, you may be able to use the FBX converter provided by AutoDesk to convert to a format that works. I haven’t completed testing alternate paths yet.

At Oz Linden’s Open Source Meeting he said Redpoly is working on creating a Collada file (.DAE)

Mesh Deformer Changes

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Today we got a Second Life™ blog post about the fate of the Mesh Deformer. See: Making Mesh Garments Fit Better. So, what is going on? Well, quoting Linden Lab:

Today, we are launching an experimental Project Fitted Mesh Viewer with additional collision bones needed to support dynamically fitted mesh garments on all of the avatars. When these changes have been finalized, they will enable garment designers to use the superior capabilities of mesh content creation tools to make garments that adapt to a wide range of Second Life avatars.

The point of this change is that this Fitted Mesh viewer and new new Fitted Mesh clothing will allow better fitting mesh clothes for a WIDE RANGE of SL avatars is a big deal. One of the frequent objections to the mesh deformer was that it had problems working with a ‘wide range’ of avatar shapes. Large and tiny avatars didn’t work so well with the Deformer. So, this is a big feature plus… provided it works well. 

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Second Life Taxes

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The Second Life blog now has a post from the Lab regarding tax reporting issues. See: Required Tax Documentation.

The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) requires Linden Lab to collect and retain Form W-9 (for U.S. residents) and Form W-8BEN (for non-U.S. residents) at certain transaction volumes. If you reach the transaction threshold and we do not have your completed and signed W-9 or W-8BEN on file, we are required to withhold funds from your account (at the current rate of 28% of your gross amounts received). Additionally, for U.S. residents with 200 or more transactions with a total amount in excess of $20,000 in a calendar year, we are required to file a Form 1099-K with the IRS reporting those transactions for that year.

If you are required to submit a W-9 or W-8BEN form to us, we will email you before the end of the year with instructions on how to do so. Please follow the instructions to complete and submit the required Form W-9 or W-8BEN within thirty (30) days of receipt. You will only need to complete this paperwork once unless your information changes from year-to-year. If you do not receive an email from Linden Lab, we do not need you to complete these forms.