Tools and Technology

Builders can more easily align textures across linked prims using planar mapping: This feature allows builders to align textures across faces so that several prims can look like a single prim. Simply select the faces of a set of linked prims, then open the Textures tab of the Build tool, make sure your Mapping setting is set to “Planar”, then click the checkbox labeled “Align planar faces.”

This right here. I dont use viewer 2 yet, but this feature makes me really think about it.

The above chnages makes me interested in trying viewer 2.x out now too.

With more ablity to customize and some of the features being familiar to those that used Snowglobe, like I did, it makes me seriously consider giving the new viewer another try.

Unless Torley makes a new video showing these greatly needed and requested features and changes actually work, I'll stick with my initial nightmare experience of using Viewer 2 for a 2-month trial period and not touch it with a ten-foot pole. (Yes, it can be very difficult digging oneself out of a hole you never should have dug for yourself in the first place.)

However, if Torley's video shows a viewer which actually "works," I'll reconsider my position. If I see I can have no less screen space than with the "lesser viewers" most people prefer, fewer clicks get things done instead of more clicks, the interface is actually intuitive instead of seemingly confusing by design, and if they've added all the neat and useful features found in Phoenix and some other TPVs, I'll gladly give the "new and improved" Viewer 2 a try. But until then . . . .

(Did I say it can be very difficult to extract oneself from a mess which should never have made in the first place? "Burned once, twice shy.")

Once sidebar panels are undocked, they behave like any other floating window in the Viewer.

Except close them and then reopen them as floaters still.  So the sidebar still forces itself constantly into my view, asserting that it is more important than the world.

The planar texturing is a great new feature and the Snowstorm team has steadily improved the viewer despite losing two more of its members.  By this time next year it might be usable.

I"ve been using v2.2 beta for about 3 weeks now and it's great.  It's been stable and with the new customizations it's a lot easier to use than previous v2.x viewers.  I woudnl't use V2 before either but it's my main viewer now.

Now some of you talk about a 'poor' experience with V2 there are a lot of features in this 2.2 version that I do not think are even in the other TPV's yet and the people working on this both @ LL and in the OS community have been working hard at getting this newest version out to you the GP so that yes you have new abilities for building and even some customazation of the viewer its self! Those in the Snowstorm team are working as hard as they can to get this to be a viewer that the GP will be able to use much easier and those of us that are the OLD schoolers(those that have been around since 1.0 versions of the viewer) will see soem new and suprizing features that DO make the inworld expereince beter! Also this release should be even more stabler as well!

awesome!

Except close them and then reopen them as floaters still.  So the sidebar still forces itself constantly into my view, asserting that it is more important than the world.

Just so you know there is a Prefferences setting in the General tab that togles how the sidebar affects your view. you have have your view of the world get 'squished' when the sidebar opens or have it act like any other changing hud you might normaly wear that comes wiith certian types of avitars. int the second mode it simple slides out like a tray and dose not affect the cameras position or the other huds you might be wearing on that side of the screen.

I'm disappointed that instead of fixing the antialiasing problem, it was just greyed out.

I hope people are ready to be forced into Viewer 2. The day is coming where 1.23 code will no longer be compatible with SL. Dont Believe me? There is already a LOT of Backwards compatibility code written in the Snowglobe 1.23 viewer which all 3rd party viewers are based from. I am just saying.. get ready.

btw, these "new" changes... I already did that to my viewer a month ago. Nothing new to me, except the Planer Alignment function, although the button was there the entire time.

hope you fixed the problem with inventory. otherwise people will be having to clear all caches, including SL client http caches, and go to aditi to load inventory everytime they want to log in.

Some improvements but still megalame.

Hairy Thor  says:

I'm disappointed that instead of fixing the antialiasing problem, it was just greyed out.

Yes, Sorry , but I really like .. dare I say .. need FSAA !

 

Tarius Auxarmes  says:

Builders can more easily align textures across linked prims using planar mapping: This feature allows builders to align textures across faces so that several prims can look like a single prim. Simply select the faces of a set of linked prims, then open the Textures tab of the Build tool, make sure your Mapping setting is set to “Planar”, then click the checkbox labeled “Align planar faces.”

 

This right here. I dont use viewer 2 yet, but this feature makes me really think about it.

This feature exists in Phoenix and has for a while now.

Sidebar Panels can now be undocked and turned into regular floating windows: Simply click on a Sidebar Tab and drag it away from the Sidebar to undock it. You can also click the undock icon in the top right of a panel. To redock a sidebar panel, click the redock icon in the top right of the panel. Once sidebar panels are undocked, they behave like any other floating window in the Viewer. 

Undocked Inventory window. CTRL+I Fixed?

WOW! Google translations of chat! Hurrah! That is a nice one.... I reverted back to the older viewer.... viewer 2 was alright but I'm just used to the old interface.....

this gives me a reason to upgrade!

I'm always talking with clients & customers who only speak other languages, and must apologize for my slowness of copy/pasting from translation software outside SL.... this makes my job loads easier!

Thank you for working to bring us this great improvement!

I'm disappointed that instead of fixing the antialiasing problem, it was just greyed out.

I can't even get AA to work, enabling it in the viewer makes my HUD and name tags disappear, and enabling it in the driver doesn't do anything at all.

Otherwise it's a nice viewer

I found that any changes I made to my nVidia card, I had to relog sl in order for the changes to take effect.  Was much easier in 2.1 when you could allow the prg to control it.

Thanks for the planar mapping alignment. It will come in handy some day.

But what I still don't understand is why you can't make the sidebar completely customizable. And with that I mean: let the SL residents themselves decide if they want the sidebar or not. I'll explain...

I've undocked the Inventory window and the People window, because I need these windows undocked for product transfers and so on. When I minimize these windows, they appear at the left upper side in the viewer, one beneath the other, and disappear from the sidebar. When I relog, these 2 windows appear maximized again, but can be minimized to the left upper corner again. That's a nice improvement.

But if undocking is so easy, why can't the sidebar windows be transformed to buttons in the bottom bar, next to Gesture, Move, Build, Search etcetera? I mean: drag the Inventory tab from the sidebar to the bottom bar and get it transformed as a new buttun. And by doing so, one sidebar tab after another, removing the sidebar alltogether? Even the Home tab could be a button at the bottom bar. Or add an option in Preferences to hide the sidebar alltogether and have buttons in the bottom bar instead? And another idea: for example, clicking on the Inventory button (in the bottom bar) opens my Inventory. Clicking that button again would open a second Inventory window, and so on. That would be great!

If the Snowstorm team could manage this, then I'll use 2.2 (2.3) as my default viewer. Not now yet.

Did anyone else notice that at 4:28:33 PM (PDT), Philip Linden wrote, "Changing my role, and searching for a new CEO" followed by Viewer 2.2.0 being released at 4:37:55 PM (PDT)? That officially means that Philip was NOT the CEO of Linden Labs for any of you having complaints about Viewer 2.2.00.  Don't even think about blaming him, he is not responsible! Seriously, he said it himself that "... we all feel like we are in a better place now, with a clearer sense of direction and more focus..." That means everything was running smoothly and without issues before Philip left to go play with his LoveMachine. I don't want to hear one word otherwise. If you are going to complain and point fingers, then Bob Komin is the one to blame. He took over as CEO long before Viewer 2.2.0 was released and Second Life started going downhill after Philip's latest departure.  Stay or leave for OpenSim or wherever else you think is more stable and better, just don't think Philip had anything to do with Second Life's eventual outcome!  He was the great creator and will always have my unwavering love and devotion! God bless you my hero!

This moment of sarcasm was brought to you by Viewer 2.2.0, same great product with a new fresh scent! All rights reserved, a Bob Komin production.

I found that any changes I made to my nVidia card, I had to relog sl in order for the changes to take effect.  Was much easier in 2.1 when you could allow the prg to control it.

I did try relogging after any change in the driver, I'm using an ATI/AMD card though, latest generation.

That would be a fantastic idea...  Then the Sidebar fanboys (fangirls) could have their sidebar... and the rest of us could have the buttons we need and use right at our fingertips...  Lets take it even a step further...  make every window that can be opened have the option to become a button or a sidebar... and be able to remove buttons and sidebars we don't use.  The next step would be to have all these windows undock form the SL viewer screen altogether and be on a seperat monitor or on another part of the screen entirely.  In the mean time I'll stick with what I have...  Good luck with the new version...

All sl veiwer 2 need now is to make it so i can upload temp textures like most of the other veiwers can.

I agree with you on this. I am seeing performance getting worse and worse on the 1.x viewer.

I would have no issue with using the 2.x viewers if I didn't have a lot of eye strain from using this one viewer.

As much as I am against using a TPV, if one viewer becomes available that has all the bells and whistles of 2.x viewer with the same look and feel of a 1.x viewer, I will have to use it.

Having a headache every time I log into SL is no fun.

Anti-alisasing produce a totally garbled display on my MacBook Pro with NVIDIA GeForce GT 330M, so it must be turned off for the viewer to work.

It also set the graphics settings back to some default. Would be nice if it asked to keep the old settings from the previous version. 

And I was at the Phoenix Office Hour, where the planned mover to the Viewer 2 codebase was outlined.

Biased audience there, but the general opinion was that the UI sucks. I've tried it--wanted to see what meshes were like--and the colour scheme gives me eye strain. Everything else I use on my computer is fine. Either it uses the Windows settings, or has a useful range of choices. The Viewer 2 UI is broken at such an fundamental level of UI design that I am beginning to wonder if it can ever be fixed.