Ditch the Facelight

[Nalates Urriah]

It's all in the design of the light. Even old style facelights can be made useable with minimal effect on those around them.

When the Advanced Lighting Model (ALM) was added the nature of facelights changed. Those with ALM disabled didn't notice that their facelight had gone supernova for those with ALM enabled. That started the 'Ditch the Facelights' movement. Few bothered to learn what was up. They just accepted what they had been told... sort of what people are being conditioned to do these days.

Few researched the problem and designed new facelights using the new features. There are usable ways to make a facelight that doesn't light the whole world.

For those of us wearing dark skin some type of lighting is pretty much required. Windlight/EEP can help but that only changes what I see. Whether clubs and regions are designed well or poorly is debatable. Even a well designed club lighting scene may be too dark to show me off. But, the design goal was atmosphere and ambience. It is amazing how many owners and designers have the audacity to ignore my lighting needs.

I made this and set it to Mod-OK so people could learn how to make these lights.

[Fauve Aeon]

I’m still #teamNoFacelight at venues. I may wear 3-5 lights for posed photos so I know how to light myself from subtle to wow but I still don’t wear any light when I’m out and about.

I think it’s definitely something to include in the posted dress code if you don’t want people to wear facelights to your venue, especially if you have a specific lighting setup. Absolutely don’t want them on audience members if there is a live performance or filming!

• If everyone in the club wears a spotlight, even if the lights stay still it will produce a ton of extra lighting, which affects the surrounding area. 
• My avatar’s skin is pale and I don’t show up with my face and body details any better than my darker skinned avatar sisters in a dark club unless I wear very contrasting makeup and then it’s super ghoulish, not good thing! Yes, available light will glance off any shine all of us have on heads and bodies but it’s not like RL skin and hair where someone paler shows up more in dimmer lighting. 
• down-light isn’t very flattering at all. 
• I think having one more lit up area for photos and spotlight dancing in a venue might work better for everyone. 

still too much, for photos only:

 

 

[Wulfie Reanimator]

Preferences > Graphics > Rendering > uncheck "Enabled Attached Lights (Face Lights)"

 

3 hours ago, Nalates Urriah said:

Those with ALM disabled didn't notice that their facelight had gone supernova for those with ALM enabled.

I think you have this backwards. Here's ALM enabled:

Here's ALM disabled (still midnight):

[Fauve Aeon]

20 minutes ago, Wulfie Reanimator said:

Preferences > Graphics > Rendering > uncheck "Enabled Attached Lights (Face Lights)"

This is what I do in Firestorm when I’m out and about, does it work in the SL viewer, I hope?

Lots of people still do wear really strong ones that wobble around with their dances and AOs. But they are bright and noticeable for sure! 

[MoiraKathleen]

4 hours ago, Fauve Aeon said:

Lots of people still do wear really strong ones that wobble around with their dances and AOs. But they are bright and noticeable for sure!

I had really noticed face lights until last week, when someone was wearing one of these super bright ones when I was out dancing.  It caught my attention in part because there was this cone of light that kept moving around on the floor, and when I looked to see where that was coming from, I was just about blinded    After that, I started realizing that were others in that set of regions who were also wearing face lights, but much more subtle than the lady dancing. 

[Bobbie Faulds]

Couple of things about lights. First, your viewer will only render 6 light sources. If there are more than that around, you get the 6 closest to you. Many have the rendering attached light sources off; I know I do. For the most part, the light will only affect what you see. It’s better for you to find a windlight setting you look good in and go with that. With all the available windlight settings, the chance of you having the same setting as someone else, unless you use something like CalWL or one of the others that give you a good light without shadows, is not very likely. 

[Conifer Dada]

I don't normally use a facelight but I sometimes use one when taking snapshots of myself to adjust lighting.

What I do use in clubs, though, is an attachment with revolving coloured  lights that circle around me to give a subtle changing light effect.  The light sources themselves are invisible, as would be expected.  

The latest LL viewer seems to have messed up lighting effects so that projectors and some normal lights only work at or near ground level. I wonder if this has led to an increase in the use of facelights.

[Fauve Aeon]

On 1/8/2020 at 2:13 AM, Alwin Alcott said:

wouldn't be wrong if something was added.. but it's just telling what everybody knows

Not everyone knows to attach them on center as in the tutorial which at least lets them stay still instead of bobbing and flashing about as people’s avatar moves...and I think judging from the brightness sometimes, far from everyone knows you can make a very small and dim one...

I’d still prefer none and will pay attention more to my venue lighting as I set it up now, include one brighter area, and make it clear that we don’t wear attached lights there...so for me this resurrection turned out to be useful. 

[Nalates Urriah]

4 hours ago, Bobbie Faulds said:

Couple of things about lights. First, your viewer will only render 6 light sources. If there are more than that around, you get the 6 closest to you. Many have the rendering attached light sources off; I know I do. For the most part, the light will only affect what you see. It’s better for you to find a windlight setting you look good in and go with that. With all the available windlight settings, the chance of you having the same setting as someone else, unless you use something like CalWL or one of the others that give you a good light without shadows, is not very likely. 

Yes and no. If ALM is disabled only 6 lights will render. If ALM is enabled as many lights as your specific graphic card will handle will be rendered. The 6 light limit (an OpenGL thing) ended with the addition of ALM.

Reference: PRIM_POINT_LIGHT see the caveats.

If, in SL, you want everyone to see you a certain way, you are out of luck. But, people try.

16 hours ago, moirakathleen said:

I had really noticed face lights until last week, when someone was wearing one of these super bright ones when I was out dancing.  It caught my attention in part because there was this cone of light that kept moving around on the floor, and when I looked to see where that was coming from, I was just about blinded    After that, I started realizing that were others in that set of regions who were also wearing face lights, but much more subtle than the lady dancing. 

Yes... this happens often. In the example lights I sell I have the falloff set to make a splash of light on the floor. I think one of them in the set is adjusted to avoid that. It is possible to limit the light to pretty much just the avatar. There is always some spill but the light can be stopped before it reaches the floor. 

A visible cone of light requires some special effort. Usually a prim cone is used. There is no atmospheric dispersion of light in SL, no matter how bright the light is. So, if you could see the cone, someone was deliberately adding blingy stuff.

Facelights are no certain way nor are they uniform. Painting all facelights with the same brush is inappropriate as things are more complicated. But, the majority of facelights create a PITA problem and the less knowledgeable lump them all together. 

In clubs people like to show off and be noticed. Plus, we have lots of fun accessories for dancing. I have bunches of particle toys for dancing. Some are awesome looking and provide fascinating light displays. But, particles are trigger for some. Rather than adjust how their viewer renders particles they go all fascist and demand we turn off our particles. Sort of the same thing happens with facelights.

I suppose one has to choose whether the prefer being an easily triggered victum snowflake that has to be accommodated or a competent enough person to deal with their environment on their own.

[Claudine Jewell]

Honestly  the facelight i have is subtle and just slightly noticable when i dance close with someone....i always wear it it... looks good in ALM and is not to bright ...i also own a club and it doenst interfere with the lighs there.

[Alyona Su]

3 hours ago, Claudine Jewell said:

Honestly  the facelight i have is subtle and just slightly noticable when i dance close with someone....i always wear it it... looks good in ALM and is not to bright ...i also own a club and it doenst interfere with the lighs there.

That's all well and good. As long as you can see that's all the matters. I'm sure many do as I do and turn on the "Do not render attached lights" setting in the viewer. //Just Saying.

[Blush Bravin]

30 minutes ago, Alyona Su said:

I'm sure many do as I do and turn on the "Do not render attached lights" setting in the viewer. //Just Saying.

I get great pleasure in manually derendering facelights. I know the setting is there in the viewer options but there's just something satisfying about turning those facelights off individually. I first began derendering facelights years ago. Once when derendering a little solar system of orbiting lights around this one woman's head I ended up also derendering her hair because the lights were actually attached to the hair rather than directly to the avatar. Very recently I discovered when helping someone with a mesh head that a creator has attached several lights to a neck fix of all things! I think Debi still has derendering facelights listed as a talent in her profile.