Easy-Peasy Slightly Technical Dance Hud Question. Thanks. :-)

[squashy Beeswing]

The answer to this question will be obvious to some, but not to me, alas! 

I've amassed a large collection of dances that i use when i go to clubs.  ATM, i double click on a dance in my inventory and a box pops up with 2 options.  One of those options gives me the option to test the dance in Local (meaning only i can see it).   I find this useful whenever i'm swapping from one dance to another (eg, in a club).

I think it'd be preferable to have all my dances in a hud. but one thing puts me off:   I can't find a hud whereby i can 'preview' the dance before i actually use it, the way that i can when i double click on a dance in my inventory.  I want to be able do this while wearing the hud IN A CLUB so i know what the dance will look like before i animate myself.   (For those who still don't get it, the problem exists because i have so many dances and don't know what they all look like.  I enjoy matching the dance to the tune if i can.  It's called attention to detail). 

After extensive searching i've concluded that no such hud exists.  I'm assuming that this is 'cos it can't be scripted to do what i'm asking it to do.   Am i correct about this?

Thanks for any light on the subject.  :matte-motes-grin:

[Innula Zenovka]

You are correct.  There's no LSL function to play an animation locally, so only you can see it.

[squashy Beeswing]

Thanks, Innula.  LSL?  Sorry, i didn't know if that was a typo or not.

Anyhow, i think i'll carry on without a hud for now.

:matte-motes-smile:

[Maryanne Solo]

No there isn't sorry.

I only just bought a new one where you can have up to 11 dances in a list and about 20 lists or something.

All you can do is group them by style & flow and get used to the groupings.

 

[squashy Beeswing]

Thanks for the link, and don't be sorry!   If i DID go for one it'd probably be Vista or Henmations. 

The Vista dances do seem to match up well with almost any tune and i think they're great.  :matte-motes-big-grin:

My problem is i have various packs of 'pop dances', 'vogue dances' and goodness knows what all else.  They're fun and i like them, but they're quite 'different' (idk how else to put it).  I can end up looking supa-original or like a complete dork, it all depends!

[Ceka Cianci]

ya that would be nice in a hud..

all i ever did was pick the dances i wanted in certain groups..then put them in one hud..then

more in other copies of the hud..so ending up with more than one hud..

then numbering the hud names..

then practicing with them until i had them memorized..

it takes time..but once i had it down pat..i could click to a hud and a dance and a moment in the animation that was running and fit the next dance in smoothly to where it all looked like one smooth motion..

LOL  once i had everything memorized..it was just a matter of keeping up with new dance releases and fitting those in..

 

what hurt was when i would take breaks from sl and come back and have to try to remember what the hell i did when i was here last.. hehehe

but it came back pretty quickly..

 

it sounds like a lot of work  i know..but i remember before they even had the stop button on the animations..

it was all doing it with your inventory open and having to time the animation.. close the one before it..then pull the one you just closed back out of your inventory and putting it back on your screen in the order it was in before..

then when it came time for a shift to the next one..rinse and repeat..

there were no dance huds back then that i knew of either..

 

when they finally  put the stop button on there..omg it was like night and day..

then when i found huds..

it was like getting a ferrari..everything seemed easier then..so remembering a few huds and the dances in them and the spots to fit certain dances in with others..

that was a lot less work than before..so it was pretty easy by that time..

hehehe

 

*Oo* ok this went into a rambling lol

 

preview in a hud would be awesome i think.

it sure would make setting up routines much nicer =)

 

[Maryanne Solo]

I thought we had struck gold when the new Firestorm came out as it has + - 10% avatar animation speed adjustment.

I totally freaked cause this *could have meant we could use that advanced feature as a Beat Per Minute adjuster,

which is THE holy grail of SL dancing. (for me anyways).

Unfortunately... it affects all avatars in the area, not just your own o.0 :matte-motes-sour:

(in your viewer anyway) so like its turned out to be not exactly what I hoped for.

I can't wait to make music videos with it though :smileytongue:

Please someone make an animation speed adjustment menu.

If someone does and they charge for it? I'll make a free one myself.

 

[squashy Beeswing]

First off, Ceka,  i LOVE your slightly 'rambling' reply!  And i see that you know exactly what i'm going on about.  I do recall you saying something about having been (or are?) a DJ, so you're likely well-informed about these matters.

Yes, the only way i can think of doing it is by purchasing several huds and putting different kinds of dances in each.  And then memorising them all.  *sigh*

I know a lot of peeps would be all, "why bother?" but i just think attn to detail is everything here.  I don't build or design or do anything constructive whatsoever, but i still want to do things the best way i can.  I think it matters. 

Ugh, no 'stop' button on animations?  You know, i try SO hard not to look like a complete novice / dork.  Idk why, i just CARE.  I love SL, i love putting the effort in.  I don't like it when stuff is out of my control and i can't look polished.  Does that make sense?  :matte-motes-bashful:

[Innula Zenovka]

---

squashy Beeswing wrote:

Thanks, Innula.  LSL?  Sorry, i didn't know if that was a typo or not.

Anyhow, i think i'll carry on without a hud for now.

:matte-motes-smile:

---

LSL is the abbreviation for Linden Scripting Language, which is what we write scripts with here in SL. 

 

 

@Maryanne -- I don't think there's any way change the speed of individual animations in the way you want.  The way SL animations work is that when you trigger an animation for your avatar, you're telling the sim to send a small packet of instructions to your computer and to the computers of everyone in draw distance, telling the computers' graphics cards how to make your avatar move when they draw it.     

The sim doesn't know what the packet of instructions contains -- it just knows its uuid and that it's sent it.   So when you're dancing,  as far as the sim is concerned, you're either standing there dead still or sitting on something, depending on whether you're using a hud or a poseball.

The viewer is simply displaying the scene as your computer tells it to.   I am not familiar with the Firestorm controls but it sounds as if they've added something similar to the speed control in an application for watching movies -- you can speed up or slow down the whole scene as it's delivered to the application but you can't speed up some characters but not others.

[squashy Beeswing]

Now i know i have the definitive answer.  It's disappointing but i do appreciate there's limits on what can be done. 

Thanks be to yourself & all the scripters who make things work here!  :matte-motes-inlove:

[Ceka Cianci]

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squashy Beeswing wrote:

First off, Ceka,  i LOVE your slightly 'rambling' reply!  And i see that you know exactly what i'm going on about.  I do recall you saying something about having been (or are?) a DJ, so you're likely well-informed about these matters.

Yes, the only way i can think of doing it is by purchasing several huds and putting different kinds of dances in each.  And then memorising them all.  *sigh*

I know a lot of peeps would be all, "why bother?" but i just think attn to detail is everything here.  I don't build or design or do anything constructive whatsoever, but i still want to do things the best way i can.  I think it matters. 

Ugh, no 'stop' button on animations?  You know, i try SO hard not to look like a complete novice / dork.  Idk why, i just CARE.  I love SL, i love putting the effort in.  I don't like it when stuff is out of my control and i can't look polished.  Does that make sense?  :matte-motes-bashful:

---

it makes total sense yes..

nothing threw me off more than delays in timing..

 

if i went to a club..i had to load all my dances  off in some place i couldn't be seen before i could go in and enjoy dancing hehehehe

there was nothing more exciting than finding a new way to be polished  that worked better..

it was like getting a new sports car lol

i used to use huddles the one that looked like a remote..

but having like 7 of those on my screen got old..

 

i just use the version where you can just have the buttons now..so i can minimize the line of buttons that i don't need and not have all that script hangover from the deluxe version that i never used half the stuff ..

so now it makes it easier to remember..because i have sets of buttons in different folders under one directory..

just go to a folder like hiphop and grab those out  or go to a few folders and grab out the buttons i want from each and kind of mix it up..

or put them all out there and minimize the ones i don't want to use at the time..

my only problem nowadays that i never had before is..

when i listen to music in sl..

i get studdering  on just about any stream i listen to..

so i haven't gone dancing in awhile..

i'm thinking aboutgetting one of the older viewers to see if that will help..

but then bleh..i can't wear the cool new stuff i like that may be my mesh jacket or hair..

so it's give up something for something time again lol

 

[Ceka Cianci]

---

Maryanne Solo wrote:

I thought we had struck

gold

when the new Firestorm came out as it has + - 10% avatar animation speed adjustment.

I totally freaked cause this

*could

have meant we could use that advanced feature as a Beat Per Minute adjuster,

which is

THE

holy grail of SL dancing. (for me anyways).

Unfortunately... it affects all avatars in the area, not just your own o.0 :matte-motes-sour:

(in your viewer anyway) so like its turned out to be not exactly what I hoped for.

I can't wait to make music videos with it though :smileytongue:

Please someone make an animation speed adjustment menu.

If someone does and they charge for it? I'll make a free one myself.

 

---

i think once the animations are made the speed is final..the speed or framerate of them is set for their life..unless another version faster or slower is uploaded..

the only thing that i have ever seen that could slow or speed up an animation for me so far has been  the amount of lag  at the time..

i mean there may be something now..i haven't really been in world like i used to be and paying all the attention i used to with routines and things and researching..

 

so it could be a total different world than when i left  last summer..

 

 

[Venus Petrov]

Oh my!  I am so happy you posted this OP.  As a DJ, there is nothing more *irritating* than to look out on a crowded dancefloor and see everyone bopping and jiving to their OWN beats!  WTH!  *I* am the one who sets the rhythm and they better as hell go along with it! 

People like you who pay attention to these things make me very very happy.  *tongue firmly planted in cheeky*

[Dresden Ceriano]

---

Venus Petrov wrote:

Oh my!  I am so happy you posted this OP.  As a DJ, there is nothing more *irritating* than to look out on a crowded dancefloor and see everyone bopping and jiving to their OWN beats!  WTH! 

*I* am the one who sets the rhythm and they better as hell go along with it! 

People like you who pay attention to these things make me very very happy.  *tongue firmly planted in cheeky*

---

Note to self:  Break out the ballet animations the next time Venus plays dance music.

...Dres

[Caitlin Tobias]

---

Venus Petrov wrote:

Oh my!  I am so happy you posted this OP.  As a DJ, there is nothing more *irritating* than to look out on a crowded dancefloor and see everyone bopping and jiving to their OWN beats!  WTH!  *I* am the one who sets the rhythm and they better as hell go along with it! 

People like you who pay attention to these things make me very very happy.  *tongue firmly planted in cheeky*

---

You mean it annoys you I only dance the Gangnam Style during your two hour sets?

 

Good news! I haz the PSY Gentleman Dance now too!! \0/

[Maryanne Solo]

Thank you Innula, great to hear from an expert on the subject :matte-motes-big-grin:

I take your point on the universal nature of amination speed controllers.

What I had thought was a menu + - 5/10% and if a menu could be made,

well surely you could assign two keys to those functions after that?.

The use would be: ready to film. music playing, no huds/menus on screen

(you have already *roughly matched the BPM) and you have to tweak it up or down a tad on the fly.

Key control would be so much faster with no menu appearing during the filming.

Sure you can alter the recorded video speed when adding the music in say Premiere Pro,

but to be able to do it on the fly would be a boon for machinima makers metinx :matte-motes-whistle:

[squashy Beeswing]

---

Venus Petrov wrote:

Oh my!  I am so happy you posted this OP.  As a DJ, there is nothing more *irritating* than to look out on a crowded dancefloor and see everyone bopping and jiving to their OWN beats!  WTH!  *I* am the one who sets the rhythm and they better as hell go along with it! 

People like you who pay attention to these things make me very very happy.  *tongue firmly planted in cheeky*

---

LOL, Venus!  Personally, i much prefer to see a long line of avies all dancing on the same hud like a deranged chorus line - NOT!  

Okay, those huds are a nice idea, inviting your friends to dance, etc, but the whole dancing in  a line thing?  I loathe it.   When i get invited to join one of those (occasionally happens), i decline.  POLITELY, of course, 'cos i don't want to seem churlish or mean.   I just prefer doing my own thing -- even if it means wriggling & jiggling to the wrong beat!  :matte-motes-big-grin:

[Innula Zenovka]

You would need to talk to the Firestorm devs about this, I think.   The speeding up and slowing down is handled by the viewer code, and so would be the keyboard shortcuts you suggest.

Why not open a Firestorm jira about it?

[Maryanne Solo]

Well I am on the final 7 weeks of a college course so I'll have to wait until after that I'm afraid.

It shouldnt be all that hard and something I'd like to try.

I was at a trance club for a little bit last night and went into slo mo anims and it only affected MY avi

which is waaaaay cool. So there's hope