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Viewer Advice


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I've recently joined SL and have been using the "official" viewer.   I'm asking for recommendations for viewer that have RLV capabilities.  And even though I haven't got much time invested in learning the one I have, I would like viewers that have a similar interface, if possible, so I don't have to learn two completely different systems.

My other question is about timing.  Since I gather there is going to be a change in "baking" (I only have a **bleep**ue idea what that is) would it be better to just wait for that to be implemented?  Any idea when that will occur? 

Thanks for any advice.

 

 Edit:  Removed extraneous comments.

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Studio09 wrote:

 

I've recently joined SL and have been using the "official" viewer.   I'm asking for recommendations for viewser that have RLV capabilities.  And even though I haven't got much time invested in learning the one I have, I would like viewers that have a similar interface, if possible, so I don't have to learn two completely different systems.

My other question is about timing.  Since I gather there is going to be a change in "baking" (I only have a **bleep**ue idea what that is) would it be better to just wait for that to be implemented?  Any idea when that will occur? 

Thanks for any advice.

 

Welcome to SL. :)

Iirc, the implementation date for server side baking (SSB) is July 9th.  I wouldn't think that would affect choosing a different viewer, providing you use one that is setup for SSB.  The third party viewer that most resembles the official SL viewer is Firestorm.  There are also some other viewers that include RLV as well that have the old-school v1 interface; just depends on your preference.

Edit: Clarification

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I highly recommend Firestorm.  The latest version is SSB ready and has RLV.  It also has a number of other features that the official viewer doesn't have that you will find handy.  Firestorm is the number one viewer being used by SL residents and has the most stable platform with less crashing than all other viewers, by LL' s own statistics.  The interface is as flexible as the official viewer.but the chat box doesn't take up the whole screen like the official viewer's does.

Firestorm does not yet support materials texturing, but will in the near future. Materials texturing was just introduced so at this point not many things use it so that shouldn't be a big drawback. 

Firestorm offers daily classes on it viewer to show you all its features and how to customize it to fit your needs.

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I HIGHLY RECOMMEND using Firestorm. Stability is astounding.


Firestorm DOES NOT have any v1 code in it. It is all V3 code.


CoolVL and Singularity are v1 codebase viewers with hackjobs. Basically it has the newest code that has been backported..  I will not recommend either of those viewers as they will eventually break with code that cannot be adapted. hence their life cycle is still rather short. Firestorm on the other hand has the newest code, and is BY FAR the most popular viewer on SL today.

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I like Singularity...I guess that means I have a fetish as I KNOW I'm not a 'Fanboi'

Don't worry about it, Summer, for I share your fetish. Maybe we should open a fetish club ... although ... hang on, wait a second ... it might be misunderstood.

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TristanMercer wrote:

I HIGHLY RECOMMEND using Firestorm. Stability is astounding.

 

Firestorm DOES NOT have any v1 code in it. It is all V3 code.

 

CoolVL and Singularity are v1 codebase viewers with hackjobs. Basically it has the newest code that has been backported..  I will not recommend either of those viewers as they will eventually break with code that cannot be adapted. hence their life cycle is still rather short. Firestorm on the other hand has the newest code, and is BY FAR the most popular viewer on SL today.

Who said anything about viewer one code, what does that have to do with my comment?

And I still will not use FS!

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That was a general reply to those who wish to use CoolVL or Singularity...which in my opinion are inferior viewers, along with LL's own viewer.

 

When you click the green reply in the lower left, it apparently grabs a name from anyone who replied in this thread. My reply just happened to have your name tagged to it. Don't go getting your panties all in a knot.

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CoolVL or Singularity...which in my opinion are inferior viewers, along with LL's own viewer.

Right, the LL viewer is crappola, I don't like Cool neither ... but what's so inferior about Singularity? It's sporting the best GUI ever, doesn't confuse you with a lot of unlogical windows and boxes and is the fastest rezzer and the most uncrashy viewer of them all. At least on my system it's working perfectly. Sing is also the weapon of choice for most vehicle users and RPers and oldbies. Sometimes I use FS, but only in Phoenix mode. I'd be lost on a V3 viewer, it would take all the fun out of SL.

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Orca Flotta wrote:

CoolVL or Singularity...which in my opinion are inferior viewers, along with LL's own viewer.

Right, the LL viewer is crappola, I don't like Cool neither ... but what's so inferior about Singularity? It's sporting the best GUI ever, doesn't confuse you with a lot of unlogical windows and boxes and is the fastest rezzer and the most uncrashy viewer of them all. At least on my system it's working perfectly. Sing is also the weapon of choice for most vehicle users and RPers and oldbies. Sometimes I use FS, but only in Phoenix mode. I'd be lost on a V3 viewer, it would take all the fun out of SL.

I haven't gotten around to downloading Firestorm yet, and wasn't thrilled with CoolVL, but I too am enjoying Singularity.  I could start using it almost immediately without going through a lot of menus to tweak it.  I hear many people say they use Firestorm for building but another of the TPVs for "everyday."

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I


Studio09 wrote:

 

I've recently joined SL and have been using the "official" viewer.   I'm asking for recommendations for viewer that have RLV capabilities.  And even though I haven't got much time invested in learning the one I have, I would like viewers that have a similar interface, if possible, so I don't have to learn two completely different systems.

My other question is about timing.  Since I gather there is going to be a change in "baking" (I only have a **bleep**ue idea what that is) would it be better to just wait for that to be implemented?  Any idea when that will occur? 

Thanks for any advice.

 

 Edit:  Removed extraneous comments.

I've been using Singularity for a while now, and IMO it's the best viewer that's currently out.  I enjoy the UI and it's always been stable for me, however, the main reaosn why I enjoy it is performance.  Objects on the screen seem to rez faster for me in general.  

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Studio09 wrote:

 

I've recently joined SL and have been using the "official" viewer.   I'm asking for recommendations for viewer that have RLV capabilities.  And even though I haven't got much time invested in learning the one I have, I would like viewers that have a similar interface, if possible, so I don't have to learn two completely different systems.

My other question is about timing.  Since I gather there is going to be a change in "baking" (I only have a **bleep**ue idea what that is) would it be better to just wait for that to be implemented?  Any idea when that will occur? 

Thanks for any advice.

 

 Edit:  Removed extraneous comments.

You should take a look at Catznip. It's quite close to the LL viewer in layout with a few added features and is actually put out by the developers of one of the RLV systems.

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Orca...what's wrong with it is it a hack job of a viewer. Backporting v3 code to keep it running? We all know that eventually it will break on its own when the code can no longer be backported or isn't feasible to do so.

I have no problems using Firestorm. I never crash, and I mean never. I run FS in strictly Phoenix mode. I don't have a problem navigating any of the menus, nor are there any unnecessary windows.

To judge a viewer based on rezzing alone...that is not a good test actually. Everyone rezzes at different speeds, even with the same video card.

I have tried Singularity and to me, personally...it felt like a tweeked Imprudence.

Viewers are a personal choice. Going along with that choice is also each user's specific opinions about a viewer. If you find one that works great for you...congrats. When people cry and moan about crashing this/crashing that, it is most likely attributed to their computer or some wacky settings that they choose to use.

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Ok...first things first....

Orca Flotta wrote:

Don't worry about it, Summer, for I share your fetish. Maybe we should open a fetish club ... although ... hang on, wait a second ... it might be misunderstood.

Singularity club...wouldn't that be people standing around all alone talking to themselves...(being singular)? Ok..poor joke, but I did it anyway, so there......:matte-motes-silly:

now, more serious note. I also use FS..and the thing that the OP might like about it is that you can change the style of the viewer (Phoenix/SL viewer) so if they are used to the way one looks, it won't be a huge change if they use it. Also, FS has RLV in it. The SL viewer doesn't and won't. You would have to download the Restrained Love Viewer from the website...and when I tried that, my anti virus program wouldn't accept it and the older versions of RLV don't run well.

I've never used Singularity or Cool viewer.I found FS and (for the most part) like what it has to offer..

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I've downloaded and started to use the Firestorm viewer.  Now I will need to spend some time learning how to use all the features.  I was glad to read that FS is well suited for building since that is one reason I joined SL. But at this point I realize it will be some time before I get to the point where can even try that.

 

Thanks to everyone for your helpful advice.

Diane

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TristanMercer wrote:

<snip>

CoolVL and Singularity are v1 codebase viewers with hackjobs. Basically it has the newest code that has been backported..  I will not recommend either of those viewers as they will eventually break with code that cannot be adapted. hence their life cycle is still rather short.

</snip>

If they are working good now, if someone personally gets their best performance and In World experience with them right now, what would be wrong with using them?

Isn't the only downside really that when they break someone will have to switch to another Viewer and have to go through a learning curve?

Some of  the learning curves we have had to go through have been "forced" on us by major changes in the viewers.  Other learning curves have been a matter of personal choice because of the Viewer a person chooses to use.

I'd consider that a matter of personal choice if someone wants to go through the learning curves.

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If you're looking for something with the most  similar interface to LL's viewer with added features, try Firestorm. While it has the largest array of added features, it also has inworld support as well as inworld and youtube tutorials to help you learn to use the various features. You don't need to know how they all work to use the viewer though. I generally learn the ones I have a use for and ignore the ones I don't.

There's really not as that much V1 code left in the so called V1 viewers as some think. At some point they've more or less become  V3 viewers with some V1 code tacked on to keep the UI's looking like V1. This will become more and more the case as time goes by.  Of those I prefer Singularity. It works better on my particular system than Cool VL and I prefer it's user interface which has chat and IMs in one floater.

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