My orb won't glow!

[Jeanette Mavendorf]

Hi all :)

    I created an orb that will glow only when I'm in Edit mode.  I'm not at all sure what is going on.  I've adjusted all the settings to glow exactly the way I want it to, but when I leave Edit mode it won't stay glowing.

    Am I in need of a script?  Am I missing a box that needs to be checkmarked?  Any and all help would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks,

Jeanette

[Rolig Loon]

You can certainly control glow with a script if you want to, but you don't need one if all you're doing is setting it once for all time.  The GLOW setting on the Textures page in your Build/Edit tool has a very awkward range.  It doesn't take much glow at all to make your work start to look radioactive.  Unless you're trying for a dramatic, garish look, the most useful settings are in the range from 0 to maybe 0.2.  Unfortunately, it's a bit hard to see what the glow effect looks like while you are in Edit mode, because the editor adds its own annoying aura to the work.  The Firestorm viewer lets you switch that aura off, but that's not an option in the standard LL viewer.  All you can do is keep toggling in and out of the editor.

There are other features that can sometimes make glow look more convincing.  Adding a slight point source light with limited range (a meter or less) can enhance the area right around the object, especially if it is in a transparent shell instead of the object itself.  Fullbright can also be useful in some situations, although it can be overkill sometimes.  You can also use a specular texture to enhance a glow effect by playing with the reflectivity of the object's surface.