Anyone know how to get better pictures on second life?

[LadyDragoness888]

Been trying to take pictures of my avatar to display on my profile, but the resolution hasn’t been the best, is there any way to get higher resolution screen shots?

[Chic Aeon]

You can take a photo at a higher resolution than your screen, then crop and resize and sharpen. 

[FairreLilette]

Yes, what Chic said above.

You can also put your graphics setting up to ULTRA found under Preferences > Graphics.  

If you don't want to stay on ULTRA, turn graphics back to where you want it after taking the photo. 

I made my own back, fill and key photo lights to light my avatar also.   You can wear each light and position them for great photographic effects.  If you know how to build, rez a ball, add a white texture, then turn the ball on full bright/glow (adjust glow to your liking) and somewhat transparent.   You can look up on the internet (try Google Images) for how to position each ball as is done in RL photography by looking up key, fill and back lights for photography if you are interested.  

https://www.google.com/search?hl=en&tbm=isch&sxsrf=ALeKk01ds3KsW1tRpJuFxDoqPkxvLQx19g%3A1585954755938&source=hp&biw=1120&bih=626&ei=w7-HXszTNo3ysQWAhbD4Aw&q=what+are+key+fill+and+back+lights&oq=what+are+key+fill+and+back+lights&gs_lcp=CgNpbWcQAzoCCAA6BAgjECc6BQgAEIMBOgYIABAIEB46BAgAEBhKNQgXEjEwZzI0MWcyMzNnMjA3ZzE2NGcxMjdnMTIxZzExN2cxNjVnMTI1ZzIxOWcyMzlnMTI1Sh4IGBIaMGcxZzFnMWcxZzFnMWcxZzFnMWc1ZzVnMTVQ1ARY5Edg8kpoAXAAeACAAY0DiAHAKZIBCDAuMjguNC4ymAEAoAEBqgELZ3dzLXdpei1pbWc&sclient=img&ved=0ahUKEwiMwevurc3oAhUNeawKHYACDD8Q4dUDCAc&uact=5

There are tons of poses you can find for free or 1 linden each on MP.   If you want BENTO poses, type in MP search Bento Pose.  There are some very inexpensive Bento ones too...lots for 1 linden per pose.

https://marketplace.secondlife.com/products/search?utf8=✓&search[layout]=gallery&search[category_id]=&search[sort]=&search[per_page]=12&search[keywords]=pose&search[price_low]=0&search[price_high]=10&search[land_impact_low]=&search[land_impact_high]=&search[copy_permission]=0&search[modify_permission]=0&search[transfer_permission]=0&search[limited_quantities]=0&search[is_demo]=0

I haven't taken photos in a while, so that's all I remember at this time.   

Edited April 4, 2020 by FairreLilette

[Jackson Redstar]

what Chic said, although you may find more useful info posted in the Photo section...

[Rhonda Huntress]

[Claireschen Hesten]

2 hours ago, FairreLilette said:

You can also put your graphics setting up to ULTRA found under Preferences > Graphics.  

If you don't want to stay on ULTRA, turn graphics back to where you want it after taking the photo. 

If you want to have all the toys like ALM, Shadows & DoF turned on for a pic you don't need to ramp the graphics up to ultra you just need basic shaders enabled then in prefs or Phototools in FS you can play around with these settings

 

[FairreLilette]

13 minutes ago, Claireschen Hesten said:

If you want to have all the toys like ALM, Shadows & DoF turned on for a pic you don't need to ramp the graphics up to ultra you just need basic shaders enabled then in prefs or Phototools in FS you can play around with these settings

 

I haven't taken pictures in a while Claireschen but I do remember my photos looking better on ULTRA.  I cannot, however, remember all I did.  But, it never hurts to play around a little and see what you like because it only takes a few seconds to change the slider under Graphics.  

But, also in your ENVIRONMENT EDITOR, find Annan Adored Optimal Skin No Shadow or one like it (I can't remember the other one and am not inworld at this time but it would probably have SKIN in it's title) and use ULTRA and it gives gorgeous photos along with what Chic and Rhonda said above.  

Once, you locate some of the high res tools, you can then play around with it.   

 

Edited April 4, 2020 by FairreLilette

[SpiritSparrow Skydancer]

4 hours ago, Chic Aeon said:

You can take a photo at a higher resolution than your screen, then crop and resize and sharpen. 

that is not resolution though is it? That is the size of the image., right?

[SpiritSparrow Skydancer]

I think it takes a good eye as much as your settings. I bet a lot of photos you see you migh tbe comparing your photos to were processed in photoshop after.

[Chic Aeon]

51 minutes ago, Tarina Sewell said:

that is not resolution though is it? That is the size of the image., right?

Yes, but the more pixels per shot gives better clarity. Easy to test for yourself.  Some SL photographers use much larger size than my settings and then resize smaller. A very typical method.  AFAIK there is no way to set your pixels per inch in any viewer. Folks that do print have written here that the DPI makes no difference at all in uploaded textures.   So unless someone has an argument :D, I am going along with their numerous comments.   

[Lindal Kidd]

moar pixels = moar resolution.

[Nalates Urriah]

There are tutorials on YouTube about SL Photography.

SL good images are not just a matter of taking the picture. It is also a matter of how you use the image in SL. Using it here on the forum there is nothing special you need to do. Using the image in the viewer's profile and within SL gets a bit trickier.

In all cases the image should be initially saved as a PNG file (TGA sort of works too but there are a couple of gotchas avoided using PNG). Images are stored in the SL system (as opposed to the web properties like the marketplace and this forum) in a JPG2000 format. Uploading a JPG (a lossy format) and then the system converting to JPG2000 (another lossy format) causes a loss of quality, think fuzzier images.

Also images going into the SL system must be in power of 2 sizes, 32x32, 64x64, 128x  etc. to a max of 1024. Larger than 1024 gets downsized and again you lose quality. You can make 512x1024 or 64x1024... if you make non-power of two sizes then the system will resize them. It does NOT do a great job and again your image suffers a loss of quality.

How you plan to display the image is also a consideration. A display should also sort of be a power of 2 size. What I mean is if you put a 64x1024 image on a cube then the cube should be sized so the width and height maintain the 64x1024 or 1:16 ratio.

Images used in SL are tricky. Once you get it, not too hard to get sharp images.

[FairreLilette]

14 hours ago, Chic Aeon said:

You can take a photo at a higher resolution than your screen, then crop and resize and sharpen. 

The above numbers look familiar with what I used and looks great! 

To the OP:  You can post these large pixel images on FLICKR with no need to crop.  You can upload your photos just the way they are to FLICKR.  For making a profile picture, you'd need to crop I'd think.  For MP, definitely you would need to crop at that pixel size.  

For MP, the lower pixel default size works fine and you don't need to crop or anything but I do think for MP at the default pixels, you need jpeg not png.   I forgot what the default was now.  

Playing around with the various tools and then finding what works for you takes a little patience.  

Edited April 4, 2020 by FairreLilette

[Blaise Glendevon]

Also, it is amazing what a good windlight can do for the sharpness of your photo. 

[Lindal Kidd]

17 hours ago, Nalates Urriah said:

How you plan to display the image is also a consideration. A display should also sort of be a power of 2 size.

I've never found this to be the case, Nalates...although I haven't tried to do any sort of testing.

I find that if I re-size, say, a 4:3 image to 512 x 512 (square), and then upload it, it works great.  It looks squished, of course, but if you then paste it 1:1 on a 4:3 rectangular prim, it stretches out to the proper proportions again...and looks great.

[Charles Blackwood]

I might as well ask here because I’ve been frustrated by the process. 
 

I followed the tutorials and think I have a grasp on things but when my graphic setting are at max it is painful to to take a picture. If I want to make any adjustments everything is so slow. Painfully slow. I wonder what I’m doing wrong.
 

I have a 2017 MacBook Pro and I think it is powerful enough but I’m wondering if I’m missing something. 

[Chic Aeon]

1 hour ago, Marut72 said:

I might as well ask here because I’ve been frustrated by the process. 
 

I followed the tutorials and think I have a grasp on things but when my graphic setting are at max it is painful to to take a picture. If I want to make any adjustments everything is so slow. Painfully slow. I wonder what I’m doing wrong.
 

I have a 2017 MacBook Pro and I think it is powerful enough but I’m wondering if I’m missing something. 

Sounds like your computer just can't deal with SL :D.  I have a notebook computer that won't and it is only a year old and fairly hefty. INTEGRATED video cards are often the issue.  The best thing you can do most likely is turn down your draw distance.   

 

When you get a new computer look for one that has a separate (additional most likely) video card and then be sure and turn that on. Some folks here have reported buying notebooks and then forgetting to switch to the higher powered card :D.  

 

I never have my desktop computer set higher than one step down from Ultra by the way   Another option would be to connect directly rather than using wifi (not sure if that would help with your problems but definitely get the FPS higher).   

 

 

[Charles Blackwood]

35 minutes ago, Chic Aeon said:

Sounds like your computer just can't deal with SL :D.  I have a notebook computer that won't and it is only a year old and fairly hefty. INTEGRATED video cards are often the issue.  The best thing you can do most likely is turn down your draw distance.   

 

When you get a new computer look for one that has a separate (additional most likely) video card and then be sure and turn that on. Some folks here have reported buying notebooks and then forgetting to switch to the higher powered card :D.  

 

I never have my desktop computer set higher than one step down from Ultra by the way   Another option would be to connect directly rather than using wifi (not sure if that would help with your problems but definitely get the FPS higher).   

 

 

Thank you so much for taking the time to respond. I’m not sure if it’s my computer as I bought an external graphic card for my Mac. It’s called Black Magic and renders 4K video no problem. I would think it could handle SL just fine. But I’m just not sure. 
 

I’ll definitely try the draw distance. I might also partition my drive and run windows to see if that makes a difference. 

[Seicher Rae]

2 hours ago, Marut72 said:

I might as well ask here because I’ve been frustrated by the process. 
 

I followed the tutorials and think I have a grasp on things but when my graphic setting are at max it is painful to to take a picture. If I want to make any adjustments everything is so slow. Painfully slow. I wonder what I’m doing wrong.
 

I have a 2017 MacBook Pro and I think it is powerful enough but I’m wondering if I’m missing something. 

When I had this problem, it was helped to varying extents, by using the "Advanced" menu and going into rendering types and deselecting everything you don't need. If you are shooting a head shot against a prim backdrop (for example), you don't need to render sky, water, land, trees... etc.

Even though my computer can handle the graphics now (mostly), I still use this technique when I remember, because it can help take out things that mess up the composition, like a bit of water horizon that just confuses things... take out the water.

If things are really bad and when you hit "save" the computer still cranks forever, then get the shot set up and "saved" in the preview, then go back to the advanced menu and deselect everything, which will give you a black screen on your monitor. Then hit save. It *might* help.

[Chic Aeon]

2 hours ago, Marut72 said:

Thank you so much for taking the time to respond. I’m not sure if it’s my computer as I bought an external graphic card for my Mac. It’s called Black Magic and renders 4K video no problem. I would think it could handle SL just fine. But I’m just not sure. 
 

I’ll definitely try the draw distance. I might also partition my drive and run windows to see if that makes a difference. 

You might paste in your computer specs here for the folks that know a lot about hardware (or think they do LOL).   You can get that from the HELP > ABOUT menu in the viewer.     These are my specs which these days aren't all that fancy as this is an older desktop computer. I still have no issues at all -- even taking screenshots with DOF and shadows at 5000 or with multiple avatars (alts ). No DOF when using alts but honestly I haven't ever had  a need so that might work too :D.   

 

[Charles Blackwood]

10 minutes ago, Chic Aeon said:

You might paste in your computer specs here for the folks that know a lot about hardware (or think they do LOL).   You can get that from the HELP > ABOUT menu in the viewer.     These are my specs which these days aren't all that fancy as this is an older desktop computer. I still have no issues at all -- even taking screenshots with DOF and shadows at 5000 or with multiple avatars (alts ). No DOF when using alts but honestly I haven't ever had  a need so that might work too :D.   

 

Thanks so much for this. I’ll try it out today. 
 

I am a professional photographer. One thing that made a difference is that I switched my monitor which is RGB because real photos require it to sRGB and that has helped. 
 

I think it was rendering a wider gamut of colour than it need to.

thanks so much, it’s getting better.  

[Charles Blackwood]

On 4/5/2020 at 12:38 PM, Chic Aeon said:

You might paste in your computer specs here for the folks that know a lot about hardware (or think they do LOL).   You can get that from the HELP > ABOUT menu in the viewer.     These are my specs which these days aren't all that fancy as this is an older desktop computer. I still have no issues at all -- even taking screenshots with DOF and shadows at 5000 or with multiple avatars (alts ). No DOF when using alts but honestly I haven't ever had  a need so that might work too :D.   

 

Can anyone help me if my computer is good enough to function well taking high res photos? Or is it the places I go and the LUMIpro light that is slowing it down to the point that I don't find it enjoyable.