how can i get my avatar to show up and half the time everybody is gray

[shylove28]

i cant see my avatar and on the days i can see it.. thats the day everybody is gray and i can tell who they is if it wasnt for they name..... help i really like this world on the days i can see whats going on

[Rolig Loon]

It sounds as if either your computer or your Internet connection is too weak to handle SL.  It happens.  You didn't tell anything about what kind of computer you have, what graphics card it's using, how much memory it has, or anything else that might tell us where the problem may be.  In general, though, SL is a fairly demanding graphics environment. Almost all of the images your computer has to render were created by SL residents, most of whom are amateurs. They are not optimized for rendering speed or efficiency, so even a top-of-the-line computer renders them more slowly than it would render images in a professionally-designed online game.  If you have a smaller, less-powerful computer, you may have a lot of rendering lag -- things appearing gray for a long time or only partially rezzed. 

Your Internet connection can also make a huge difference.  People who use a wireless connection, for example, often have lag problems in SL. Wireless is great for the sort of short burst communication that you need for e-mail or web surfing, but it's less efficient for handling the continuous back and forth stream of data that makes SL work. Newer wireless systems are better at it, but even they are vulnerable to interference from cell phones, garage door openers, and fluorescent light fixtures.  A direct cable connection is much better. I could go on.  Your router and modem, the kind of service you have from your ISP, and many other factors can make a difference.

Without knowing anything at all about your system -- even what SL viewer you are using -- all anyone can do is speculate.  You can add more important information to your question by clicking on the Options link in its upper right corner and selecting EDIT.  Please do NOT start a new thread.

[LoveAngeL Lyre]

Hello shylove28 and welcome to SL Forums. Rolig is right (as always hehe). We need details about your system specs and your internet connection, to give a specific answer. However 2 general suggestions below:

1. If you have fast internet connection you can increase your maximum bandwidth under preferences --> setup. This way you increase the maximum rate that the Viewer can download contnet so everything arround will be loaded faster. However if you notice packet loss you have immidiately to set this option to lower. With few words experiment with this option till to find the best for your computer / laptop
2. Disable everything under preferences also you don't use like for example voice, typing animation, move avatar's lips when speaking, even music / stream if you listen seldom. Set also your performance lower under Preferences --> graphics. It helps also.

[Nalates Urriah]

There are a number causes that contribute to your viewer failing to rez avatars. There are also some quick fixes and some not so quick, which works depends on the cause of the problem.

The long story is here: Avatar Render Problems: Ghost Cloud Smoke Ball Ruth

For that article you will find your Internet connection is the common cause of render fail. You can troubleshoot it using this information: Troubleshoot Your #SL Connection

Your bandwidth setting for download speed is a debatable topic. You'll hear lots of theories and recommendations. The viewer's default setting is what the Lab thinks works best for most people. They have lots of statistical data to guide their recommendation.

To get the best performance takes some experimenting. Your connection and hardware create a unique scenario. The best settings for you can only be found by your experimenting. No matter how fast your connection, it has to wait on the SL servers. If you ry to draw more than they can provide, your problems increase. 500kb is about the minimum. 2mb/sec is about the maximum. What's best for you depends on you, the connection that day, and the SL region server's performance at the time.

The quick on the fly fixes for avatars failing to rez are:

1 - Rebake, Ctrl-Alt-R - This forces the viewer to take all the textures you are wearing and bake them into a composite image. That is sent to SL. It is then downloaded by you and everyone that can see you, which is why you see your clothes and skin go blurry then sharp as the bake completes and then repeat as the download completes. You may find that in a particular region your will avatar will stay blurry no matter how many times you rebake. The Lindens have a fix in the works for bake fail.

2 - Change your active group. While I don't understand why, changing active group often causes your avatar and those around you to rez.

3 - Change the bald you are wearing. Ideally use one of the default avatar's bald.

If none of these 3 fix the problem, you need to read the linked articles. In any event you should understand more about the SL render process after reading them. Then you'll be better prepared to figure out what's gone wrong.

Including the information from the viewer's Help->About in your post can get you better answers. Also, this rez thing is a common problem. So, you can avoid waiting for an answer by searching Answers and the Knowledge Base.