[[PBR] New Issues in latest release]

I say this with much compassion as I "beta tested" in SANSAR and every new update seemed to break something. 

Breathe deep. Know it is likely NOT YOU. 

I went over to the "full PBR" Winter Wonderland sim yesterday == not to see the Winter Wonderland but to test the sim.  It was fine in Firestorm, looked good worked perfectly except for some extra glow behind the windows like that famous Christmas card type painter's work.  My outfit was darker in the shadows. And yes this is an upcoming post sometime soon. 

Went back with the new PBR viewer (yesterdays as it updated) and I was a cloud for over a minute and the whole scene was gray for a very long time.  You are probably not seeing  this lag just working on one building. 

 

I didn't see anything that that looked like it was obviously a reflection probe so likely that part of the new rendering system wasn't tested.  

My best guess is that it will be almost a year before every FS user is on a PBR viewer. This with the "you must update in three versions" edict. Some folks will be using 3rd party viewers that don't update because they either don't care or do care and don't like PBR.   

Honestly, so far, PBR  seems to be a better rollout that EEP which was a nightmare and which I didn't adopt until I had to.  

 

So while I know you would like your item with all the shiny new stuff, it will probably be a LOT easier to let the devs get things worked out. SENRA is MUCH better now after flour months or whatever.  I think the devs seem to have done a good job this time about not breaking legacy builds. That is a huge plus.   But being out on the front lines of change comes with a price. 

 

And yes, I was up in the night writing LOL so this is more philosophical than it might otherwise be.   I thought of you when I was out in the Linden viewer (SO PAINFUL) and I wish you all the best in the PRB fray.    My only building thought on this really and what I would try if I was testing PBR is to leave some gaps where you boxes are and don't let them meet -- like cube LOD models.  And have you watched that PBR into video?  Probably but pasting in for others.   I thought he used a solid cube for all four sides -- but honestly since it was a long way off for me I didn't pay too much attention.    

 

Yes, next to the last section.    

You MAY need to only make house designs that will work for now.   Again, been there in SANSAR and do feel your pain.  

 

 

[Computer blocked on login]

Another possibility since it is just that computer (really a GOOD THING) is that somehow a Windows update (assuming you are on Windows has messed things up. This has happened to me a LOT mostly on the machine with Win11.   Running Glary Utilities (other utility programs would probably work) and restarting the computer has solved each issue. Seems to be registry issues in my case. 

 

 

[Mediterranean Theme]

1 hour ago, Trinity Blakewell said:

They're pretty enough for me to revisit going to PP+, but is it really worth an extra $150 a year to me?

To be fair don't you get a bunch of that back in "stipend"?   May be other perks too.   For that much you could easily get a big parcel on mainland and have a nice villa LOL so it is in part a "Belli" thing I think.    

[How does your Senra look?]

7 minutes ago, Vanity Fair said:

From the pictures in the new Linden Lab announcement, it looks as though they have fixed the formerly sky-high eyebrows on Senra heads, which was my number one concern about these bodies. I still want to play with the new Senra 1.0 heads and bodies to see how they work with older SLUV skins, though. (I know this is not an issue for the target audience, new SL users, but I have alts with inventories full of old SLUV skins that I would like to use!)

It also would appear that LL is making some sort of Senra promo/tie-in for vendors participating in the Valentine's Shop and Hop, and I guess we can expect to start to see some clothing from creators! Good news all around.

 

I am wearing old (2020 7DS) skin in my picture above.  It seems to work fine. Makeup that age or older also. I can't tell what happened to my eyebrows (separate from skin) though from the photo :D.

 

I did note as also shown above that old poses don't work with the new avatar. Some entrepreneurial animations person will no doubt make a hand pose add-on that will fix that.  The old ankle locks from long ago might fix the foot thing. I didn't notice that. Bento poses and the new AO included seem to work fine.  

[How does your Senra look?]

 

Just testing for a blog post. Yes, MUCH better on many counts. Don't like the legs but  definitely the best Library avatar we have had. 

[Favorite Christmas Tree]

 

Tree by MESH NATION (Marketplace)

[How Does Your SL Look Today?]

Fire and Ice

[How Does Your SL Look Today?]

On 6/27/2021 at 7:05 PM, Eddy Vortex said:

I hope one day to learn how to create a sim so realistic that people will mistake its snapshots for RL.

I had a screenshot that was mistaken for a RL photo and got into a "prestigious" group that I knew nothing about.  It was both fun and thrilling. It was NOT my sim and I think it is gone now.   Putting in the LINK for anyone that wants to see as I am not going to crop it to get my signature off.  

https://www.flickr.com/photos/24257589@N03/52571565602/in/dateposted/

Those ARE great rocks. Who made them (or maybe they are a mix).   

[clothing stores for legacy classic mesh bodies]

I just checked my blog (thank you blog dairy and that body is very close to a decade old now. We are talking Win7 in computer terms.  It pretty much never had tons of stuff for it that actually FIT. ANY not-too- popular body including some of the new ones have an issue with clothing. IF you are lucky (and I am not really counting on this) then the when the updated Linden body in your Library gets updated it might certainly be usable IF anyone bothers to make clothes for it. 

You missed the half price Maitreya sale and Legacy is very "laggy" so not good environmental (and expensive).  If your body will use alpha layers which I am guessing was THE WAY -- way back then to block out unwanted parts of body areas then you can often find other fits that will work. Try S@bbia who has a free group and frequent gifts and has "fitmesh" in the packs. 

As said (or implied) saving up and getting a popular body (like Lara or LaraX) and then looking for free clothing is a much better methods.  BUT older clothing on the marketplace may work.  I haven't seen any NEW tmp clothing in at least five years. 

 

[Land Sales Crash]

41 minutes ago, Diablo Lioncourt said:

Well, I was thinking that too. But since then, I've noticed this: a lot of 1024s I sell that are side by side are now getting purchase two at a time, and merged. The new parcel name/build often reflects something that wouldn't be allowed in a LH neighborhood, such as a small club or store. Location may also be adult. It appears the limits of LH are making some of these new Premium Plus people choose mainland:)

Agreed.  Land prices and availability have been up and down for over fifteen years -- just like the RL land sales at least in my part of the US.   When there isn't ENOUGH mainland to buy (not lately since the LHs anyway) folks complain about that.  If you think about it there is a lot MORE MAINLAND now with Zindra and Horizons etc.

I have probably moved well over three dozen times in my years here and with some looking I have always found a good place to live on the cheap -- either buying or renting.  Many of those times it was mainland simply because mainland is usually cheaper.  

I really enjoyed my time in Belli that first year but over time it got so very laggy (like everywhere that I went there) that it was pretty much unlivable. Way too much heavy mesh.  Happily it seems our no name "shaming" posts did let creators know that a lot of folks really DO CARE about stuff like that. It does have an impact.  So small steps forward.     

[The all-in-one Home Furnishings Topic!]

8f8 has a sewing machine just out at ANTHEM for 349 (no checking machines to get the right number up to buy is a plus) which is more complex and all in one piece. The machine is newer but still treadle.  The triangle count is good for this complex of an item and WAY better than the olden 8f8 days (woot).  

Not sure if there is a sit on the stool.   

 

[Land Sales Crash]

There is less land for sale now where my shop is than has been in a  long while (mainland) BUT I scored a very nice (with buffers) snow parcel in a mainland sim with other snow parcels with buffers for 700 li and 350 a week.  I am nowhere near using those LI points but it is a very nice place.  I don't see that things are a whole lot different than they have been over the years. 

 

If one wants to point fingers then I would say that the new Premiums Plus 2048 homes are a big part of any problem that there may be.  And since there is a new theme for those coming out it seems like they have worked well (monetarily anyway) for LL.   But what is good for some folks is less than great for others.   I am only a renter and happily so.     

 

[How Does Your SL Look Today?]

Impressive!  Winner, winner  -- ARCADE

[New viewer version 7.0.1.6 looks really bright and pixelated]

1 hour ago, Charlotte Bartlett said:

For me: The challenge is more EEP if you tweak it to work with the PBR materials then other items look less stellar on non PBR viewers.  That example pic above demonstrates it.  That bottom pic on my old EEP setting looks fine with standard textures. Tough when you have four regions that will gradually move over PBR so I will organize region by region to start I think. Once Firestorm is out of Beta that will be the game changer and we can then embrace if fully. 
 

Well to be fair LOL plenty of items with "materials" look horrible under some EEPs (hence my lack of using them for the most part).  NEW isn't always BETTER --- but going with industry standard is most likely a good long range move.   When I tested a month ago when only a few regions were active on the main grid, I really couldn't tell any difference (with the things I tested of course which were "supposed" to look the same).    https://chicatphilsplace.blogspot.com/2023/11/pbr-hits-grid-slowly.html

[Your strategy for managing getting event gifts? Also known as how did my inventory get so large?]

For Shop and Hop for example, I only take what I think I can use (or blog).  I appreciate the pictures as that cuts a lot out. I don't take makeup or gestures or eyes  as I will never use them. And usually I only take things from creators that I know and have bought from or blogged previously.  I always open things right away and sort by category. Then I pick out things I want to feature and do posts. SOMETIMES I keep things, other times not.   16 years 72K posts and that includes all the product and parts of products I have created and numerous backups.   I mostly keep "niche" items that I think might come in handy for a post in the future.      

 

If there isn't a picture of the item I often use the build menu to see what it says is inside the box. If it says "horns" or piercing" for example I just go on to the next.  I also don't pick up gifts from booths that are "not me". If I wouldn't buy anything from the merchant it is unlikely I will want their gift.  We all have different tastes.    

[How Does Your Advent Look Today?]

OK. Not anyone interested I guess so letting this go

[New viewer version 7.0.1.6 looks really bright and pixelated]

I am not playing around yet but wanted to mention that in Sansar with I think a very similar system you could basically "ignore" the PBR by putting in grayscale textures in the panes.  I DO think that PBR  can be lovely but not everything needs to shine and reflect IMO.  So "there" I just pretended it didn't exist LOL.   I won't be looking at this closely until FS gets PBR but I did check my current builds in the PBR Linden viewer and they seem to be fine. So hopefully that holds true.  

 

[The all-in-one Home Furnishings Topic!]

Absolutely gorgeous. Ransom Manner. The Arcade. Two pieces (machine is the rare). Also comes in black. THREE LAND IMPACT for both with unbelievable LODs.  I am indeed in love (and lucky).  

[How Does Your Advent Look Today?]

 

A new thread to share your favorite Advent finds of the day. So many Advents out there, I am only checking a few. 

PLEASE POST ONLY ON THE ADVENT DAY when the item can be collected (unless of course the calendar is one that lasts all month and is open).  Cothes, Home and Garden, Hair, Skins -- whatever.  Please mention the store of course and give a SLURL.  If there is a group need please add that and cost if there is one.    

 

This is Day One at Simply Shelby. The standing lamppost comes also with blue glass.  No group needed.  The calendar is in the middle of this skybox.  http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Starry Sky/184/145/801

[How Does Your SL Look Today?]

[Best way to downsize textures without quality loss?]

Aside from the fact that you are reducing the graphic to an SIXTEENTH of a the original size (hopefully your original graphic was ACTUALLY 1024 x 1024 and not what you mentioned as that is important to) it may be the quality of your graphics program.   ALSO you should be uploading as a PNG (usually) and not a JPG.  If you upload as a jpg it starting out blurrier than needs to be.   

 

A bunch of us did some tests a few years ago and found out that the uploader (then anyway) did a better job downsizing textures than our various graphics software.  This only works for larger textures though. I typically bake (for furniture) my textures at 2048 and let the uploader change them to 1024 (the maximum (in theory :D). 

 

I did a test with PaintshopPro 2023.  Note that the web upload will compress MORE than what I did so they will be less clear than (possibly) what you upload to SL. 

 

 

 

So there is a bit of a reference for you.  You COULD try sharpening your 256 photo before uploading but I am not sure that would help much.  

[How does your avatar look today ?]

 

[weird link problem 1 prim / 1 LI + 1 prim / 1LI = 1 prim / 9 li ?]

It looks like your second prim is HOLLOW.  Any "torturing" of prims gets them counted as "new mesh" and not "old prims".  That is simplistic A friend had the same issue yesterday; it was the hollow.      So just leave them as prims.     

[Qavimator Freezing]

7 hours ago, Frionil Fang said:

I've never been a prolific animation uploader, but I found a priority 6 arm/hand pose from March 2012 and it is not overridden by priority 4 animations. I have no recollection what tool I would've used to make it, but it has to have been a .bvh file, the only .anim capable tool I've used is Black Dragon.

For contrast, I found animations that list themselves as "priority 6" in the Firestorm animation details panel that were uploaded in 2016, 2018 and 2020 are overridden by priority 4, and not by priority 3. Curiously I also have one prio 6 from 2018 that's tagged as "fixed" and isn't overridden by prio 4, whereas its  "broken" counterpart is overridden, despite obviously being the same animation file... no idea what happened there. Immediate edit: I think I found a *very* janky .bvh-to-.anim converter around that time, it was too broken to get much use out of but I may have used that.

Avast exports anime files and I think "poser" might (haven't used it and forget who makes it). What I READ was that long ago anime file was the default format for SL and then bvh was added.  The only reason (or a big one) that I bought Avastar was so that I could make animations again -- this time from Blender.  There have been long conversations on this in the past so if you do some searching in the archives you may get more info.  

[Qavimator Freezing]

2 hours ago, Quarrel Kukulcan said:

When did .bvh uploads ever allow priority 6?

I was NEVER able to get that to work and all the info that I could find said that Priority 5 or 6 would only work with ANIME files.  I used qavimator since it first came out and certainly since 2013 when I did a lot in Opensim.  So the last ten years ...