LillyBeth Filth

Nope. I am seeing no pixelation changes when I active the Advanced Light Mode at all. I have played with the environmental editor set it to 3pm and moved the sun to East and the shadows move etc but nothing on the prim face changes. I have ramped up the Normal and Specular and it looks "exactly" the same as the cube with nothing but the Diffuse applied. If the 3D effect is THAT subtle and you have to add prim lights and change the environmental sun direction just to be able to see the materials bumpiness and shine then it begs the question "Why bother?" I am not new to making and rendering maps but I am new to applying them in the new SL material supported platform and I cannot see any change from the regular diffuse only cube to the 3d material cube, not even on a subtle way. This can't be right. It has to be something wrong with my graphics card. It is relatively old at 256 graphics RAM Here's what I get and I have included the Normal and Specular maps to demonstrate the strength. My main concern is not for my pleasure but to ensure what I sell to others is worthy of buying "for" use in SL and not purely for use in external 3D software which allows for these material maps to be edited procedurally to meet the end users preference Can't do that in SL and probably never will so they have to be right for my customers and I can't test them as I can't see them! lol

I can see a Hell of a lot of test uploads for every material I make for SL now. I think there is a way of doing that without paying for the upload fee (?) Not sure how that works, I just recall seeing it as an option on some viewer at some point.

It's so frustrating because I sell Material Maps outside of SL too and the above is an example of one I have not yet tested in the SL environment but i am guessing the Normal and Specular are going to be too weak if applied in SL yet those same maps are the ones applied in the application I used to take this screenshot. I will now have to go back over every material I made and change them for use in SL due to the fact that it appears that they need a lot more definition to be seen in the SL environment. ugh!

Oh sorry I missed your last line.. Of course I can TP you I am on a UK time zone but I'll add you as a friend or vice versa when I am next online and thanks again

Yes they're applied to the correct tab. Ok...so I need to ramp up the Normal and Spec maps specifically for SL because in my own 3D software the normal map looks beautiful. really boost the maps and see how they look and will post the screenshots Many thanks

I have been making and selling material maps for 18 months and using external 3D software to do this as well as display the maps for customer previews. When LL announced that we could now apply Normal and Specular maps in world, obviously I was delighted because now I could test my texture maps "in" SL rather than external applications. Different 3D engines can totally change how 3D textures look, so what might look great in 3D Max, Poser, Daz etc may look very different within SL's environment due to different shaders etc. Anyway, long story short, I have tried the new official viewer and I don't see any difference at all when I activate the Advanced Lighting Model and/or Ambient Occlusion. Shadows work fine. Now, I am aware my graphics card is not the best and I am going to up upgrading it to a 512 as soon as I have the finances and I also have poor internet speed (Not by choice, it's just the area I live in has no high speed internet) I was wondering if anyone could push me in the right direction or verify my thinking that it's my graphics card that's causing the lack of desired effect. I have an iMac with 16 GIG Ram and my graphics card is ATI Radeon HD 4670 256 MB Many thanks in advance for anyone who can help and advise ! This is a screenshot of my materials applied in real time in external software: Here are some screenshots from within Second Life of the same texture but with and without the advanced settings. Here are my SL Graphic Settings:

Theresa Tennyson wrote: LillyBeth Filth wrote: Hello Torley I have been dying to try out the Normal and Specular texture maps I create for SL and beyond but it goes all black as soon as I tick the "Advanced Lightning Model" All I can see is floating text. Is it my computer spec ? I can't find the spec requirements for this feature iMac Processor 3.06 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo Memory 16 GB 1067 MHz DDR3 Graphics ATI Radeon HD 4670 256 MB Software OS X 10.8.4 (12E55) There's a public JIRA section for the materials beta - various people have been having problems with white and/or black textures under certain conditions. You can read, post and get updates here: https://jira.secondlife.com/browse/MATBUG Thanks Theresa

Hello Torley I have been dying to try out the Normal and Specular texture maps I create for SL and beyond but it goes all black as soon as I tick the "Advanced Lightning Model" All I can see is floating text. Is it my computer spec ? I can't find the spec requirements for this feature iMac Processor 3.06 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo Memory 16 GB 1067 MHz DDR3 Graphics ATI Radeon HD 4670 256 MB Software OS X 10.8.4 (12E55)

Thoughts? EDIT: Think I should clear up some points before people jump to conclusions. The video above was the video initially only seen by people who were personally invited to see it only. It is now public. I saw it 5 weeks ago after I signed the NDA because I was invited to see it then I got to learn more. This particular video has now been made "public knowledge" and that's why I am able to share it in these forums. Whilst I can appreciate it appears like a "Pyramid Scheme" to the best of my knowledge, Pyramid Schemes require a payment or exchange of money. I have not paid anything nor have I been asked to pay anything. That's not to say I will not be asked to at some point and if I am, I may have to reconsider my interest if or when that happens. Basically, from the videos I have access to, the concept is this; When we share something on facebook such as when "Like" a product, that product receives mass exposure by all "Pyramid" exposure it gets in Facebook as one person clicks on a "Like" or a video that a friend of a friend of a friend posted initially and the creators of Facebook gain financially from the advertising of said product. Facebook by default is Pyramid Selling only the people doing the Sharing and Liking get nothing whilst the fat cats at the top get it all. Rippln works by offering a financial incentive for anyone that "Likes" or "Shares" information on a product, app, movie...you get the picture. You would really need to research the concept before you draw any conclusions. But I can assure you I am old and wise enough not to fall for Pyramid Schemes.

Marigold Devin wrote: I know I've said it before, and I'll say it again, but LL should bring back last names. lol I don't know how the system works now. Is it not one of the incentives for paying to be Premium that you can choose a surname/ last name. ? If not, WHY NOT? Major incentive there that I suspect many would pay for...anyway...

Arse.

Deja Letov wrote: Being in the software industry myself, I'm ok with it. Honestly, most companies are moving into this new way to sell software. It will really help with all the pirating going on too since most of the time it will require validation and being online to work. it's not my favorite thing in the world, but it's been happening for so long it doesn't bother my anymore. We've been on the Adobe subscription plan for awhile now and I love having access to everything. I've got every single one of their products at my disposal so it's nice. --------------------------- Are you the person paying the subscription fee to Adobe for all of the software you now have access to, or a company you are working with or for?

I pay UK TAX against my earnings from SL and from sales from the www in general, so I can claim the monthly subscription back against my TAX bill but as I already have the full paid for license of CS6, there is no gain for me to subscribe. I am frustrated that I cannot upgrade to CS6 Extended as I wanted access to the 3D tools that extended has. The issue I think is that Adobe are strong arming people into this. There is no option to buy a license to have access to the program in full "or" rent it and pay a monthly subscription. It's all well and good introducing new ways to gain access to their goods but quite another to totally rewrite the system of licensing. I wouldn't mind too much if it was like paying for the software in installments and once you had paid the amount the program is worth to buy the license outright, then there is no more online verification and the payments stop THAT would be a superb idea and would increase their sales considerably as not many freelancers can afford $1.500 worth of software but to have the option to purchase it in installments (even with interest) could reduce piracy at least to some degree and open up the doors to those who can't afford the one off upfront payment.

braylasana wrote: I have been on creative cloud about a year. For me, as I am a Master collection subscriber, the money ends up the same when I add it up between the sub and buying it. It's not a bad deal for me, as I do graphic design IRL. However, if I only used it for second life only, I may have felt differently. http://www.adobe.com/products/photoshop.html You can rent photoshop alone here. If GIMP is not powerful enough for you, you can also try PSP from Corel. http://www.corel.com/corel/product/index.jsp?pid=prod4900067&cid=catalog20038&segid=8100002&storeKey=us&languageCode=en There are some things that I prefer PSP for. It really is a great bargain. Corel products generally are good bargains. It's all a matter of whether or not you want to learn a new suite. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Actually, I just signed up for the 12 month option for Photoshop assuming it would be Photoshop CS6 *extended* but it's just Photoshop CS6 and I already own that outright. I have 30 days to cancel so I will telephone them tomorrow and get some clarity. I would have paid that amount just to have access to the Extended version of CS6 instead of having to buy the full software but for some reason the rental is option is not available for CS Extended. Thanks anyway

http://www.adobe.com/products/photoshop.html You can rent photoshop alone here. ---------------------------------------------- Thanks! I had no idea. £8.78 for the new version of Photoshop is brilliant plus I can claim it back against my tax as a business expense as like you, I am a RL graphic designer only freelance so whilst I create and sell 2D and 3D game textures in SL, I also sell from my own external website and from 3rd party websites too. I will defo go for the Single Application subscription so I guess I take it all back! lol Thanks again! Bargain!

Nefertiti Nefarious wrote: That's why I use the GIMP ... I've never like Adobe's upgrade policy. Yes. They do have a monopoly on the market. Photoshop is advertised as "The industries Standard" and I believe that to be true. Does Gimp support 3D like the recent versions of PS do? I can only assume there is a reason why PS is "The Industry Standard" or else Gimp would be seen and advertised as being used in the high end, game studios and graphic related commerce websites. However, the "industry" is not all multi department offices with huge budgets to blow. Adobe are one of the few graphic based software companies that despite the recession refuse to compromise their prices. I own licensed versions of many plug-ins and 2D and 3D standalone pieces of software and all of them are offering discounts and time sensitive incentives to increase customer purchases in these terrible economic times. The arrogance of Adobe does infuriate me and has done since I noticed how they kept their prices sky high through-out the recession. I think people stick with them despite the price tag, because they have such a huge reputation for functionality and I can't argue with the feature rich capabilities plus they have been around for such a long time people are taught and trained in schools, universities, work trained programs etc and people don't like change. I know I don't. It's taken me years to semi master Photoshop, the thought of learning a new 2D software would set me back months in my work flow. I will probably give in and go with the subscription but not for a while. Some think this new plan will tank and they will then perhaps offer both which would have been a better move anyway. No one likes to be forced into a situation were they can't opt out.

Adobe have scrapped selling one off hard copies of all of their software products. They are now forcing people to pay a monthly subscription which is indefinite for as long as you use any of their software products. So if you can't afford the payment one month, access to the software is closed down. Your files and any work you created using that software becomes inaccessible and un-editable. More info here I have CS6 but as an after thought wanted CS6 Extended. Contacted them about an upgrade. No go. I would have to buy the entire Photoshop CS6 Extended in FULL again. That seemed insane and made no sense and then I discovered some months later that Adobe are no longer selling stand alone, full hard copy versions of their software nor can you purchase any of the pieces of software as a separate item so for me, Photoshop was and indeed still is the only piece of their entire suite that I use. Photoshop CS6 was the last individual hard copy version you could purchase. If you wish to upgrade from CS6 or any CS before that, you can't. You have to subscribe and pay monthly to Adobes "Creative Cloud" which allows you access to the entire suite of software. I almost did it at £17 a month because I have the CS6 already, the older your version of Photoshop the higher the monhtly fees and if you don't own any of the Adobe software franchise, the monthly fee is quite high indeed. However I only really use Photoshop and that cost me £800 only 18 months ago so to start paying £17 a month for as long as I want to use it seems unfair as I don't want or need any of the other pieces of software that my subscription fee is paying for. Why can't they offer a subscription for each individual piece of software? We're not all running an office with different creative departments using different pieces of Adobes creative suite. Many users of Adobes software are freelance or individual self employed people who like me, only use one or two pieces. I may use the new Illustrator as I have an old CS version and that is no longer compatible on Mac Mountain Lion OX so it's dead in the water for me now. I was wondering who if anyone likes or hates this idea from Adobe?

WOW. This is bad. I was just reading another thread were people were claiming they hadn't used LindeX for years and used various other exchange services instead because they were sick of the waiting you had to deal with when selling through Lindex. I have always used Lindex because I trust them but I agree, that's truly awful to just pull the plug like that with no notice means quite literally hundreds of thousands of real dollars have just "poofed" into thin air. That said, if the people who cashed out those L$ are not declaring it to their countries TAX and employment officials (Which I suspect the majority don't) then I have no sympathy for them. If they DO then that's just awful but again, I stick with Lindex because its the safest option at the end of the day.

Dartagan Shepherd wrote: Forbes is projecting now that virtual currency will be on the IRS radar for specific regulation if it isn't already. http://www.forbes.com/sites/robertwood/2013/05/02/irs-takes-a-bite-out-of-bitcoin/ Good. It's long overdue and makes the playing field more even. Anyone that is making enough L$ to generate enough real money to "cash out" should be declaring it to their counties TAX officials. If not, they shouldn't be cashing out but instead, putting it back into the SL economy. That way, there is still an incentive to create and sell content because they are saving money by not having to buy virtual currency in order to purchase other peoples content and /or services in SL. But to make enough to actually convert that to real hard cash and not declare it means they have an unfair advantage over their immediate competitors.

EDIT- Sorry, Charlotte, I was just expanding on what you said People selling goods under alias SL account names who are apposed to declaring their real name and address to anyone other than Linden Labs (and that's only those that have Payment info on account) can not expect "cash" payments. I suspect the majority of people in SL selling digital goods and "cashing out" have no desire to fall under the TAX radar and as soon as you accept PayPal payments, you will, by default. Then you have to pay an accountant and it costs me £600 a year just to work out I owed £16 to UK tax department on my last end of year filing. So, its easier all round if LL take care of the VAT and deal with the legalities of accepting micro payments etc... That's what their % of each sale and % from LindeX

Alexxis DeCuir wrote: I personally do not think that a micro payment system will work inside sl for merchandise. When users buy L, they use real world currency to purchase it, and then forget about the transaction because they now have L to play with and spend as they please without really thinking about what they are purchasing. If users are forced to use RL currency for each and every transaction, I think the economy will tank because it will force users to think about each purchase before they buy as they are parting with RL currency for each transaction, where as before they had already parted with their their RL currency only once when they bought L. I think there is a lot of sense in that paragraph. There is only one transaction to consider and ponder over and that's the initial purchase of the Linden Dollar. Once they have that in their avatar purse, so to speak, the deal is done. All they have to think about then is making it last as long as possible. As soon as you start placing £ $ (And other currency symbols that my keyboard doesn't have) then you are constantly reminding customers that this is real money, real money that they should/could be spending on real things like food, utilities and gas for their cars etc We're in a recession (Just incase anyone doesn't know lol) and right now consumers are worried about over spending and every RL purchase is considered and re-considered and then put or put on hold and then the purchase goes cold and they decide not to purchase it afterall. There is a certain psychology to virtual worlds and associatecd marketplaces, it's not "reality" It's an escape..a hobby...why have flashing currency symbols everywhere to just remind them: "HEY! wake up Mr & Ms RP - This isn't a fantasy world after all, it costs real money!" WARNING SIRENS!!

If we could accept real currency (Don't LL allow people to pay by PayPal on the MP already?) it would be US Dollar because that is the universal currency. It sucks from a merchants POV unless you're from the USA because like me from the UK I lose half of the value of a dollar when converted to my British Pound. But it's great for the consumer from the UK because everything is around 50% cheaper than if the product was for sale in pounds. I recently had a negotiation with a Shopify developer who advertised in US Dollar. When we spoke on the phone, the US price suddenly changed to the British pound because he was from the UK and he obliviously learned I was too. So I asked him in a follow up email; "Had I been an American customer, I am assuming you would not change the price from US currency to British Pound?" He never, replied. Because he couldn't reply, because he knew I had a valid point and he was unethical in doing what he had just to gain more in value than what his US dollar advert would have given him. So, I am now in negotiations with a US developer who deals with US dollars. Also, I buy Filterforge and all of its updates. They advertise in US dollar but when I go to pay by PayPal the exact same number in dollars changes to pounds! (£) I wrote to him about this and he/she claimed it was a tax thing and he would get in trouble if he did not charge in the currency of the customers residing country. I was livid but eventially gave in and purchased the upgrade. Never had that particular issue before and I do a lot of purchasing online for software and graphic related materials. Its complex I guess is what I am saying and a whole lot easier for SL if we stick to L$

Anyway.. So yea, as one of the previous replies noted. They need to copy & paste each transaction from their Second Life Transaction history on the website, ask them to paste it to a notecard and to ensure the transaction ID number is included and if all looks as it should, refund.

LillyBeth Filth wrote: Sorry, off topic. I am just curious that there is value in a notecard. What kind of secret information is worthy of any currency that can't be shared and regurgitated , regardless of permissions. Thinks I will go take a peek! -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Kinda wished I hadn't now.

Sorry, off topic. I am just curious that there is value in a notecard. What kind of secret information is worthy of any currency that can't be shared and regurgitated , regardless of permissions. Thinks I will go take a peek!