Nalates Urriah

Yeah.... I've spent some L$ on him. I think he is sexy looking and well-dressed. I know more about using his junk/package than some of the guys I've hooked up with know about theirs, which I should probably write about in the pissed-off thread. And when I play him he ALWAYS says what I want to hear... 🥰 ...imagine that! He is handy for testing furniture and other toys for couples... which gives a whole new meaning to the rude comments about what one can do to oneself... 😳

Find a bit more detail on camera controls here: http://blog.nalates.net/2020/05/12/second-life-what-improved-camera-controls/

@Lord Derryth We have animesh avatars connected to AI in SL already. I think they are using a limited version of ChatGPT 4. @musichero aka Stone Johnson (Is this a porn star name or what?) is working with them now. You can see them and interact (NSFW) with them at his in-world store here. They are in the Marketplace too. Search on musichero for the store. Of course, the first thing humans do with new tech is figure out how it can be used for sex. (I had to work on cleaning that sentence up 🙄) So the ChatGPT and other AI peps have put blocks in to try and keep the bots PG. They also are restricted language-wise as to what words they can use. So building sex-bots connected to AI is a challenge. The conversation with these AI-bots is not as fluid as chatting with a human. But it is better than most of the 'sales' and 'help' bots in SL. IM Stone. He likes to talk about what he is working on and where some of the problems are. He might show you the WIP bots he is working on.

@graceblakeley Lots of information but not all of it is good. Amelia is pretty much on target. There are blog articles on how to tune your graphics for the best SL performance. I have old articles on my blog. Little if anything has changed since I wrote them. PBR is new. I am not yet playing with it. But most everything else is the same. The problem comes from your viewer consuming all available graphics memory. Then it starts swapping out textures to render new things entering the interest list (field of vision). We see it as what we call texture-thrashing - clear, fuzzy. clear, fuzzy, etc. So, when you see texture-thrashing, you need to tweak your settings. There are numerous settings that can help reduce the problem. Firestorm improved the use of Profile Icons in chat headers. But they still consume graphics memory and unfortunately, they seem to have a high priority over other stuff, and thus while they never thrash the world around us does. Turn them off. This is likely to make the biggest difference. The setting is in the chat window. Your viewer's cache should be at max as someone suggested. But, this has almost no effect on the texture-thrashing we see in-world. It does have a large impact on how quickly the overall scene renders. In a worst-case scenario, your textures would remain fuzzy longer or even go grey if the cache were flushing out the textures and had to re-download. I suspect this re-download is seldom the case. But eliminate the possibility. Computers with no dedicated graphics card use system RAM for Video RAM (vRAM). Running other apps consumes RAM and most require some vRAM. In such cases, there may be less memory available for an SL Viewer. Try running ONLY your SL viewer. Also, check to see how your RAM is allocated. Turn down your draw distance (DD). Using a 1024 DD will use a ton of vRAM. The viewer is going to try and grab all the textures in a 9-region square. If you are in a club or shopping in a store you can often drop down to 64 or 128m DD. When I fly or sail I use a 512m DD. Only for large panoramas do I ever use a 1024m DD. I have presets that I use with my viewer for 128, 512, and 1024 graphics settings in Firestorm. Makes changing easy. HUDs do use vRAM. So the fewer the better. When making an outfit I include the HUDs in the outfit. But once I wear an outfit and finish using a HUD I remove it. Textures and scripts are a problem when crossing a region boundary. So not only do they push you toward texture-thrashing they also make crossing regions more difficult. So, only those HUDs you are frequently using should stay on. I don't frequent like every day. I mean like several times per hour. There are other more techie things to do to reduce vRAM use. But these should stop the thrashing.

GIF formats are limited. In 1987 Compuserve created the format for a dial-up internet. The format is for small animated images. They contain a limited number of colors (initially 256) and processes for reducing file size. Think dithering. When Compuserve started hurting for money they tried to enforce their copyright/patent on GIF images. To get around the patent the PNG image was invented and basically replaced GIF image formats. At some point, animation was added to the GIFormat. As far as I know sound/audio has never been part of the GIF format.

Maybe explain more of what you mean by 'not static'. As written, I assume you are not using an Animation Overrider (AO). The avatar is more active depending on whether you use one and which set of animations you use in one. My avatar is constantly in motion. When I 'stand' there are about 7 animations that play in rotation. So, my avatar is almost fidgety. I like the built-in AO in Firestorm. There are many good AO HUDs. I prefer the ZHAO II HUD when I use a viewer other than Firestorm. While old it has the smallest script weight I've found. In addition, I use a GEAG-made head. It has an animation HUD that comes with it. They sell additional add-ons for facial animations. This HUD is blinking my eyes and cycling through a set of facial animations I have selected from those available. Plus I can select expressions for the occasion. My Slink and Belleza bodies include built-in animations for my hands. So, my fingers move. I can use the Slink HUD to 'pose' my hands in a specific position. My avatar's body, face, and hands are moving most of the time. There is hair that is scripted and moves. I am not a fan of flexi hair, not scripted, but it moves in response to how the avatar moves. What is it you want to move more?

Speaking of statues...

Part of the problem with GenX is the Belliza people are picky about who they will let make clothes for it. So, new designers who may try to fill a nitch are out of luck as are the GenX users. I bought GenX as a replacement for my Slink bodies but now I am looking for a replacement for GenX because so little is available for it. It just isn't taking off. Much like Slink's Cinn & Chai.

When considering what a viewer can and cannot do consider how SL security works. Viewers are open source. Anyone can make a viewer. All the code is out there in editable form. If limits and security were ALL in the viewer anyone could remove or change it. That forces the Lab to place limits and security on the server side. The Lab controls money, objects, inventory, and everything associated with money. Without your password you cannot do anything. The SL servers are not going to do anything for you until you login. So most scams are set up to get a person to log on with a scam viewer and enter their ID and password as they log into SL. The viewer sends a copy if the ID and password to the scammer. Presto you are hacked. In the days when I experimented with viewers and reviewed them I had an Alt-Account just for testing. I could run any viewer without fear. I usually changed my Alt's password as soon as I logged off the Alt. I also avoided using any of my password formats, which I used to use, with the Alt's password. Mostly random character passwords. So... any time you want to play with a viewer that sounds too good to be true, use an Alt account you don't mind losing. If the scam viewer can't pass a virus scan... do not launch it. Ideally make a restore point BEFORE installing it. Install it. Scan it. See what you find. If there are no alarms or PUP warnings you are reasonably safe launching it. But assume it will steal whatever ID and password you use. If things go sideways, use the Restore Point to clean up your computer. You can friend your real avatars/accounts with the disposable Alt-Account. Then you can see how long it takes for the thief to login... if, you don't change the password. If you know what you are doing, you can get away with a lot with very little risk.

I have Show LookAt on. I turn off showing my LookAt to me. But I like seeing everyone else's LookAt. It can be a heads-up for who is going to hit on me. Often my LookAt on them is a conversation starter. If people are upset by my perving them then... life is tough. Buy a helmet. Most older residents seem to have their LookAt for others turned off and I can't see them. Only occasionally do I see someone's LookAt crosshair floating around.

It looks like there is a point-light creating the vignette in the image. But if not, there is a setting in the Phototools panel on the GEN tab to control the vignette. Well... we know where people's minds were. Of course, with Sandor, one reasonably ends up there. But Sandor isn't always going there. People do so wander off-topic. IF YOU HAVE TO COMMENT at least include and on-topic part in the post. Still wandering around in Doomed Ship...

In the OP it looks like you are wearing a blouse and gloves. Attempting to layer clothes made by different people is almost always a problem. Layered clothes have to be made to be layered. The result is all the items involved in a layered look have to have been made by the same designer with layering in mind during the design. System clothes will seldom have a problem as they are essentially a decal stuck on the body, they have no thickness. Since your later image with an alpha on hides what I think is a sleeve I assume it is a system top. So, as others are pointing out, those gloves are not made for the body you are wearing. There are DEFORMERS that can adapt mismatched bodies and clothes to fit. But, only a couple of body makers make deformers for THEIR bodies. So to keep things simple we say all worn things must be made for the body your avatar wears. The default System Body is a body. Lots of old clothes/items are made for the system or aka classic body.

Since 2006 there have been a lot of changes. In 2006, a morphing process changed the avatar's shape... face and body. Sometime in about 2014 that changed and an extended skeleton was added with vertex scaling used in place of the morphing tech. The classic system avatar still uses morphing to change shape. Since both techs are built into the avatar now. So there are two skeletons tightly linked. The result is we can move fingers and facial expressions along with four legs, a tail, a *****, and wings. The head and body are replaced by mesh-prims. These are prims that use an uploaded list of vertexes uploaded by residents/designers. We just call these MESH. There are numerous designers. There are some blogs where an effort is made to figure out which designers' bodies are most popular. However accurate they are or aren't I think they are reasonably accurate. Maitreya is probably the most popular body. I doubt there is a "most popular" head. The reason that is so is heads are more of a stand-alone item. So it is more of a 'do I like the face' thing. With bodies, it is often a matter of which body has the most clothes designers making clothes for it. Maitreya is now an OLD body and in my opinion not that well made. I hate the shoulders. But am a definite minority. Many of us are expecting an update on the Maitreya body. Might happen... or not. Mesh clothes and bodies have to be compatible. Clothes made for Slink do not work with a Maitreya body. Clothes-body compatibility is an important thing these days.

If you want the Lindens to consider a feature or change place a Feature Request in the SL JIRA.

@DarkStarry I do this with most of my outfits. So my dress folders look something like this: ˅ My HOT Dress (folder) ˃White (folder) ˃Red (folder) ˃Teal (folder) ■ Dress (this is the original dress item) ■ HUD (Color and style HUD) When I start an outfit I put on the original dress item and HUD. Once I have the color set and the outfit mostly as I want it, I'll detach the HUD and Dress. Then I copy the dress to an appropriately named folder within the dress's folder and wear/add it back to the outfit. Next time I want a white version of the dress, it is there. Also I never change the color of the dress copies. Only the original which never ends up in an outfit. On a technical level, all items in SL have parameters and attributes. You can see the collection of those parameters and attributes in the Build Panel if you edit the item. Those parameters and attributes are saved with the item when it is returned to inventory. So when you change the dress item to white and detach it, the white color attribute is saved with the item. When I make a copy of the dress the system also copies the white color attribute. I have two identical items. One goes in a folder to remain UNCHANGED and be used with the outfit. The other one remains in the "base" folder to be changed as needed without affecting my other outfits.

Hummmmm... Now what does it say about one's preferences if a girl thinks you look hot? This is on Doomed Ship. The ship has been around forever. It has changed. Now various controls work and it is a bit of a puzzle. Those of us who enjoyed Myst Online will likely find it intriguing.

Boys or girls? Do you play as a boy, girl, or either any given day Monogamous or promiscuous? Gendered or androgynous Woke or traditional cars or motorcycles planes or helicopters motor or sailboats A fixed look or fluid look... do photography or not Weapons or not ...

No lists. All spontaneous impulse buying. It is an "oooooH... PRETTY" thing. From time to time I go for a look I dream up. Then I shop and search for specific items. Otherwise, it is a quest to answer the ever-asked fundamental question of whether or not these clothes make my butt look big...

There are looks... Humans have an idea of what beauty is. Art students study what makes a human form 'beautiful'. Deviation from the basic range of appearance fitting the ideal usually denotes a health issue. Those ranges may move toward an extreme in some cultures where we would consider them 'fat' they would consider us unhealthily skinny. In SL we can experiment and create fantasy shapes too. SL has a range of tools to help you build an appearance. (Mine are: Face and Body) And there are numerous people who make custom shapes for faces and bodies. Typically all of these help people move toward the appearance most people consider beautiful. A random starting place would probably not help' Designers provide the shape that they think works best with the head they sculpted. Starting from there I consider the best starting place. Within the range of 'beauty,' there is an infinite variety of appearances. So, you may be reaching for a 'striking' or 'outstanding' look rather than just unique. The green witch is unique. There is an amazing range of skins in SL. I find it amazing how much look is tied to skin coloring. Without changing my shape settings adding a fantasy skin gives me a very different face. Recognizing faces in SL is possible. While some people change their appearance often others retain a 'look'. I consider my look unique. I suppose some would class my look in the Barbie category. But I did go for pretty.

Luane's Magical World

I dress up. Decorate my house (picture in another thread). And explore Halloween places. This is Shadowfell II in MIST from the boat tour. The place is three full regions and has areas at different elevations. The tour takes about 30 minutes. Exploring can take days. And the builders will scare you when you are exploring on foot. Monsters jump out and roar at unexpected times. 😈

This is a commonly encountered problem. The fix is poorly defined and depends on some seemingly unrelated things. The most common cause is a poorly made mesh body. Belliza is well made so, that is not the problem. The next most common problem is avatar location. Near 4000m altitude and above the fit of prims and mesh parts breaks down. It is a digital math thing. You see the breakdown as tiny gaps at the neck and waist. They often appear as a line. Zooming WAY in will show the gap. If you log in at or above 4000m and see the problem, can persist at lower altitudes. The fix can be moving to a lower altitude and logging in and out. If that is not fixing the problem, try several log-in and out cycles. Spread those out over time. Maybe a day or two. You are trying to get the viewer to download a new copy of the body to your cache. You might force this by using another copy of your body from inventory. Whether a copy will help or not depends on how you use SL. In Firestorm use: Avatar (top menu)->Avatar Health->[go through ALL the options here - start at the bottom. If it fixes using one of the options then skip the remaining choices.] As a last resort: Be someplace that is deserted and empty before starting this. Try Furball. Take off the body. Log out. Start the viewer and do NOT log in. Clear the cache. Use: Preferences (top menu)->Network & Files->Directories (tab)->Clear Cache (button). Log in. This is a horrible solution but it often is the only solution. Wear your body. Wait for it to rez.

Sorry for your loss... You may want to ask for help IDing the head from the furry community. Or DM furries you see in the forum and link them to this thread. Good luck.