Corinne Helendale

Something has gone wrong after a crash, and now I cannot log in with my avatar. I think maybe my clothing is "corrupted." Is there a way to force the default avatar on login? I've reset cache, reinstalled, restarted computer and router, tried different viewers, and anything else I could think of. Nothing seems to work. The rest of the internet seems fine. Any ideas? Thanks for your responses! Additional information: I haven't joined any new groups lately - and turning off the group display did not change anything. I crash during the "loading world" portion, though sometimes - rarely - it gets to the "downloading clothing" part. The last time I was on, I was trying to remove shoes, and replace them with other shoes. I ended up wearing a box, and a hud (on my hand) and decided to just log and make a clean start. I cleared out my cache, restarted, and crashed. I now crash every time I attempt to log in. I think there is somethig corrupted in my worn inventory, which is why I'd like to log in as "Ruth," but I don't know how. Any ideas would be appreciated :)) Nyil, thank you! As I don't have a PC, I was unable to try all that cleanup stuff; ***but*** I DID have an old Phoenix in my apps folder... and with that I was able to log in with no problem, stripped off all my wearables, and am back to normal!! Thank you so much :) CH

History: In many of the TPVs, there is a way to lock your avatar's focus point on an object. In the Firestorm viewer, for example, one does this by alt-clicking on an object, then selecting "Don't show any camera target hints even on my own screen" in the Preferences/Privacy menu. This is really awesome for photographers like me who are often their own models - I can position my eyes anywhere I want to with a "gazer," and don't have to worry about them wandering when I click somewhere else. I'd like to do this with LLs viewer, but it doesn't seem to be something that they permit. I've even combed through the debug settings in hopes of finding something there, to no avail. Any suggestions are welcome. Thanks! **responses** @Rolig, thank you; re your first suggestion: using an alt would be a good one but for the fact that I am limited to one viewer at a time; two viewers is one too many for my system to handle effectively. Your second suggestion, use what works, is also good, and in fact, what I do in general. I am not an LL viewer user if I can help it. However, in this particular case, I'm writing a user's guide for an SL photography tool, and wanted to use pictures that include the interface. Quel domage :) @Dora, thank you. I know that the viewer allows you to enable that. My problem is with my machine, though if that's the only way, I may try it, and super-minimalize the "alt" viewer to see if that minimizes necessary memory and bandwidth resources. Ideally, there would be a way to just switch off eyes following clicks, which works extremely well, but it doesn't seem there is such a solution available in feature-limited LL viewers. @Lindal, thank you. My issue is not how to lock eyes on a prim, but how to disconnect that feature once locked. Non-LL viewers generally have a setting that makes it easy to do so. The benefit of this is that as a photog, I can lock my eyes on a prim, and then move that prim around, and my eyes will follow no matter what else I do or click on. Without being able to do that, my eyes will move to the last thing clicked on, which defeats the purpose of clicking on something to position my eyes.

Sappa, I've found prim eyes seem to at least mask the problem. The background of the eye is still unnaturally white, but at least there are irises and pupils so the zombie look is not overwhelming. Still, LL's native viewer code is still unsuitable for photography, whether it be in their own viewer, or in Firestorm.

" I've had enough problems with the built-in snapshot tools" I hear you know some people at LL - maybe you could get them to fix it "And if I'm understanding you, YEAHHHH "lock your eyes on a fixed point" (without having to manually focus on an object?) would be da bomb, as well as altogether disabling/freezing eye movement. " Pretty close. The way it works is you (or the subject) alt-click on a prim with normal eye movement enabled. I think with all viewers at this point, the eyes will track that and stay fixed on that prim unless the something else (HUD, friend, etc) gets clicked, and then the eyes wander again. When you do the alt-click thing, and then turn off normal eye movement (which can be done in the Phoenix family of viewers), the eyes stay fixed on that prim no matter what one touches, types, clicks, etc. Eyes will still blink (which is good), but if the gazer prim is moved around, the eyes will track it! Both the PhotoLife photo studio and the new version of the LumiPro lighting HUD incorporate a remote-controlled gazer prim for just such a capability. I also like the idea of a sequential capture tool like FRAPS. I don't think it would work with super high resolution pics, as those can take 30 secs or more just to calculate, but great for catching the action! OK, you must be getting bored of this, but thanks for listening C

Hi Torley. Thanks for the kind words As you discovered, yes I'm talking about the Freeze frame (fullscreen) option that I think is in *all* browsers. I've never had it disable, but when you stop camming and render a pic, it *will* put it on your screen. If your snapshot ratio is not 1:1 with your window ratio, it will be distorted and unpleasant to look at. You (I) have to move the camera to clear the rendered image. (I also make sure auto-refresh is turned off, just so I'm not constantly looking at a rendered image). I like the idea of using FRAPS, but with quick click-spacebar taps, you really don't need it if all you want to do is capture things like emotes mid-stream. I've used Vegas in the past, but now use FCP since I have a Mac. Here's what would be great if LL could incorporate in future versions... the ability to communicate and close windows when in freeze frame mode; a momentary switch in addition to an on/off switch for freeze frame mode; and super important for photography, the ability to lock your eyes on a fixed point, as you can do with the Phoenix browser (Phoenix prefs/Shields/Broadcast camera focus point on-off). I'll happily expound endlessly on why these things, especially eye locking, are important, if you like. CH

Hi, Torley, I don't know of any emoters that do what you ask, but I have a couple tips for you that might help you get the emotes and eyes you are looking for, and they both center on using Freeze Frame, instead of edit-clicking. I am going to assume you know all about freeze frame, but for those people checking it out, it's in the Snapshot Preview window, when you click the More... button. When you click FreezeFrame, your avi is locked in place, but you can still cam around it, matrix style, or zoom in and out. Particles stay in motion, and so will the sun and moon if you are in Default mode. About the only thing you can't do in FreezeFrame mode is *anything* else. No clicking windows closed, no typing, no nothing but camming and photographing. It's annoying at first but you'll get the hang of it, I promise. Now, the way to capture a partial emote is to first use something like MystiTool, which I think features all of the standard emotes, and includes a "stop" button. What I do is I turn on an emote - usually the "open mouth" one because it's a good starting point. Then, when my avi is posed, I click FreezeFrame. Good so far, now you are frozen in space with your mouth gaping open, and the checkbox for FreezeFrame is the default button!! Position your cursor over the Stop button of MystiTool, hit the spacebar to DEselect FreezeFrame, click the Stop button, then *immediately* click FreezeFrame again. If you're fast, you may not see any difference at all. But trust me, you are now in the zone ) The best way to proceed, at least for me, is to click off FreezeFrame with the mouse, then *immediately* slap the spacebar to turn it back on again. You will step through the anim less than one frame per click. This is sweet!!! Slowly, your mouth will begin to close. You can spin around your avi looking for that perfect shot, and then repeat the click-slap sequence to step ever so slowly as your mouth closes. You can even cross emotes, like going from a wink to a frown, though that's a little trickier it seems. But it can be done! Which brings me to eyes wide shut. If you noticed, as you're doing this, you will discover that very often, you will catch yourself napping! Easy peasy!! The more you use this technique, the more natural it becomes. I often use it with a dance to get a lot of motion into my avi, or to catch eyes closed, or mouth just so. You can check out my flickr page here to see examples where this has been used, as I tend to use FreezeFrame constantly. If you find a better emoter than the average ones, I'd love to know about it! HTH Corinne

Dom, stop being so belligerent, and maybe people will talk to you nicely. It's not because you are new, it's because you are being nasty and defensive. Here's why what you are asking for will not happen: First, a caveate: I absolutely abhor Viewer 2, and will not use it. That said, LL is committed to Viewer 2, and is spending all their time trying to make it do amazing things, both on the server side (their side) and on the client side (your side). And they are not standing still. They want to continue to add new features as computing power becomes more robust, and it will. Should they be hamstrung because some new user decides to be petulant and snippy? No. There are features - like shadows - that even now don't work on my computer, and it's not that old, and it's very powerful. But the technology requires more than I have. Of course I wish it would work on my computer, but it doesn't. I deal with that by creating my own shadows, and that's that. A couple months ago, my video card died, and I was forced to use an old computer to work. I would run no viewers of any kind. It also didn't run any modern browser. Poor me, boo hoo. I got a new card, and all's well. It is an absolute truth that technology changes rapidly, and what was once an expensive powerhouse will, in a relatively short amount of time, become a ginormous paperweight. That's life. You haven't described your setup, but it seems to me you have either a low-end computer or an old computer. That is not LLs problem, and that is certainly not our problem. It is totally your problem, and you're going to have to solve that problem on your own, so kindly stop berating people here. Is that what you want to hear? No. But is it the truth? Yes.

Hi, Jenni, thank you for your comments. I'd be curious to know what you could not reproduce. In the meantime here are some thoughts on your thoughts.. With windlight, maybe it's just a beta thing, and they'll add it back in, I hope. It's not so much cross-compatibility with older .wl files (though that would be nice), but for going forward, a simple way to share wl settings seems like a good idea I will look for these Hitomis skins, thank you I missed the debate on RLV I don't see the downside, or why it really needs a debate, but maybe I'm being naive. Is it the BDSM connotation that spooks people, or some other reason? I have no interest in being somebody's slave, and am free to ignore that use of RLV. For me, the ability to save and manage/wear my outfits in a web browser, which is fast, efficient, and separate from the SL interface, is why I use RLV, and for that extensibility, it's a wonderful thing. I guess that'll be yet another reason to avoid SL's viewer. I have to totally agree with you on the UI. I know some people like the black-and-gray thing, and that's ok - if other skins are available, that sort of removes black as a serious objection; but it's all the "stuff" all over the place that can't be eliminated. I admit to being an Apple fan, specifically for their design philosophy - less is more. Obviously V2 fails there, with its preponderance of gewgaws and whatnots. But to me, what's even worse is that they made pointless changes to the UI simply for the sake of making changes. A most emblematic example of this is the "Refresh" button. Look at the Snapshot window... all the buttons are text buttons, except the previously-texted button named "Refresh." Now, it's a little reverse arrow circle thingy. The space for a Refresh-texted button is still there, but they made a single button iconic rather than textual. To me this is just silliness, and just screams poor design sense. And this lack of design sense ripples throughout the viewer 2 interface. I don't mean to be uncharitable, but perhaps hiring people who actually studied UI design and philosophy, and had at least passing familiarity with SL, would have been a better idea. I've read the excuses from Lindens, and the appologia from the faithful, and I understand that both groups are wedded to V2 come hell or high water but I'm afraid I am just an unbeliever

Actually, Nyil, there's a very very good reason to be able to do this: if you are a photographer, having the model's eyes fixed on a point - especially when you are self-modelling - makes it almost effortless to get eyes looking where you want them. When eyes are "locked," you can move the locked-on prim around, and the eyes follow. It's wonderful!

I will say upfront that I've never been a fan of Viewer 2. I do like that they've been addressing concerns, but there are still enough missing pieces that I cannot use it as my primary viewer. Here are some issues I'd like to see addressed (or if I'm wrong about something, I'd like to know that too! :) In no particular order, and subject to later edits: * .wl files that are so useful in Phoenix to share windlight settings - are just xml notecards in viewer 2. * Persistent windlight settings on reboot * And is it really that hard to put an advanced sky settings button in the World/Environment submenu? * I keep hoping for a "light" interface - not simpler, just with lighter colors. Black is hip but it's also visually ponderous * inventory loading seems to take a very long time * RLV support, or something like it - there are HUDs out there that let me manage my wardrobe that require RLV. It's not all about whips and chains. * Alias text is dark gray on a black backround. Seriously? I don't want to be too mean, but this is not good design, a very amateur mistake. This is one of the biggest drawbacks of Viewer 2: amateur UI design mistakes. * 100% Showstopper: Phoenix has the option to leave your eyes fixed on a point. For a photographer, that's required. Until V2 offers that, I will only use it to see what's new - not to actually use. * Also look at the sky and settings shortcuts on the bottom right of the Phoenix interface. They got it right. On the other hand, I do really like that you're making it easier all the time to handle wardrobe. Multiple attachment points, new layers, full-body physics, all of it good, and thank you for making the sidebar un-modular, what a great improvement.

I want to make (or buy) a skin that is transparent, like water. I tried making a skin with the alpha set to 50%, and as a graphic, it works. But as a skin, it's just a paler version of normal. Thanks!

*who cares*

Oh my, somebody here has no concept of irony

It's so cute how LL keeps trying to put bandaids on such a bad viewer The new Phoenix is great! It even lets you keep your windlight setting across sessions, and doesn't use up nearly as much screen space. Looked at the latest 2.4, and no reason to switch!

*clear*

Oh that explains why I saw an unrecognized friend name in my dashboard, no picture, but they didn't show up in my list online, Thanks Mark.

Alvin, don't even think about being forced to use a third-party viewer like Phoenix. Just do it! It works, it's loaded with features, and has a very clean, non-intrusive interface. Try it, you won't look back

Sitearm, I am all for moving forward with technology, and agree that being stuck in the past is so counterproductive. We all need to move forward. But that said, I cannot accept viewer 2.anything as anything but a step backwards. It's slower, less intuitive, fewer features than previous official viewers, and woefully behind the TPV competition when it comes new features. It's as if a new car was released with a shiny new body but 1980 features. "Now with a Cassette Player!!" LOL. Sorry, I will not support mediocrity.

Mac Pro, current OS, 3GHz Dual quad Xeon w 6GB RAM Created a new cache folder just for this viewer, on an external drive with 1TB free. Verdict: TRASH IT. We can start with the fact that it is DOA on a Mac. Anything beyond Basic Shaders results in a total graphics failure that looks like random bits of the screen jumbled together with a huge glow overlay. Add the fact that Antialiasing does not work at all (8x is the same as 0x) Had on last clothing worn from my last horrible experience with Viewer 2 (which was still more functional than 2.2). Decided to clear things up a bit... used the menu to remove all clothes, added a new top from inventory. Both the new top (jacket layer) and the OLD top (also jacket layer) appeared. But wait, there's more... the hair I was wearing with Phoenix suddenly appeared... IN ADDITION to the hair that V2 "remembered." INTERFACE FAIL The tear off sidebar garbage is horrible. You can still only see one profile or group at a time, and this is a big failure that no amount of "oh you are just too lazy" or "you're just stuck in the past" platitudes will fix. Mediocrity is unexcuseable. Tear off inventory... cool. But close the inventory window? Impossible. Tear off another (which would be cool): Impossible. Big, black, screen hogging garbage: check, that's still there! Open a chat... check. Do something else.. chat automatically closes. Stupid. Linden Labs, you really do not get it, do you? It's great that you are advancing the technology, really it is. But you have wrapped it up in dead fish paper that no matter how much you try to make it into an origami swan, it's still going to stink like dead fish. Get over yourselves and fix it, and quite trying to pretend that marketing spin is the same thing as a fix. It's not. Oh yes, and the fact that you have to go into the debugger to turn off attached lights and particles: WTF??? It was too freaking hard for you to put a button in the Prefs????? Give your UI team more Red Bull, cause clearly they are asleep at the switch. I have an excess of hard drive space, but I'm trashing this immediately. Garbage. Junk. Terrible work, Lindens, absolutely terrible. This will scare away noobs in droves. FAIL