Why did my facelights quit working?

[Ossian1488303077]

I know that everyone hates facelights, but I've started using them lately for taking pictures. I have dark skin, and sometimes my face ends up being so dark that it ruins the picture.

Now, suddenly none of my lights work. I have some that are soft and others that are brilliant, but none of them light up at all now.

The problem began when I went to a sim and agreed to let my windlight settings change. I'd never accepted windlight settings before, and I found the change puzzling but oh well.

Since then, after leaving the sim and trying on several others, I can't get my facelights to work at all. I can see them attach, but then they just disappear. No light at all. And yes, they are still attached.

I've been looking around for a way to shut windlight off, but can't find it.

I realize that I'm supposed to love windlight madly, but right now I don't feel that I have the time to learn something new, and am honestly not interested. I just want to shut it off, if that's what making the lights not work, and if it's not windlight, I apologize, but in either case, I'm frustrated.

[Innula Zenovka]

I very much doubt that Windlight is causing the problems with your facelights, since we've had it for the last four years and odd, so I think any issues you were having with it would have surfaced before now.    

Far more likely, to my mind, is that the particular Windlight settings estates are applying to your viewer are interfering with the lighting effects you're trying to acheive.   So, before disabling Windlight altogether, I'd try going to World>Environment Editor>Environment Settings, unchecking the default setting (use region settings) and telling either to use the Default day cycle or -- probably better for photography -- choosing a fixed sky that works well with your facelights.

If that doesn't work, it's easy to turn off Windlight but that's going to affect your graphics in several ways, some of which may be unexpected, so I'd try just setting Windlight to default first and seeing if that helps -- certainly your facelights should show up then and, if they don't, it's a sign that the issue isn't Windlight but some other setting.

[Ossian1488303077]

I just gave that a try, but it didn't fix it. I also found a "Render attached lights" setting in the Developer menu, but that is on.

But seriously, I have *never* accepted any windlight settings before, and ever since I did, I've had this problem.

[Innula Zenovka]

Yes, but my point is that, if you've used any viewer since (I think) V1.20 -- certainly anything released over the last three years -- you'll have been seeing the default Windlight settings unless you've set your viewer not to see Windlight at all. And certainly facelights are visible -- often painfully so -- when you're using most Windlight presets.

 

If you continue to have problems, then I'll try to help, but in that case it would be useful to see a screenshot of your graphics settings.

 

[Griffin Ceawlin]

Have you checked to see that Local Lights is checked? Have you tried resetting your graphics preferences?

[Lindal Kidd]

To clarify Innula's answer a little...

You've been using Windlight all along, as long as you have "Atmospheric Shaders" checked in your Preferences.  The option to let the land you are in control those settings is called "Parcel Windlight", and it's really nice for seeing a place as its creator envisioned it.

You can turn Parcel Windlight off as Innula shows, or you can override the parcel settings with your Environment Editor.  If you are using a third party viewer like Firestorm, it may have a "quick Windlight" shortcut button (Firestorm's looks like a Phoenix bird symbol).

You can turn off Windlight completely in Me/Preferences/Graphics, disable all the Shaders except Basic shaders.

But while you are there, look at the button (maybe in Shaders, may be apart, depending on your viewer) that is called Local Lights, and make sure it's checked.  That is what enables you to see your facelight.

[Ossian1488303077]

ah, I found out what it is: I'd turned my graphics render quality to the lowest setting -- it made it easier to get around.

But THAT is what cut off the facelight.

Thanks for your help, Innula.