Coby Foden Posted March 10, 2015 Share Posted March 10, 2015 Doug Falta wrote: I use it all the time when I'm on a computer that runs well with it. The only thing that bothers me about using it all the time is when content has pre-baked shadows. It's weird when there are shadows going in two different directions. You can use Advanced Lighting without shadows too, good for those situations were there are baked shadows and good also for situations when the shadows drop frame rate radically. If the computer has a decent graphics card then the Advanced Lighting has very minimal effect on fps. Shadows have a lot of effect on fps. I guess there are people who are not aware that Advanced Lighting and shadows are two separate settings: • Advandced Lighting does not require shadows, it can be used either without shadows and also with shadows. • Shadows require Advanced Lighting, shadows cannot be turned on if Advanced Lighting is off. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pamela Galli Posted March 10, 2015 Author Share Posted March 10, 2015 So far the survey shows 7 no to 15 yes. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dresden Ceriano Posted March 11, 2015 Share Posted March 11, 2015 Just thought I'd mention that I have Shadows enabled all the time... it's Depth of Field that I have turned off until I think I really need it... usually for picture taking. ...Dres Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pussycat Catnap Posted March 11, 2015 Share Posted March 11, 2015 It depends on where I am. If I end up somewhere with a lot of avatars that are graphically laggy... I will turn down graphics as much as I can to try and offset them. As I've recently become aware of the impact of draw weight - if I start feeling like there may be an issue I'll toggle that on, and if people come back at over 100,000 - I'll flip down graphics. If its models in the area being too high polygon or high textured... I'll do the same in the hope that I can cut one thing down enough to make the other one not "hurt" so bad... (If its scripts causing the issue... then I'll just consider leaving... If I manage to figure out that scripts are why...) So... when alone somewhere I'll use advanced lighting often. In crowds... less so. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
anselm Hexicola Posted March 11, 2015 Share Posted March 11, 2015 I did try to go to your SurveyMonkey thing, but failed - so adding a post. I am amazed by what Advanced Lighting can do; and on those occasions that I log on with a machine that can cope with it, OF COURSE I have it on - why not? [ But as an aside, I am doubtful if your straw-poll will tell you much.] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pamela Galli Posted March 11, 2015 Author Share Posted March 11, 2015 anselm Hexicola wrote: I did try to go to your SurveyMonkey thing, but failed - so adding a post. I am amazed by what Advanced Lighting can do; and on those occasions that I log on with a machine that can cope with it, OF COURSE I have it on - why not? [ But as an aside, I am doubtful if your straw-poll will tell you much.] Without shadows, AL doesn't create lag, so no reason not to use it. I have preached this to my customer group but I know a lot simply do know what it is. I think forum members overall would tend to be more knowledgeable, so that should be factored into the poll, which as you say, is of limited utility, but if you have a source of better data I would be interested in a link. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
irihapeti Posted March 11, 2015 Share Posted March 11, 2015 Doug Falta wrote: I use it all the time when I'm on a computer that runs well with it. The only thing that bothers me about using it all the time is when content has pre-baked shadows. It's weird when there are shadows going in two different directions. agree i quite like furniture and things that are mod when they have old school shadow plates. I just recent furnish a apartment. So I try to get all mod stuff as best I can. So I could reduce the LI by remove all the plates. Was pretty good bc I manage to get down by 18 LI altogether. I only got 120 LI so I was quite pleased to free 18 of them Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tari Landar Posted March 11, 2015 Share Posted March 11, 2015 Pamela Galli wrote: Without shadows, AL doesn't create lag, so no reason not to use it. I have preached this to my customer group but I know a lot simply do know what it is. This is not true for all, or all computers, that is. Even with shadows turned off, if I have AL turned on, I still take a hit, but it is because my pc is not top notch. Your pc might not take a hit at all, or very minimal if anything, but some likely do still experience lag. It's client sie lag, of course, but it is still lag. I don't experience it everwhere, but I do experience it, and I rarely ever have shadows turned on, even the times I DO use AL. So, it can't be shadows alone, if they weren't on to begin with, lol. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Madelaine McMasters Posted March 11, 2015 Share Posted March 11, 2015 anselm Hexicola wrote: I did try to go to your SurveyMonkey thing, but failed - so adding a post. I am amazed by what Advanced Lighting can do; and on those occasions that I log on with a machine that can cope with it, OF COURSE I have it on - why not? [ But as an aside, I am doubtful if your straw-poll will tell you much.] Are you suggesting that Pam's forum customers wear yellow and black plaid? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pamela Galli Posted March 11, 2015 Author Share Posted March 11, 2015 Thanks Tari, I had not realized this -- makes sense that more powerful machines would not take the hit that less powerful ones do. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Whirly Fizzle Posted March 11, 2015 Share Posted March 11, 2015 Tari Landar wrote: Pamela Galli wrote: Without shadows, AL doesn't create lag, so no reason not to use it. I have preached this to my customer group but I know a lot simply do know what it is. This is not true for all, or all computers, that is. Even with shadows turned off, if I have AL turned on, I still take a hit, but it is because my pc is not top notch. Your pc might not take a hit at all, or very minimal if anything, but some likely do still experience lag. It's client sie lag, of course, but it is still lag. I don't experience it everwhere, but I do experience it, and I rarely ever have shadows turned on, even the times I DO use AL. So, it can't be shadows alone, if they weren't on to begin with, lol. Yeah unfortunately ALM without shadows does affect performance. Higher end systems wont feel it in the majority of scenes but they will still feel it greatly in scenes containing a lot of alpha. Here is one example of a scene where ALM alone gives a large performance drop. ALM enabled: ~38 FPS ALM disabled: ~88FPS System info: Second Life 3.7.25 (299021) Feb 13 2015 15:21:02 (Second Life Release) Release Notes You are at 157.9, 112.8, 21.3 in Testylvania Sandbox located at nolink>sim10643.agni.lindenlab.com (216.82.52.205:13011) SLURL: http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Testylvania%20Sandbox/158/113/21 (global coordinates 332,702.0, 306,289.0, 21.3) Second Life Server 15.02.17.299090 Release Notes CPU: Intel® Core i7-4770K CPU @ 3.50GHz (3491.96 MHz) Memory: 16268 MB OS Version: Microsoft Windows 7 64-bit Service Pack 1 (Build 7601) Graphics Card Vendor: NVIDIA Corporation Graphics Card: GeForce GTX 750/PCIe/SSE2 Windows Graphics Driver Version: 9.18.0013.4752 OpenGL Version: 4.5.0 NVIDIA 347.52 libcurl Version: libcurl/7.38.0 OpenSSL/1.0.1h zlib/1.2.8 J2C Decoder Version: KDU v7.0 Audio Driver Version: FMOD Ex 4.44.31 Qt Webkit Version: 4.7.1 (version number hard-coded) Voice Server Version: Vivox 4.6.0009.20030 Built with MSVC version 1600 Packets Lost: 0/4,755 (0.0%) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Darrius Gothly Posted March 11, 2015 Share Posted March 11, 2015 I have to admit that I'd not paid attention to that setting in quite some time. I have the same computer as before my hiatus, so I surely had the ability to enable it. But I have found in recent years that 90% of my in-world time is spent with my nose in a Script editor or in an external text editor. Probably that's because my artistic talents are woefully lacking. (Hence I am a member of the community that owns only black socks.) After reading your thread though, I logged in and turned AL on. I was standing on a 40x40 plywood platform way up in the air. I was suddenly able to see the plywood with a whole new level of realism and ... dare I say it .. "beauty". Then I checked my frame rate and was delighted to see that it was still an impressive 45fps. (Keep in mind I was looking at perhaps 40 textures in total, and maybe 10 objects.) I rather liked it, even though my most common view on the virtual world is rather devoid of visual stimulation. I even think I'll keep it like that, unless of course it starts getting in my way. *grin* Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pamela Galli Posted March 11, 2015 Author Share Posted March 11, 2015 Thanks, useful info. I have a powerful computer but it is an iMac, so never has been as zippy in SL as most PCs. For me, 8 FPS is fine. I don't really feel lag at that FPS. 20 FPS is pretty much the top for me, at least in my store full of textures -- in my workshop I can get a little more than that. So I would not say I have a really powerful computer for SL, yet it does not take any hit with AL and no shadows. Of course, for me 38 FPS would be blazing fast. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pamela Galli Posted March 11, 2015 Author Share Posted March 11, 2015 Darrius Gothly wrote: I have to admit that I'd not paid attention to that setting in quite some time. I have the same computer as before my hiatus, so I surely had the ability to enable it. But I have found in recent years that 90% of my in-world time is spent with my nose in a Script editor or in an external text editor. Probably that's because my artistic talents are woefully lacking. (Hence I am a member of the community that owns only black socks.) After reading your thread though, I logged in and turned AL on. I was standing on a 40x40 plywood platform way up in the air. I was suddenly able to see the plywood with a whole new level of realism and ... dare I say it .. "beauty". Then I checked my frame rate and was delighted to see that it was still an impressive 45fps. (Keep in mind I was looking at perhaps 40 textures in total, and maybe 10 objects.) I rather liked it, even though my most common view on the virtual world is rather devoid of visual stimulation. I even think I'll keep it like that, unless of course it starts getting in my way. *grin* I have no doubt that many people are not aware of the setting at all. I see it all the time, usually when someone reports that their lamps do not work. I have them turn on AL so they can see more than 6 lights, voila. I have encouraged my group to give it a try, and will do so again this week, but with the caveats included in this thread. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bree Giffen Posted March 11, 2015 Share Posted March 11, 2015 I honestly didn't know if I used advanced lighting or not. I checked my settings and it looks like I do! I like shadows and you can't have shadows without the advanced lighting. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pamela Galli Posted March 11, 2015 Author Share Posted March 11, 2015 Survey thus far: 16 yes, 12 no Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Freya Mokusei Posted March 11, 2015 Share Posted March 11, 2015 Just seen this thread. One more for yes - couldn't live without it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Arwen Serpente Posted March 11, 2015 Share Posted March 11, 2015 I don't use it, Pamela. I find when I turn it on, it distorts my ability to see color and detail (even with shadows off). The fps hit is significant even without shadows. My rig/computer is fine, excellent quality and can handle it if I wanted to do it, but I just don't like the way it looks...that's just me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Celestiall Nightfire Posted March 11, 2015 Share Posted March 11, 2015 I took your survey yesterday, and popping back in to comment. I never run with advanced lighitng. It freezes me, and then I crash. When trying it, I see things looking different for a few seconds, then *bam* instant freeze, and sometimes so frozen I have to do a hard restart on my computer, as the viewer is unworkable. Your builds look lovely either way though. :matte-motes-inlove: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
anselm Hexicola Posted March 11, 2015 Share Posted March 11, 2015 "Are you suggesting that Pam's forum customers wear yellow and black plaid?" No, of course not. However, a discreet accessory might be in order - for instance, a pocket handkerchief for the gentlemen, a scarf for the ladies, whatever .... It would be "good form" if the plaid texture had a normal map that showed the warp and weft of the fabric. AND, if you really want to "bling" it, a subtle Specularity map would look great. As to whether they have Shadows enabled .... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pussycat Catnap Posted March 12, 2015 Share Posted March 12, 2015 anselm Hexicola wrote: [ But as an aside, I am doubtful if your straw-poll will tell you much.] My experience is that forum readers are much further BEHIND the tech curve than the average SL user, much less aware of other MMOs and online gaming in general, have older machines, and use fewer of the modern features than... the people I encounter in general in SL. The forums seem to be for "the old luddites" among us... BUT, each of us has our anecdotes - which are of course selectively shaped by who we encounter in SL. I have noticed in two very different communities I'm involved in inside of SL, that the people in them have very different presumptions of what the norm is in SL - and that it often hits on topics similar to this: the question of what technology is normal. Everytime I hit the default or reset on my graphics preferences though - it flips on advanced lighting. My machine IS the very top of the line Mac... but that only means that in terms of this kind of graphics - its equivalent to a mid range PC. - So I'm going to guess that, given that most people don't mess with the settings as much, a LOT of people have advanced lighting on simply because its the default for a lot of machines these days. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LlazarusLlong Posted March 12, 2015 Share Posted March 12, 2015 Pussycat Catnap wrote: My machine IS the very top of the line Mac. Is that akin to being a tall dwarf? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Trinity Yazimoto Posted March 12, 2015 Share Posted March 12, 2015 I am totally fascinated by materials. I have a productline all materials enabled, and i also do sometimes on my regular collection (when i think it's really worth). Althought my comp handle well ALM, it still lowers my fps a bit, and i do prefer a faster fps for my daily use, so i turn them off when I think i dont really need them. It also depend what I'm doing and also my mood. If i am just chating with someone or just managing things for my business (except if i am creating of course) i turn it off bec i dont need it. BUT, if i have to chose between an item materials enabled and the same one without materials, no doubt im going to buy the one that is materials enabled. Even if the price is higher. I have never found such feeling in SL so powerful that when you turn your ALM on and you see materials appears. For me it's the best improvement SL got since i started my secondlife, 6 years ago. So i answered yes to your survey, because i turn ALM on several times a day. So i may say daily. But it's not full time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pamela Galli Posted March 12, 2015 Author Share Posted March 12, 2015 Survey results so far: 21 yes 14 no Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IvanBenjammin Posted March 12, 2015 Share Posted March 12, 2015 I am happy it is over 50%! Thanks for doing the survey, Pamella Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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