In Desperate need of help!!! Distorted mesh

[Xtaci Evermore]

I'm so frustrated right now and am hoping to finally find the person who can help me. 

Whenever I am near anyone who is wearing mesh one of two things will happen. Either the mesh is invisible and the avi is totally distorted, or the avi is just so distorted with such long extensions coming off their avi and flickering so much it takes up the whole screen and I can't see anything. I have seen a lot of things about invisibility, but nothing about the distortions.  I know for a fact at this point it is mesh causing the problem because the other night I had a friend over and she was trying on hair. As soon as she put on a mesh one everything went haywire. Soon as she took it off it was fine! What the heck?!?! 

I feel as though I have tried everything I can find to do but it all seems geared to people only having the invisibility issues. I havnt talked to one other person who has heard of the distortion problem. Killing me!

I have a MacBook pro and the graphics it has is the intel hd 3000. 

[Ciaran Laval]

Which viewer are you using?

[Chosen Few]

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Xtaci Evermore wrote:

I have a MacBook pro and the graphics it has is the intel hd 3000. 

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That's your problem right there.  Intel graphics are the absllute worst of the worst, of the worst.  Apple really should be ashamed of themselves for allowing such a subpar piece of hardware into a machine that has the "Pro" monicker on it.

If you were on Windows machine, I'd suggest you update your graphics driver, but since it's unlikely Apple will let you do that do that, that probably doesn't help.  And of course, if you were on a desktop instead of a laptop, I'd tell you get yourself a real graphics card, and disable that ridiculous Intel IGP.  But obviously you don't have that option in most laptops, and certainly not in any laptop made by Apple.

What I can tell you that might be helpful is this.  Disable vertex buffer objects, in your SL graphics preferences.  The "extensions" you described (assuming I'm accurately understanding your use of the word) are typical when a graphics card doesn't understand how to manage VBO's.  When the GPU doesn't know how to interpret the VBO data properly, it thinks certain vertices are in the wrong locations, and then you end up with long thin spikes acrosss the screen, as it draws triangles between the incorrectly placed vertices.

If that's actually what's going on, then disabling VBO's should solve the problem.  If it's something else, you may be out of luck.  Sorry to have to tell you, but the computer you're using just isn't designed for this sort of thing.

Next time you buy a computer, get one with a proper graphics card in it.  That's the single most important part of the computer, especially if you're going to be running graphically taxing applications like SL.  Any time you buy a machine with an Intel IGP in it, you're just throwing your money away.  That goes double for laptops, since you can't upgrade the card.

IGP's should be avoided like the plague.  They're horrible things that cause nothing but problems.  If they disappeared off the face of the Earth tomorrow, not a single person would mourn their loss.  There's really nothing else that can be said about them.

[Xtaci Evermore]

@Calron, I have used Firestorm, Phoenix and now Sl viewer.

@Chosen, yeah I had a feeling about that being the problem.  What was confusing me was that fact that I havnt come across one other single person that describes the specific problem that I am having with the "extensions".  The only way i can describe it is ...have you ever seen the movie the Terminator?  The guy could morph parts of his body, like his hands into difffernt shapes.  Its like that.  The avis have points all over their bodies that jut out across the screen,  and when they move they flail all over the screen.  Odd description I know but its the best I can do.

[Chosen Few]

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Xtaci Evermore wrote:

The avis have points all over their bodies that jut out across the screen,  and when they move they flail all over the screen.  Odd description I know but its the best I can do.

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Definitely sounds like a vertex location issue.  ATI/AMD cards, and Intel IGP's tend to have this issue with VBO's.  nVidia cards, not so much.  Whenever the time comes that you're ready to replace that machine, get one with a good solid nVidia card in it (one with at least a 5 in the second digit of the model number, preferably a 7 or 8).

In the mean time, I hope disabling VBO's solves the problem for you.  If not, I don't know what else to suggest, besides get a more suitable computer, which I'm guessing is not what you want to hear right now.

[Kristine Nikolaidis]

I had the exact same problem!!! It was annoying and blinding... and it prevented me from buying any mesh clothing.... =(

I clicked everything in the advanced graphics properties and finally found the solution! Make sure "Hardware Skinning" is turned off. After making that change it works!! No more annoying "extensions" and mesh clothing fits right. =)

I hope this helps!!

Kristine

[Chosen Few]

Ah, that makes sense, Kristine.  I should have thought of that, actually, especially considering the question was aimed at rigged meshes, specifically.  Yeah, if you've got a low end GPU, skinning may indeed work better when relegated the CPU instead.

[Adrienne Falconer]

PERFECT solution - the hardware skinning worked!!!