Rock n Roll Ain't Noise Pollution

Not only am I a photographer in Second Life, I am also a DJ at Flight of the Kiwi Rock Club, NZ.

When I am on deck at FOTK Rock Club, the tunes are cranked to 110 decibels and then I Rip The Freakin' Knobs Off!

No pansy ass wimpy shit on my playlist (yawn...)

I only play the Loudest, Ear Splitting, Mind Numbing, In Your Face, Bone Jarring, Balls to the Walls, Bad Ass Rock!

my music motto is: Go Big, or Go Home!

This is my weekend schedule:
Friday 10 pm - Midnight SLT
Saturday 6 pm - 10 pm SLT
Sunday 8 pm - 10 pm SLT

Be sure to join the FOTK Group to stay up to date with events because you never know what nutty, insane stuff could happen at Flight of the Kiwi. I might do one of my crazy 12 hour Rock Marathons again...

"Flight of the Kiwi Rock Club - the Best Damn Little Island to Rock!"

Avatar Rendering Cost

What is avatar rendering cost?
ARC is a value of what it costs Second Life, the sim, avatars nearby and you to render your avatar.

Is this something important I should know about?
Yes.

Is it something I have to pay for?
No, not in Lindens. But you pay for it in lag.

Is it something I can fix?
Yes.

Let me explain:
All the clothing, articles and attachments you put on your avatar makes your avatar longer to render.

Sure that bling might be pretty and you think you're totally rocking with the twinkling shoes, but it is a cost to the system. It is a cost to the sim you are in. It is a cost to other avatars near you.

Imagine a dozen avatars with a high ARC value are in one sim. Well, this is going to slow things down not only for you, but for everyone else near you.

Now, imagine 12,000 avatars with a high ARC value. What affect do you think this would this have?

"How do I know what my avatar rendering cost is?"

You can find this value very easily: look at the top menu and look for ADVANCED. It will be to the right of HELP.

If you don't see ADVANCED, press CTRL+ALT+D to toggle it on. On a laptop, if the left ALT key does not work, use the ALT key on the right side of the keyboard.

Click on ADVANCED. Scroll down to RENDERING, then INFO DISPLAYS.

Half way down the list click Avatar Rendering Cost. The number appearing over the avatar is the ARC value.

Now, look carefully. This is very important. Is the number Red? If so, your ARC value is high. Your first priority is to lower it.

Orange or yellow is a warning.

Green means the ARC value is a very good low value. Second Life likes a low ARC value.

Just for reference, I have seen ARC values well over 3,000 and even 4,000. Hell, I have an outfit which puts my ARC value over 6,000!! Most of the time my ARC value is well below 600.

By keeping my ARC value low, I'm doing myself, Second Life, the sim and others a favour.

"How do I lower my ARC value?"

Start looking at what your avatar wearing - attachments, clothing, jewelry, skins. Take off items and see how this affects the cost to render your avatar.

Most often it is hair (sorry ladies) Jewelry, shoes and attachments can also cause a high ARC value. Men can be just as bad as women when it comes to a high ARC value.

So really, it is a courtesy to others to keep your Avatar Rendering Cost down.

Remember, friends don't let friends have a high Avatar Rendering Cost.

Get Your Rock On Marathon!

Saturday, 14 May 2011. 10am SLT to Midnight
{ { { ::: F O T K R O C K ::: } } }

DJ Regor - the Newest Hottest Rocking DJ at: FoTk RoCk cLuB in NZ.
starting at 10am (SLT/PST) DJ Regor is hosting a Get Your Rock On Marathon!
from 10pm to Midnight the theme is: "Tats and Tears".
wear your best tats and your worst clothing. prizes to be won!
so, whether you're up early, or up late, drag your sorry lazy ass to FoTK RocK cLuB for the best Ear Splitting, Mind Numbing, In Your Face, Balls to the Walls Rock!
DJ Regor Cranks the Tunes to 110 decibels and Rips the Freaking Knobs Off!!

http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Pacific Dreamz Lagoons/13/205/21/

Making Outfits

Sorting clothing to make outfits is really very easy.

I will explain in detail each step.

Read everything through to understand it. 

It may sound and look complicated at first, but follow the steps and you will see just how simple it is :)

First off, wear an outfit. this will be an example outfit.

Next, we are going to make a folder for that outfit.

Go to the Clothing folder at the top of the Inventory Window.

Right-click on the folder name: Clothing. when the menu pops up, Select: New Folder. name the folder for the outfit you are wearing.

But here's a little trick: put a Period at the beginning of the folder name.

This will sort the folder to the top, because the ASCII value of a Period precedes the ASCII value of the letter A.

I use this method to indicate an outfit folder.

IE ".Beach Wear" or ".Club Outfit", etc.

Now, here comes the best part:

In the Inventory Window, under File (top left corner) select: New Inventory Window

This opens another Inventory Window.

In the Search Bar of the second Inventory Window, type: WORN.

This shows everything you are currently wearing.

If you are using Phoenix Viewer there is a tab for Worn items.

Now, starting with the first item you are wearing, right-click and select: Copy

In the first Inventory Window, right-click on the new outfit folder you made and select: Paste As Link

Continue this procedure with the rest of the items that show under: WORN

Each link will show in Italics (item is a link) and Bold (item is worn).

There you go, you just made an outfit folder!

You can use this method for any item that you want to wear or add: clothing, shoes, hair, skins, shapes, jewelry, weapons.

This process leaves the items in their original location but with a shortcut, a reference link, in a separate folder.

Just like on your computer, you make a shortcut to the desktop for a program, without moving the original program.

When you want to wear that outfit or item, just right-click on the folder name and select: Wear or Add.

When you want to take off that outfit or item, right-click on the folder name, select: Take Off Items.

You can also select individual items to remove.

By following this method, you can make all the outfit folders you need.

Phoenix Viewer settings

Phoenix Viewer has plenty of settings to consider and choose from.

So, rather than repeat what has already been written, the settings can be found here with a fairly good explanation.

welcome back to Second Life

Yes, I have returned to Second Life. Rumours of my demise have been greatly exaggerated...

A few people, my true friends, were still around (you know who you are :) and I was welcomed back with open hearts. You know who your real friends are when they are still there, even after a lengthy absence. They understand and welcome you back, regardless of the reasons why.

I am now using Phoenix Viewer (www.PhoenixViewer.com) When Emerald Viewer died, Phoenix Viewer was born out of the ashes.

The settings of Phoenix are pretty well those of Emerald. There are a few extras. I have gone through the settings once again, to understand what they are. I will post helpful tips, and such, on how to tweak the settings and adjusting graphics so that you can get the most out of Second Life.

I realized how much I missed SL. It is good to be back and reconnect.

Thank you, my friends, for still being there.

Emerald Viewer. the end.

Linden Lab has enforced their policy regarding third party viewers for Second Life.
The issue is about a violation of terms of service in regards to Emerald Viewer.

This decision of Linden Lab will affect anyone using Emerald Viewer, which is what I used. I adamantly refused to use the default SL viewer.
Emerald Viewer is a vastly superior third party viewer in all aspects. The vast number of people using Emerald is testimony to that fact.

Emerald gave the user many options and many controls.
The feature which I used the most was the control of lighting. I relied on this for my photography in Second Life. Any professional photographer knows that the mastery of light is paramount to producing quality photos. Without this ability, a photo is nothing more than a Polaroid snapshot.

Linden Lab is forcing users to use Viewer 2. This program is inferior to Emerald in so many way and lacks the many options which Emerald offered.

Many users of Emerald are refusing to log in to Second Life if they are forced to use Viewer 2. I am one of those users.

Until such time as a third party viewer comparable to Emerald Viewer comes along, I may not log into Second Life.

I am too busy in RL to research other third party viewers. If anyone knows of a decent third party viewer please post to my blog.
If I am not able to log into Second Life using Emerald Viewer, then I will use MetaBolt (metabolt.net) to check messages. This is a non-graphics text client.

To my dear and valued friends in Second Life, I miss you greatly, more than you know.

Until I return.

sincerely,
Regor Romano
Romano Photography

--
more information can be found on the Emerald Viewer blog:
http://blog.modularsystems.sl/2010/09/01/the-end/

animate Linden Trees & Plants

How to animate Linden Trees & Plants:
go to: advanced on the top menu
CTRL + ALT + D  to toggle it on

click Debug Settings
a window opens at the bottom left
type:
RenderAnimateTrees
set the value: TRUE
close the Debug window

is the sky the limit?

Is there a limit to altitude in Second Life?  I don't know. But just for fun I thought I'd test that.
I ended up flying to 100,000 meters.  Yes, that's right - 100,000 meters! That is equal to 62 miles.
When I began my descent I started the stopwatch.  It took approximately 32-1/2 minutes to land; which also included the last 100 meters when my parachute opened and slowed my descent.  My speed of descent would be something like 124 mph.  Okay, I'd call that fast!

second life settings

here are settings, for the Second Life client, which I have come up with.

first, you will need to have ADVANCED on the top menu.

if you don't see advanced, press CTRL + ALT + D

click ADVANCED and activate these features also:

- Hi-Res Snapshots

- Quite Snapshots to Disk

- Show Mouselook Crosshairs.

- Limit Select Distance

- Disable Camera Constraints

- Mouse Smoothing

go to: ADVANCED > CHARACTER > CHARACTER TESTS

- uncheck GO AWAY/AFK WHEN IDLE.  this stops your avatar from folding in half when you are away.

go to: ADVANCED > CHARACTER

- check ENABLE LIP SYNC. your avatar's lips will move when you talk voice in local chat

go to: EDIT > PREFERENCES

following the Tabs on the left

GENERAL

- if you have a home, choose: My Home. otherwise choose My Last Location. you can choose a HUB as your temporary home, at least it gives you a Landing Point

- uncheck: Show Start Location on Login Screen (not necessary)

- Show Names: default is ALWAYS. you can decide what you want (I choose NEVER - name tags just get in the way, and will increase lag)

- check: Small Avatar Names

- check: Hide My Name On My Screen (you should know who you are)

- Group Titles: personally, I turn off both.  I don't really care about what groups people belong to.

- click APPLY

NETWORK

- there are 2 sliders. slide both to the extreme RIGHT

- click CLEAR CACHE. do this when you login.  does not have any effect until next time you log in

however, the cache is information stored on your computer of places you've been to. this information helps the SL client load your places faster
- if you have a second hard drive, change the location of the temp folder to the second hard drive

click APPLY

WEB

- you probably don't need to clear the built-in browser cache. it will clear when you turn off your computer

click APPLY

GRAPHICS

- top right corner, click the box: CUSTOM

- under that there are sliders

- set DRAW DISTANCE from 64 to 100m. you can experiment, but this determines are far you see objects. if you are in a busy area, you might want to reduce the Draw Distance. it's all fine and dandy to see far, but this will increase how you experience lag

- set MAX PARTICLE COUNT from 1024-2048. this determines how many simultaneous particles appear at once

- Post Process Quality to LOW

- set OBJECTS to MID

- set FLEXIPRIMS to MID

- set TREES to MID

- set AVATARS to HIGH (once notch above MID)

- set TERRAIN to LOW

Lighting Detail: NEARBY LOCAL LIGHTS

this is most effective when you change the lighting to MIDNIGHT

Terrain Detail: LOW

select: Avatar Impostors

click APPLY

AUDIO & VIDEO

- Master about 80%

- Music about 50% way

- Media 75%

- Voice 50%

- Sounds 75%

- Ambient 75%

- UI 50%

(my preferences. adjust to your own tastes)

click APPLY

Streaming Preferences:

- check: Play Streaming Music When Available

- check: Play Streaming Media When Available

- uncheck: Automatically Play Media

click APPLY

Audio Preferences:

- check: Mute Audio When Window Minimized (my preference)

click APPLY

TEXT CHAT

- Chat Font Size: Small or Medium (personally I choose Small)

- Chat Console: Fade After 50 seconds. 10 lines (my preference. adjust to your own tastes)

- uncheck: Play Typing animations when chatting

click APPLY

VOICE CHAT

* if you have a MIC *

- check: Enable Voice Chat

- check: Hear Voice Chat from Camera Position

Privacy Options:

- check: Only Accept voice calls from people on my Friends List

- check: Switch off mic when ending IM calls

Device Settings:

- put slider about halfway. talk. make sure squares DO NOT go red. Red means you are over modulating

click APPLY

COMMUNICATION

- check: Only My Friends and Groups can see me

- check: Send IM to Email (if you want)

- check: Include IM in chat response

- check: show Timestamps in IM

- check: Show online Friend notifications

Logging Option:

- if you want to save a log of IM's to your computer, check this

- uncheck: Save a Log of Local Chat

click APPLY

click OK

further information:

- Help for Navigation

- Configure a Firewall or Router

Logins, Inworld Services and Support Down for Maintenance February 8th at 5 a.m. Pacific

Logins, Inworld Services and Support Down for Maintenance February 8th at 5 a.m. Pacific:
Monday, February 8 2010 at 5:00 a.m. Pacific, we’ll be closing logins and disabling major inworld services for ninety minutes of upgrade work on our databases.
During the maintenance, logins, account registrations, XStreetSL, and the land store will be unavailable, along with Support Ticketing, Live Chat and telephone support.
The Knowledge Base will remain available.
Residents who are in world will not be disconnected when maintenance begins, but will lose access to services such as mapping, teleport, inventory, object and L$ transfers, and LindeX.
We’ll warn in world several minutes before the outage begins, and we’ll post any changes to the scope and schedule of the work here as they develop.
We appreciate that this will inconvenience a number of our Residents. The maintenance work is to enhance the stability and performance of our database-backed services.

second life tips

I've learned many tips and tricks in Second Life, and I'm happy to share them with others.
hey, we were all newbies :)
so I will be posting tips, tricks, settings, and such, on my blog.
check back often. heck, become a Fan of my Blog :)

however, my passion, my business, in Second Life is photography.
I specialize in portrait and fashion photography.
Click on my Google Profile for details, and check out my online album :)

avatar is a white particle cloud

you're going to see white particle clouds often in Second Life.  it might be someone else, or it might be you.
sometimes the cloud seems to hang around for quite a while.  don't worry, your avatar isn't broken :)
this is a function of the Rendering Engine of Second Life, and there is a simple fix.
you need to access Advanced on the top menu. if you don't see Advanced, you can activate it by pressing: CTRL + ALT + D
click on Advanced, scroll down the list and click on Debug Settings
a Dialog Window will open at the bottom left of the screen.
enter: renderUnloadedAvatar (all one word, no spaces)
when that shows, change the default setting to True, and close the Dialog Window.
exit out of the Second Life client, and restart it.
you should see a noticeable difference in the rendering of avatars, and you should never see white particle clouds again :)
rendering is also affected by Avatar Rendering Cost.  I'll cover ARC in another post.

got FREEBIES?

you want freebies on Second Life?  sure, you could hunt around on your own, join groups or hunts, etc. but why waste your time?
the quick and dirty way to find a whack of freebies on Second Life is to visit: Second Life Marketplace
login using your Second Life name and password, and select free
there are numerous categories to choose from. many items are free, or very cheap.
you can mark items as favourites for later retrieval, you can buy right away, or you can email yourself a reminder.
if you choose to buy an item, it will be sent immediately to your avatar in Second Life.
if you decide to go on shopping frenzy then it would be best if you log into Second Life.
some good spots in Second Life for freebies are:

• YADNI'S JUNKYARD
• ENKY'S DOLLAR$TORE
• FREEBIE STORE