Region Environment Settings

This viewer is being shared as a test of the new Region Environment controls.

Region Environment Settings

Environment settings control how the water and the sky (including the air around you) are rendered in Second Life. In earlier viewer versions, each user could choose to either:

• Use the Second Life default environment settings (the default choice)

or

• Use customized personal settings, but which other users could not see

Without publishing complex instructions on how to duplicate personal settings, and having others apply those settings, there was no way to share distinctive environments.

With this viewer, the default choice is still to use the settings provided by Second Life, but a region manager can customize the region so that any user in the region (using a viewer that supports this feature) will experience the same customized environment.

A number of pre-defined settings are provided as examples of what is possible, but each user can create their own settings and either use them as personal settings or apply them to any region for which they have Estate Manager privileges.

Creating Custom Settings

There are three kinds of settings that may be defined:

Water Settings

control the color of the water, how transparent it is, and how turbulent it is.

Sky Settings

control the color of the sky, the color of the light, the color and behavior of clouds, and how hazy the atmosphere is.

Day Cycles

a sequence of (up to 20) sky settings that allow you to control how things look at different times in the Second Life "day".

Each of these types of settings can be edited, and saved as a named 'preset'. The presets are saved on your computer along with other account preferences (so if you access Second Life from multiple systems or multiple accounts, each combination of system and account will have its own collection of presets).

Creating a Custom Water Preset

NOTE: in the current version of this Project Viewer, the editing function for Water presets are not yet complete. You can display any existing preset, but can not modify them or create new ones. This limitation will be removed as soon as possible, and a new version published.

Select the menu World→Environment Editor→Water presets... and choose:

New preset

to create a new water setting.

1. Enter a name for the preset at the top of the dialog
2. Adjust settings until you have the effect you want
3. Press the Save button to store the new preset

Edit preset

to modify one of the existing water presets.

1. Choose the preset you wish to modify from the menu at the top of the dialog
2. Adjust settings until you have the effect you want
3. Press the Save button to store the new preset

This does not modify any regions in which you have previously used this water preset; to do that, you must return to the region and re-apply the modified preset.

Delete preset

to delete one of the existing water presets.

1. Choose the preset you wish to delete from the menu
2. Press the Delete button to erase the preset (there is no undo for this)

This does not modify any regions in which you have previously used this water preset.

Creating a Custom Sky Preset

NOTE: in the current version of this Project Viewer, the editing function for Sky presets are not yet complete. You can display any existing preset, but can not modify them or create new ones. This limitation will be removed as soon as possible, and a new version published.

Select the menu World→Environment Editor→Sky presets... and choose:

New preset

to create a new sky setting.

1. Enter a name for the preset at the top of the dialog
2. Adjust settings until you have the effect you want
3. Press the Save button to store the new preset

Edit preset

to modify one of the existing sky presets.

1. Choose the preset you wish to modify from the menu at the top of the dialog
2. Adjust settings until you have the effect you want
3. Press the Save button to store the new preset

This does not modify any regions in which you have previously used this sky preset either as a fixed sky or as part of a day cycle preset; to do that, you must return to the region and re-apply the modified preset.

Delete preset

to delete one of the existing sky presets.

1. Choose the preset you wish to delete from the menu
2. Press the Delete button to erase the preset (there is no undo for this)

This does not modify any regions in which you have previously used this sky preset either as a fixed sky or as part of a day cycle.

Creating a Custom Day Cycle Preset

A day cycle consists of a sequence of up to 20 Sky presets, each assigned to be displayed at a selected key time in the Second Life "day" (water settings cannot be varied in a day cycle; they are fixed throughout the day, but at most graphics levels the appearance of the water will, like real water, change depending on how the sky above it is reflected on its surface). Between the "key" times, the environment settings are gradually modified in a smooth transition between the settings for the two times (so, for example, if the sun is on the eastern horizon in one frame and overhead in the next, it will gradually rise between them). To create time periods during which the environment does not change, create key times at each end of the desired stable period and select the same sky preset for both key times.

Key times are created by pressing the Add Key button, and are displayed on the yellow timeline as rounded markers. The time and sky setting for the selected marker (either the most recently added key, or the one most recently chosen by clicking on the marker) are displayed below the timeline. Key times can be moved by dragging the marker, or by modifying the time value in the box below the timeline.

The small downward-pointing triangle above the timeline shows what time in the day is currently being displayed in your environment; you can drag it left and right to see how things will look at different times during the day.

Select the menu World→Environment Editor→Day presets... and choose:

New preset

to create a new day cycle.

1. Enter a name for the day cycle at the top of the dialog
2. Adjust settings until you have the sequence you want
3. Press the Save button to store the new day cycle

Edit preset

to modify one of the existing day cycles.

1. Choose the day cycle you wish to modify from the menu at the top of the dialog
2. Adjust the sequence until you have the effect you want
3. Press the Save button to store the day cycle

This does not modify any regions in which you have previously used this day cycle; to do that, you must return to the region and re-apply it.

Delete preset

to delete one of the existing day presets.

1. Choose the preset you wish to delete from the menu
2. Press the Delete button to erase the preset (there is no undo for this)

This does not modify any regions in which you have previously used this day cycle.

Choosing Which Settings You See

To select whether you see personal unshared environment or the shared environment:

1. Select the menu World→Environment Editor→Environment Settings...
2. Choose:

   Use Region Settings

   to see the shared settings from any region you are in (this is the default, and recommended unless you have a particular need to control the environment).

   Use Personal Settings

   to see unshared settings you choose yourself:

   1. Choose a Water setting preset
   2. Choose a Sky/Day Cycle:

      Fixed Sky

      and select a single Sky preset to be displayed regardless of the time in the Second Life day

      Day Cycle

      and select a Day preset to display an environment that changes continuously according to the time of the Second Life day

3. Push the Ok button to confirm your choice, or Cancel to return your environment to what it was before.

In addition to the Environment Settings dialog above, the World→Environment Editor menu also has four shortcut selections that establish the original Second Life default settings: Sunrise, Midday, Sunset, and Midnight. These are each equivalent to a Fixed Sky at different times during the default Second Life day; they are not shared.

Establishing Settings For a Region

Modifying the environment settings for a region gives you great control over the ambiance experienced by visitors. To set the shared environment:

1. Select the menu World→Place Profile→Region/Estate
2. Select the Environment tab
3. Choose:

   Use Second Life Defaults

   to set the region environment to the familiar default Second Life day cycle

   Use Custom Region Settings

   to establish settings you choose:

   1. Choose a Water setting preset
   2. Choose a Sky/Day Cycle:

      Fixed Sky

      1. and select a single Sky preset to be displayed regardless of the time in the Second Life day

      Day Cycle

      1. and select a Day preset to display an environment that changes continuously according to the time of the Second Life day
4. Push the Apply button to confirm your choice and begin displaying the new settings to anyone in the region, or Cancel to return the region environment to what it was before.

NOTE: at present, shortly after you Apply the settings, the names of the presets may change to the name of your region; this is due to a limitation in the simulator software - your settings have not been changed, just renamed in the region. There is a fix being deployed that will correct this so that your original preset names are saved; how soon it will be corrected may vary from region to region.