User:Kitty Tandino

"""""We try and fail.. so say others but we only fail when we stop trying"""""

I've been a Builder / Business Mgr / Mentor / and DJ and much more

I've been a Member of Second Life since April 7th 2006

for more information please IM me

My MSN: Kitty's MSN

ROLES:

Second Life Mentor

Second Life Mentor Buddy

Second Life Mentor Scribe

Second Life Mentor Coach

Second Life Seeder

Linden Lab Approved Builder

==Reducing Lag==v1.2: added FPS examples, ATI video note v1.1: Added ATI tips to video, some variou stouching up v1.0: Initial draft

Introduction

There are a few different types of Lag in Second Life. SL is a very cutting edge application which will manage to push the limits on much of your computer hardware. Your video card, CPU, and your network will all be far from idle while you explore and enjoy Second Life.

Video:

The graphics card is obviously kept quite busy, especially with such a dynamic environment it is constantly loading new textures. Due to the dynamic nature of the SL world, some very fast algorithms (ie BSP trees) can't be used in SL that can be used in 3d games which get to use "static" evironments for their world maps. This means you will get a lower Frames-Per-Second rate here than you will with most of your 3d games.

Please Note: It is quite typical to get only 10-20 Frames Per Second even in quiet areas of the world, with a fairly new graphics card. DRAW DISTANCE can have one of the biggest effects on your frame rate, and is always the first thing I ask people who tell me they are lagged.

CPU:

The CPU does a lot of work in SL compared to other applications. Everything that moves in the world has to be updated, and SL is a very dynamic world. SL will almost certianly run your CPU at full 100% utilization the entire time you have the program running.

Network:

Your internet connection will also be used heavily, especially as you're flying around the world. Expect your bandwidth to idle at around 20-50 kilobits per second, and peak in the hundreds of kilobits per second while doing large updates.

These are the three major sources of lag. CPU, Video, and Network. Often, when one is lagged, the others can appear to have lagged down as well. Here, I will try to give some advice on how to speed up each. Once you have eliminated all sources of lag, then you should go back and re-enable the options you are willing to compromise speed for.

====

VIDEO OPTIMIZATION TIPS

====

Video:

For those who own an nVidia brand video card:

Under Preferences / Display tab: - All checkboxes listed next to "Performance Options" are UNchecked. - Avatar Rendering is "Normal" - Terrain Detail to "None"

Under Preferences / Options tab: - Check ON AGP Graphics Acceleration - Texture Cache Size is set to Large (I have 1GB of memory) - Set your video card memory size. (Some people have remarked that setting it one notch lower than your actual video card memory size can improve performance) - Object, Tree, and Avatar Detail sliders are all the way to the left - Checked ON Avatar Vertex Program - Draw Distance to 64 - Bumpiness Draw Distance is 10 - Max Particle Count to 256 (the default is 4096, you can also disable particles with < Alt Shift + >) - Outfit Composite Limit to 5 (no idea what this does, I think 5 is the default)

For those who own an ATI brand video card, I recommend the following differences from the nVidia owners:

Under Preferences / Options tab: - UN check AGP Graphics Acceleration (always do this for stability) - Set your Video Card Memory to 32MB (but only if you're getting corrupted/strange/black textures) - UN check Avatar Vertext Program (if your avatar is folded up in strange ways)

Network:

Bandwidth: In the corner of your window, you should see two small vertical indcators. The one on the left is your PACKET LOSS, the one on the right is your CURRENT BANDWIDTH. These indicators can be green, yellow, or red, depending on the percentage.

Bandwidth is not as important of an indicator of lag as much as packet loss. If you see ANY indication of packet loss (even if it's just a small green amount), that's not good. If you see it every once in a while, or in very busy areas with a lot of people, that is normal. But, if you're getting any significant amount of packet loss in quiet areas or while flying around, you need to adjust your Bandwidth under your Preferences / Network tab.

- Start with 300 kbps as your default. - If you're not experiencing any packet loss, but feel like the world is loading too slowly and your bandwidth indicator is often yellow or red, then raise your bandwidth to 400 or even 500. - If you are experiencing packet loss, reduce your bandwidth down until it stops. - The "Custom" bandwidth setting is typically not used. I would recommend against adjusting any of these numbers until you've been in SL for a while and are familiar with all the details.

Disk Cache Size: - If you can afford the disk space, set your Disk Cache Size to 1000 MB, otherwise set it as high as you can afford. This will save you bandwidth in places where you've recently already visited.

CPU/Memory/etc:

- Close as many background programs as you can while running SL - Press Ctrl+Alt+Del and look for any tasks you're familiar with which can be closed - I've been told that SL works optimally with 1 GB of RAM (that's 1024 MB). - Rebooting your computer before starting SL can help it have more readily available access to your memory pool - Defragment your hard drive occasionally, especially after you've been playing SL for a day or two (after each installation) so that the cache gets defragmented.

Tip: If you need to run background applications while running Second Life, you may want to try lowering the Task Priority for newview.exe just a little bit to give those programs a chance to run a little more smoothly. Don't do this unless you absolutely have to, because it will slow down the SL client. I do this often when I'm browsing the web while running SL, as SL tends to eat up all of my CPU and makes my web browser very slow.

Additional Information:

- To view your video and network status, press Alt+1 - Typical framerates are between 10-20 FPS in non-busy areas - Typical network traffic is between 20-50 kbps in non-busy areas

Lag occurs most when: - Your Draw Distance is too high - There are many physical (physics-enabled) objects nearby - There is a large group people nearby - You are moving (and therefore loading new geometry, textures, and sounds) - When many objects are moving nearby - You have "fancy" graphics features enabled (Local Lighting, Object Bump, Ripple Water, Shadows, etc)

Example Frame Rates with various configurations: - 20 fps with nVidia Ti4400, Athlon XP 2100+, 1GB memory

Tips for MAC users

• • • TIPS FOR MAC USERS

Welcome to Second Life! It's a creative place, and can be anything you want to make it. Think of Second Life as the 3D virtual web. Don't feel like your Mac's at fault if you crash � PCs crash too. The Second Life client is under regular development and is a Universal binary for all Macs.

You can run the Second Life client program on any recent Mac or PC, though the faster the processor and the better the graphics card, the smoother an experience you'll have. The latest higher-end Intel-based machines like the iMac (Intel Core Duo/Core 2 Duo), MacBook Pro and Mac Pro are ideal.

Some of the less powerful machines (MacBook, Mac mini) use integrated Intel graphics, and will be less smooth. Older PowerPC machines can be OK, but anything older than 2004/5 will be a bit slow. Speed tips are below.

• • • CROSS-PLATFORM ISSUES

Linden Labs have done the right thing with Second Life. Though many of the shortcut keys use the control key on Windows, you can usually use *either* the control key or the command key on the Mac. So, for preferences, use ctrl-P or command-P.

This is good because it makes writing tutorials easier, as the same keys work on every platform. However, if you're used to Mac-style shortcuts, go ahead � they mostly just work. As usual, alt=option.

Like many complex programs with a PC heritage, right-clicking is essential in SL. One thing you may find a little strange is that you can't control-click to right-click. You must command-click instead. Of course, any two-button USB mouse will work as you'd expect.

• • • MAC HELP

To find a Mac user group, click the Find button then the Groups tab. Type in Mac and hit Search. The biggest is called "Macintosh Users", and you can join the group from that window. Other Mac users will be happy to help you out.

• • • DASHBOARD WIDGETS

There are, at time of writing, two unofficial Second Life widgets available. SecondLifeStatus, by Prester Joffre of Sweet Vitriol, displays:

"Online friends, grid statistics, in game server information such as windspeed, fps, and who is visiting your property."

You'll need an in-game component to make the fanciest of these tricks work. Get the widget from:

   http://www.sweetvitriol.com

The second widget is Second Life Friends Online, by Ali Maltz (the current author of this document). This widget only displays your online friends, but is handily resizable. Get it from:

   http://macupdate.com/info.php/id/23354

• • • GRAPHICS SETTINGS: INTRODUCTION

On a nice new Mac, just turn all the graphics options to maximum and enjoy.

On older Macs (and PCs), Second Life can be slow. In a busy area on an eMac, you can expect just a few frames per second. The latest iMac/MacBook Pro should see around 25fps on average, depending on what you're looking at and how much the system is doing.

In Preferences under the "Graphics" tab, "Run in a window" is probably best. You could try running in full screen at a lower resolution to gain some speed, but it's likely to be a little blurry and perhaps squished.

If you do want to use full screen mode on a newer widescreen Mac, you might need to specify 16:10 (AKA 8:5) aspect ratio. Beware; at time of writing there was a crashing bug when leaving full screen mode, at least on some machines.

• • • GRAPHICS SETTINGS: SPEEDING IT UP

If you have an eMac, a Mac mini, another Mac from 2004 or older, or a recent Mac with Intel integrated graphics you don't have the best system to run Second Life � which is pretty demanding. For PPC machines, a minimum configuration for Second Life is probably something like a Powerbook G4/iBook G4 1GHz with 768MB RAM and a 64MB video card.

Recent MacBook and Mac minis should have as much system RAM as possible, since these machines steal graphics memory from the main system. Even with lots of RAM, they'll still be much slower than the dedicated graphics in the iMac, MacBook Pro and Mac Pro.

So, to optimise graphics on a low-end machine like this, choose Edit > Preferences and make some changes.

Generally, you'll want visit the "Graphics Detail" tab first. Turn the detail sliders down to speed things up. Ripple Water, Nearby local lights and High detail terrain can also slow things down.

Draw distance is here, and it's important. The higher the draw distance, the more you'll see, but the slower it will be. In general, 64 meters is good for busy locations. If you want to take a picture of a beautiful scene you can up it much higher. For low traffic areas, 96 is good.

Under "Adv. Graphics", there are a few trickier options. " Fog Distance: This feature fades out things that are on the threshold of your draw distance; 1.5 to 2.5 is suggested. If you have your draw distance down at 64 meters you can try setting the fog to 1.3. Set to a larger value for cleaner photos. " Max. Particle Count: How many particles can you see at once? Depending on you Mac you can increase or decrease this. 2048 is suggested. " Outfit Composite Limit: This has to do with texture complexity for an avatar's clothing. Try 4, perhaps try increasing it for photos.

• • • COMMENTS AND SUGGESTIONS

...are welcome. IM Ali Maltz with any ideas for future topics or questions. This document is based loosely on a 2005 document by an unknown author � Char Linden? Thanks!

SPEACH FOR OUR NEW MENTORS

What an honor!

New Mentors Orientation: Date: Monday 15th 2007 Time: 8pm SLT Log: Kitty Tandino's Speach to New Mentors

================================================================================

Hello everyone. Welcome to your Orientation, it's a big honor to speak to you all this Evening.

I was asked to give a speech on what Mentoring is to me. We don't have that many days to cover this. hehe so let me make it short and sweet.

So... What do you do as a Mentor?

As a Second Life mentor you work closely with fellow mentors and our V-Team (Lindens), people that like you, want to give something to the community. You can mentor in many different ways, and there will always be need for you somewhere, when you have the urge to help. You can greet new residents and make sure they get a good start on their Second Life. There is often issues raised in the mentor group that requires assistance from bright minds. You give your time and your expertise to the community in anyway you can. Sometimes, even just a kind word is all our new residents or fellow Mentors need to hear.. like "Good job!, You are trying your best.. don't give up!, you are a fast learner, no question is stupid... just the ones not asked... etc"

and you will see how a kind word given to someone you've never met before could change their day :)

The information Folder you all have is more like our bible. Read through it- Learn it but know that you are not alone. Well I dont want to take up all of your time, I will now invite anyone who would like to friend me and spend time with me on an Orientation island or while I Mentor to see how I do things. Please do so at this point.

The are many other Mentor Buddys To find them, open your Mentor group> click on the tab that reads "Members and Roles" then click on tab that reads "Roles" and click on the "Buddy" role. It will give you a list of all your Buddys. Do the same if you are looking for a coach, Linguist etc.. this is a good way to keep the Mentor channel clear from a lot of spam. :D "You can also look on our Wiki https://wiki.secondlife.com/wiki/Category:Languages_spoken_by_Volunteers"

Added note: When addressing our Group, it would help with keeping the channel clear of a lot of chatter by speaking our question like Our V-team has asked us to- Example: Hello, I am on Orientation island "give number here" I am with (give name of Member here) they need help with (give the issue here) and I don't have the answer. can someone that can help please IM this Person. Thank you for your time.. no need to respond here. if someone would like to talk to me in regards to this please IM me in Private. <=kinda long but you get the idea:D!

If any of you have questions, you are welcome to ask them now. To make sure that we don't flood chat and I get to as many questions as I can in a short time, please type "?" in chat and i will respond to each.

>>¯\(º_o)/¯<< Team Work: A cooperative effort by a group or team. Being able to work on my own and still knowing that I am backed by many other people, that have the same love for helping others like I do is a very good feeling.

There many things in place to help us help others: https://wiki.secondlife.com/wiki/Main_Page <-here you will find alot of goodies :D!