WindLight settings

Resident-created WindLight settings

Made WindLight settings you wanna share? Add 'em here! (And feel free to use Torley's guide below as a template for your own installation instructions.)

Mesc's Sunglasses - 11 skies which look awesome with shadows.
Maroon - By Miranda Kingmaker.
Windlight Settings - By Paulina Oceanlane.
Places by Chic - By Chic Aeon. Look for the bullseye at the end of each post to download. Download all 37 in a zipped file HERE.

Torley's WindLight Settings

Warning: These settings are bonus goodies and not officially supported by Linden Lab. I can't guarantee support for them, but if you have questions, contact Torley.

I (Torley) have popularly been asked to share the very same settings I've used in so many WindLight-powered snapshots. I decided to share these with you for sheer enjoyment. I don't have any use restrictions on 'em, so go wild and let me know the beauty you build upon — add your pictures & video to the Inspired by Torley Flickr group!

Version 3 released (August 2009) with more skies and sorted categories!

Download Torley's WindLight Settings

Want more previews? See Kero Nishi's thumbnails, last updated for Version 2.

Important to know

If you've installed previous versions of Torley's WindLight Settings, you should DELETE THEM ALL before installing Version 3. The filenames are different.

Installation

First, quit the Second Life Viewer. Then:

Unzip torleys-windlight-settings-3.zip.
Open the skies and water folders, and drag their .xml file contents into the skies and water subdirectories within the right windlight folder, depending on your operating system.

These are the usual install directories, yours may look different but similar:

Windows XP

Skies - C:\Documents and Settings\USERNAME\Application Data\SecondLife\user_settings\windlight\skies
Water - C:\Documents and Settings\USERNAME\Application Data\SecondLife\user_settings\windlight\water

Windows Vista and 7

Skies - C:\Users\USERNAME\AppData\Roaming\SecondLife\user_settings\windlight\skies
Water - C:\Users\USERNAME\AppData\Roaming\SecondLife\user_settings\windlight\water

Tip: Everything, a lightweight search utility, makes it easy to find these directories. Search for "windlight".

Mac

Skies - In the Finder, use Go menu > Go to Folder and paste in: ~/Library/Application Support/SecondLife/user_settings/windlight/skies
Water - Again, use Go > Go to Folder and paste in: ~/Library/Application Support/SecondLife/user_settings/windlight/water

Linux

Follow above instructions and look for the folder which contains the "secondlife" boot script (for example, "~/Desktop/SecondLife-i686-1.21.6.99587/"). Its exact location depends on where you extracted the Viewer .bz2 archive after you downloaded it. This folder also includes the windlight directory, which includes skies and water sub-directories.

How to use

Login to Second Life.
Go to Me menu > Preferences.
Click the Graphics tab.
Set Quality and speed to High or Ultra.
- If you click Advanced, you'll see that both High and Ultra have Atmospheric shaders checked, so you can fully see WindLight.
Click OK
Go to World menu > Sun > Environment Editor.
Click the Advanced Sky button.
- If you want to change water settings, click Advanced Water instead.
Next to Sky Presets, click the dropdown and select a preset. The sky changes instantly.
- If you're changing a water setting, next to Water Presets, click the dropdown and select a preset. The water changes instantly.

This video tutorial shows you the above steps:

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ENJOY!

Tip: You can save a sequence of skies for future logins. (That guide predates Viewer 2 but the principles are the same, because the Advanced Sky and Water editors are functionally the same.)

Categories

Here's what all the sorted categories for skies in Torley's WindLight Settings V3 mean:

BIG SUN - The sun has been exaggerated and would love to shine on your boating expedition. In a few cases like "[TOR] BIG SUN - Good for marriage", the .xml file was modified to go beyond what you can do with the Advanced Sky Editor sliders.

[TOR] BIG SUN - Slips through walls 1 (slightly modded)
DUSK - Ah, that magic time when the night is young. I like a few of these for mellowing out on Here island, and you might, too.

[TOR] DUSK - Blue hour
FOGGY - "AHHH! MY EYES!" Vision is obscured and sliders such as Haze Density and Density Multiplier are racheted up. In particular, try "[TOR] FOGGY - Silent heck" in an already-unsettling town. The name's not a coincidence.

[TOR] FOGGY - Das fog
HORROR - More along the creepy lines, these were inspired by various slasher and suspense flicks. "[TOR] HORROR - Profondo rosso" is that terror from your darkroom which you never forget. If you make scary machinima with these, lemme know.

[TOR] HORROR - Profondo rosso
MIDDAY - And sometimes you want to be normal. Or close to that. The sun is up high and you can see most things clearly. I use "[TOR] MIDDAY - Nostalgika" as my default Midday replacement. (This tutorial shows you how to do that.)

[TOR] MIDDAY - Nostalgika
NIGHT - The moon is out. I did some creative stuff here including using the sun to simulate a faux moon in the cases of "[TOR] NIGHT - Under a yellow moon" and the "[TOR] NIGHT - That spells moon" miniseries . If you want a really dark night, try "[TOR] NIGHT - Nocturne".

[TOR] NIGHT - Under a yellow moon
SCIFI - Surreal and wild settings for your next fantasy romp or voyage onto an alien planet. A diverse assortment across the rainbow, and the biggest category. Good gosh, I wish server-side WindLight would come around already so these could be fully used.

[TOR] SCIFI - Blue sun warmed
SPECIAL - Extremely... extreme settings which mess with the sliders in experimental ways, from lowering Scene Gamma to induce posterization to the self-explanatory-ness of "[TOR] SPECIAL - Use with full bright".

[TOR] SPECIAL - Threshold
SUNRISE - Dawn is here again, and some of these could be used as sunsets too — the technical difference is usually in the Sun/Moon Position slider. For an epic wake-me-up, try "[TOR] SUNRISE - Ultimate!" I don't claim it's the best but it sure is sweeeet.

[TOR] SUNRISE - Across process
SUNSET - One of my fave times of day. Again, a variety, but some of my fave sunsets happen to be warm and loaded with emotional resonance. Sit in a beach chair and bliss out to "[TOR] SUNSET - Vacation". :)

[TOR] SUNSET - Vacation