The Quest for Shadows
I put aside my quest for shadows for about a week and then really wondered if there might possibly be and answer for me. I am doing fine in non-shadow mode, and often like it better -- but now and then I would really like those shadows.
I went back to Kirsten's S21 which would no doubt work perfectly (well maybe, one never knows) if I had a Nvidia graphics card. I will say it has the best by far FPS rate of any viewer I have tried. I downloaded the newest "official" viewer and couldn't even get a top menu to show up. Big Brother was protecting me a bit too much. I decided that I most likely would hate it SO much that I would never use it. Then I went to the Imprudence website thinking I would download their latest Viewer 2 and see how those shadows worked.
I never actually got to Imprudence Viewer 2 as the most recent experimental release on the website was a new version of 1.4 (my personal fav). The photo above is used taking that viewer. Now shadows are definitely better for me in this than the previous version, but there are still some alpha issues, NO lashes and somewhat glaring eyes (sigh) and high resolution shots show as solid black still (not apparently a graphics card issue). But, if I want shadows, I can now have them using an old style viewer.
This is the unretouched photo for those that are interested. NO jagged edges which are my problem in Kirsten's. This is a low resolution Print Screen shot which is the only type I can take. Still there are possibilities for those of you with not enough computer power or and ATI graphics card.
Click the photo for the full sized shot. I did crop before uploading; who wants to look at a giant file?
My next experiment will be installing Imprudence Viewer 2 which WAS supposed to be what I was doing today - LOL. Still, I am happy that I now have my old familiar viewer and optional shadows.
On my system, putting antialias to 16x causes and instant crash, so be prepared if you try.
Here is a less arty unretouched shot. I have noticed that the severity of the alpha edge issues seem to be somewhat dependent on the server code that is running. Some give a near perfect shadow rendition and others are VERY bad with white edges abounding. So again, this isn't the end to the quest, just a small step along a long road.
Please feel free to add your hints or experiences with shadows to this post. The more we share, the better!
Happy photography all!
Hair: Amacci Hair Emilia ~ Henna
Skin: [:T:] Zoe / sunkissed :: 06 Brass
Clothing: **Firefall** Rogue
Poses by: EverGlow (new release)
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