Drop the flash effect or make it optional

Please drop the flash effect or make it optional.

I really don't want to have the screen turn white when I take a snapshot.

I guess I can use printscreen.

If the flash effect stays I won't want to take snapshots anymore.

Geesh, does everything have to cutesyfied?

The flash effect doesn't even make sense, it happens when you are shooting in bright daylight outdoors.

I don't suppose this might be being done with a texture overlaid on the screen, a texture that be replaced with a clear texture?

Would you prefer a shutter closes over the screen for a moment? An option to turn on or off the flash would be good, though it does have a certain coolness to it. On the other hand, it seems that it causes my client to crash.

P.S. Do not make a shutter close over the screen for a moment. >.>;

I agree with this, I'd like to have the option to at least disable it.

Not just the flash, the dropping away effect also needs to be eliminated or made optional.

I am not allowed to use the language I want to express my true opinion of these useless gimmicks.

If I understand it right... it's not just what happens before you take a picture. Once you hit snapshot, you can move a "frozen" version of the world so you can get the "moment" you want in a press, yet still take time later to get the angle.

Like a frozen 3D moment you can pick an angle on.

Useless gimmick?!
Did you guys not read the release notes?

This new ability to move the camera and position it in 3D after you "freeze" the world is no gimmick. It's a very useful feature that allows you to position the camera just right without worrying if something moves. Instead of taking 10 snapshots in a row to try and get the best picture, you can simply move the camera after the fact. The flash is there to let you know the world has been frozen momentarily and can be manipulated.

I agree that the flash effect needs the option to be turned off. The freeze function is very handy though and should be kept. As far as the snapshot function as a whole though, I think a quick snap button hould be available too, something simple and quick for the instant pic you need to show someone a problem or a record of an interesting build. Not every picture needs to be an Ansel Adams masterpiece and simple quick is what most people need for everyday.

How about a snapshot option, and call the new option a "Dead Zone" image, where you get to look at it from all angles like a John smith "vision"?

Freezing the world is great - unless you are TRYING to capture something at just the right time, when you used to be able to just keep snapping until you got it right, and now you have to repeatedly go into and out of the snapshot ui (unless I am missing something)

The flash is cute, but very annoying after the first say, one time you see it.

Um, Yes, then I tried it out. Don't get me wrong, it's a fantastic idea in theory - I would never call it a useless gimmick but it could use a little work still. Perhaps it's just me (and the fact that Siva either crashes or grinds to almost standstill after using it for more than 2 minutes for me)...

My flex-cape does not freeze entirely but slowly drops as I move the camera around. Animated textures do not freeze in place but revert back to the very first frame of their animation. And particles freeze ALL facing the client, meaning as soon as you freeze it if you have any particles in the shot you can't change the angle too drastically, because they'll squash or vanish completely. Anyone else getting other results than this? Please tell me at least the particle-thing is just my crappy graphics card? :/

Other than that, I love it, and will still be able to use it for snapshots, be eager to see how people use it for bullet-time-type effects in Machinima, ect.

It's annoying the first time.


Your response leads me to think you did not understand my post.

I have used the new snapshot function a number of times in the preview; that is how I know that I don't like the white flash effect. Same for the picture-falling-away effect. My experience of these effects is what enables me to know from experience that I dislike them.

My objection is not to the new functionality. I did not say anything to suggest that I had any objection to the new functionality.

The flash effect is a useless gimmick that contributes nothing to the operation of the new functionality in the snapshot process.

A flash effect does not convey the meaning you attribute to it. A flash effect could mean someone is at the door. It could mean your video card is about to burn out.

The flash effect occurs every time you select a new option in the dialog box.

We are able to use other dialog boxes such as the preferences dialog without having the screen flash white when we change an option. What makes this dialog require that every change in its settings be accompanied by a white flash? If there is such a burning need for a flash to occur why not have an icon on the dialog box flash?

My objection is not to the new functionality, it is to the white flash and the picture-falling-away animation.

You did not comment on the picture-falling-away animation. The picture falling away animation serves no purpose that I want served.

Having these non-functional visual effects be optional would not detract from the enjoyment of those who enjoy white flashes and picture dropping away imagery.

It's annoying the first time.

I liked how it used to be.. How about LL leaves things alone that arent broke? :/

Sorry for the repetitive nature of this post but some of the responses above don't indicate that people get my point, and I don't want the most recent post in this thread to be one that goes off on an unrealistic tangent.

The program had the least bugs before it was ever started.

The program is going to have new features added; their addition will require altering old features.

Wanting the program to stay just like it is a waste of time, like wanting the sun to change colors to match your clothes. You might think it would be nice but it's not going to happen.

I am not aguing against progress in general.

I am not making any statement one way or the other about any of the new functions in the snapshot system.

I object to the big white flash across the screen and the picture-dropping-away animation.

I don't like glitzy effects in interfaces in general and I don't like these two in particular.

I want to be able to use the new snapshot functions, in whatever form they arrive, without having these two visual annoying non-functional special effects.

I asked about this matter in Second Life Answers and Torley said



I would appreciate some help in wording a poll on this matter. There is no point in having a poll if the queston asked is not understood any better than my original post was.

*hugs* I feel for ya there - I'm involved in a complex discussion on a different site where about 30% of the users simply don't seem to be able to read the posts of the other 70%

Given the rather confused responses you are getting, I'd suggest that you actually set up 3 polls, I know you may get accused of spamming the forum, but I think there are three separate questions....

POLL 1
Q: "Do you think that the WHITE FLASH on snapshots should be there. Never mind anything else, this is just about the flash"
A: "I LOVE IT! Everyone should see it all the time"
A: "It is an annoying waste of time and effort - delete it from the client"
A: "Make it optional, keep everyone happy"


POLL 2
Q: "Do you think that the DROP AWAY effect on snapshots should be there. Never mind anything else, this is just about the drop animation"
A: "I LOVE IT! Everyone should see it all the time"
A: "It is an annoying waste of time and effort - delete it from the client"
A: "Make it optional, keep everyone happy"


POLL 3
Q: "Do you like the new fuctionality in the snapshot system. Ignore UI considerations, just, so you like time freeze, camera repositioning, and the ability to control the output type."
A: "It's a definite improvement. It allows you to do way more with the interface"
A: "Yeuk. It gets in the way of just taking a snapshot. I've got a great camera on my phone, why do I need to learn to use a professional SLR just to snap a funny moment?"
A: "Why not have a quick snap hotkey that acts like the old one did, and a different hotkey that leaps into the full ui?"


Hopefully, if people see all three polls go up they may engage their brans and actually consider just the question that each of them is asking...

Personally, I have no objection to all three being optional, but I would sure prefer the flash and drop-away to NOT be there for me.

I mostly like the new camera controls, but I can think of a few tweaks for later, quite apart from the two separate bug reports I've already filed on specific point where they fail to perform as "advertised".

So yeah, I take a fair number of snaps in world, and yeah, I've spent a few hours in 1.11 already snapshotting an experimenting, and yeah, that flash is ANNOYING

When I enter the world, it can take up to twenty minutes for everything to rez. Then I move somewhere else, and have to go through the interminable process of watching grey rectangles until eventually things clear and I can see where I am. Then, when I go home, what was rezzed is no longer, and I am back to a world of grey rectangles.

I am running a high-spec computer, and I don't think I am alone in experiencing this.

So why is priority given to things like photographs, when the basic world is still not working right?

If it is taking that long to rez, I would suspect that you are suffering from packet loss issues....

Which isn't to say that I disagree with you - more could be done (e.g. moving to TCP instead of UDP) to mitigate / alleviate that, even if it is the cause.

That said.... not every programmer can write every type of code - for example, a GUI specialist that knows how to put together snazzy OpenGL special effects can almost certainly NOT write efficient Unix domain socket code, so there are limits to what can be done with resource allocation there

This purpose of this thread concerns the non-functional visual effects I call "picture-dropping-away" and "white flash" in the upcoming snapshot dialog.

To understand what the picture dropping away animation is, go to the 1.11 interface preview, bring up the snapshot dialog, and adjust the resolution by clicking on the triangles next to the width and height resolution values.

When you use the increment triangles next to the width and height fields to change the dimensions , each click causes the the picture dropping away animation to occur.

I am not objecting to being able to change the resultion; I object to the picture dropping away animation.

I am capable of understanding that something changes when I change the resolution. In fact the desire for something to change, namely the resolution, is what motivates the change in resolution. The fact that the number displayed for width or height changes to a new value is a clear enough indication of change in width or height to suit me. I don't need an animation running across the entire screen every time I click on an increment decrement triangle.

Ummm... because they know how to make useless white flashes? Just guessing.

Sigh, diverted again.

Time to go to work.

I've mentioned the idea of making the "flash effect" optional to the developers.

Some Resis have also brought up the point that the "God mode hack" has a silent snapshots option, and they'd like this transposed to the new way of taking pictures in Preview 1.11.

(Yes, I'm aware of the obligatory privacy concerns too, but you can take a screen capture with an external app without making a sound at all.)

Flash effect and picture-dropping-down animation sequence.

The whole "picture dropping away" animation needs to be included with the "flash effect" in being made optional.

The lowest resolution you can set for width in 32. I clicked increment triangle triangle one hundred times before losing patience with the process, getting up to 3264 pixels horizontal . One hundred flashes and one hundred picture falling away animations.

I'd like to rant and say something delightfully negative but I will restrain myself. Please make this non-functional effect optional.

Sue i'm not objecting to you at all. I agree that the flash has to go. I can stand the new snapshot window if they would just bring back the mini preview window instead of using the whole dang screen. :/ Like this!



Or atleast give us both and make the fullscreen one optional. I think its horrible... I'm a minimalist i dislike large bulky things cluttering my view. :/

I certainly hope 1.11 hasn't been delayed because they want to introduce more and bigger and flashier non-functional visual fluff.