Just a Q about see-thru stuff....

I'm not sure where to place this thread... maybe some one knows what's going on... I've tried searching for the problem but haven't found anything related...

I've noticed certain things are "see-thru" on my Asus computer, but not on my Dell... Like shoes on the dance floor, I see the shoes, then a clear see-thru area around the shoes to the land below, not the dance floor... it's hard to explain... and sometimes my Neko ears fur and/or tail is see-thru to what ever's behind them... Or the windows on my house are see-thru to the neighbor's privacy screen, so it looks like I have trees as windows... lol...

It's not a major issue (just a bit annoying, I'm very picky, hehe) and I can play the game fine, I was just wondering if it's something to do with my computer/graphic card because only the Asus seems to do it... and if it can be fixed?

Do other people see me that way too, or is just on my end? It also happens to other avatars I see... like the shoe thing, and I see hair on someones head and where it would be on the body, but not moving around in the air around that person... but not on every avatar and not all the time.

Is there a way to post a screenshot so you guys can see what I'm talking about??

Thanks.

I'm not sure but I think it helps if you use 'Fast Alpha'.
It's in the advanced menu under 'Rendering'.

I know exactly what you mean and often see this myself on my avi. I always just assumed it was one of those sl things lol. I am probably completely wrong but i thought maybe it had to do with invisiprims, that they are maybe a little bigger than the part that you are actually seeing. I don't have any advice how to change it though, just wanted you to know you are not alone

It's refered to as an alpha glitch or alpha rendering problem. Great explanations on the whys and such in the texture forum but essentially it means sl has problems rendering things that contain 'alpha channels'. This is where the 'transparent' information is stored on the textures. If there are two placed closed together, SL has a hard time deciding which to show u so it blinks between the two. It is strongly evident in things like invisiprims (the parts of shoes, for example, made to hide your foot) when the floor also has alphas in it.

Nothing much you can do about it- just look the other way and pretend it's not there.

It isn't an SL thing, it's an OpenGL thing, but because SL is non-optimised user-created graphics it's seen more.

Commonly referred to as the "Alpha Bug" ... it's a problem with rendering multiple alpha textures stacked on each other. Your shoes have an alpha, the dance floor has an alpha, and it can't figure out which one to render. You'll notice it around windows and glass also.

That's all I know about it ... not sure what causes it ... hardware or software, or if it can be fixed. It's just a little annoyance from time to time for me and over the years I've learned to ignore it.

/me is disappointed!

Pep (from the thread title, was hoping for a discussion of whether shirts that turned seethrough were allowed in PG areas. )

That is the way Invisiprims render over Alphaed Textures, and it should be the same on any computer.

I also thought the thread was going to be about. I am also disapointed. Though, what with the new rules and everything, it could just as easily have been a question about Mature areas.

But, but, but...why does she see it one way on one computer and another way on the other?? Did that sound right? Also, this happens a lot with the sides of my hair, it disappears when up against an alpha.

Alpha conflict. Hair has alpha, whatever it is up against, wall, floor, bed, etc. has alpha. Rendering confused. Creates problem.

I do not know about "see it one way" etc. issue.

Hi Lexxi, she uses two different computers, only has that problem on one of them. I was questioning why an alpha bug would constantly and only show up on the one.

I would bet that one PC has an ATI Graphics card and the other has one from Nvidea. Although they are very similar there are some slight differences in the render engines of each. I know that on mine, the ATI causes light to 'twinkle' more, with a slight bloom effect when looking at the light reflecting off the sea. On my PC with a Nvidea card this does not happen. The graphics settings and options on both are identical.

Which card is the one that doesn't cause this problem?

Xstreet had a good forum thread discussing the Alpha bug.

https://www.xstreetsl.com/modules.php?name=Forums&file=viewtopic&t=118380&highlight=alpha+glitch

The OP was right and this post gets the star for the reason why:



I recently bought a new machine that has an ATI card (all new Dells seem to be shipping with ATI atm for some reason) and had been previously using an Nvidia based card.
I have noticed texturing display differences in the way that alpha is applied between the two technologies too. This is a big concern to me, how can content providers ensure that what one person sees, all people see?

As I read the OP, both invisiprim and alpha-sorting are being seen. The bit about shoes making a dancefloor "see-thru" is almost surely the invisiprim effect (the solution to which is to wear flats until we have avatar alpha-masking at which point we can trash all the kludgy foot-hiding invisiprim shoes). The other problems cited seem to be conflicts between alpha textures, and the specifics of when those arise depend on almost anything you can imagine, including graphics card, OpenGL driver version, viewer settings, and the details of the rendering pipeline in a particular viewer release.

Viewer differences have nothing to do with it as I am using exactly the same version (v1.22.11) of the viewer on the new ATI based machine that I was on the Nvidia based machine and the same alpha textures render differently in certain cases.

Alpha sorting is also effected by the way people build, large prims show it more then small prims because angle and texture center play a big part in it.
trouble is that alpha textures are more used in low prim buildings and those also have larger prims sometimes cut and tortured in unexpected ways, it is not uncommon for 3 walls of a room to be made of one single prim with alphatextures on the inside and outside to save on prims for the windows, this can result in the inside wall showing trough the outside wall at some angles.
the only way to fix that for now is to get bigger land so you can have more primmy and detailed buildings that don't use drastic primsaving technics, offcourse not everyone can go that route.

The invisiprim "bug" is no longer a bug, it's now a feature. It can't be fixed without breaking content.

You made me laugh ... thanks for that little highlight in my day.

I wasn't trying to be funny. o_O

Rather pitiful how old funny glitches become sorry truths of norm around here, huh?

O, wow, I never knew it was so complicated.... I should have known, lol...

Anyway, the Asus computer (which does the see-thru the most probably because I use it more than the Dell), has the NVIDIA GeForce 9800M GS graphic card. The Dell has Mobile Intel 945GM Express Chipset Family... I think the Dell does it some but definitely not as much as the Asus.

So I guess there's no way to fix it? Oh, well... thanks everyone.