Another question!?

I should have added this to my other thread...but it's not the same issue....

Lighting. Question for creators.......clothing & skin. I'm curious, once you get your final product in-world and try it out on the avatar......what lighting are you checking it in? I ask because I use windlight settings exclusively....even my day cycle is all my own settings....so I never even see the LL default day.

I was going nuts the other day looking at my skins in different light. In many light settings they looked fantastic.....in others....they looked less then ideal. But...I also pulled out skins that I've purchased over the last couple years, and same applies. In some lighting I can easily pick out glitches and imperfections.....while in other settings they look beautiful.

So.....it brings me back to my inquiry......how do you check your final product.....especially knowing that everyone out there isn't necessarily going to see it in the same way that you, the creator, see it. What's the general rule of thumb?

I check my products in the same light as the majority of my customers. It's best to use the default Midday settings in Windlight.

I don't make skins or clothes but I do wear them when in human form. I don't think ANY skin looks good under all lighting conditions and especially under default noon.

To try on skins and clothes I use a WindLight setting someone else made (can't remember who -- maybe it was you?) called Optimal Skin 2:

ATMOSPHERE TAB
Blue Horizon
R 0.10
G 0.11
B 0.12
I 0.12

Haze Horizon 0.03

Blue Density
R 0.36
G 0.50
B 0.64
I 0.64

Haze Density 0.24

Density Multiplier 0.11
Distance Multiplier 15.5
Max Altitude 913

LIGHTING TAB
Sun/ Moon Color
All four settings to 0.06

Sun/Moon Position 0.200

Ambient
All four settings to 0.65

East Angle 0.00

Sun Glow
Focus 0.18
Size 1.40

Scene Gamme 1.01

Star Brightness 0.00

CLOUDS TAB (Probably irrelevent, but . . .)
Cloud color
All four to 0.41

Cloud XY Density
x 1.00
Y 1.00
D 0.30

Cloud Coverage 0.00

Cloud Scale 0.70

Cloud Detail (XY /Density)
x 0.30
Y 0.30
D 0.09

Cloud Scroll X 0.07
Cloud Scroll Y 0.07

There is an Optimal Skin 1, but I don't like it as much. This setting is really handy for checking your own avatar details. But if someone else settles for the default noon lighting I don't think anything is going to look good to them no matter what you do or how great your skins and clothes look.

Eventually I'll get all my XML files named in a way I can upload them to the web. I have a lot of realistic WindLight settings - at least I think so.

You test it in the default noon settings? I mean... the ugly time? Nothing ever looks good under that light setting. Also the 6am and 6pm are also far too extreme in terms of color, shadows, and skin glow to show you anything good. I won't even mention midnight. All FOUR lighting presets... utterly ugly and useless... THANKS LL!!! 9am and 3pm are actually quite passable but the effort to get to those settings is the same as turning on a preset.

I test any new skin under my windlight preset and they always look good.

Ok...cool.....thanks for the input!

I tested my creations under all the settings that I use regularly that seem to make
the best of any skins I've used.....so I'm going to just go with that rule.

And yes....the default midday setting is terrible LOL I feel for people who are using SL and unable to use anything but the defaults....they're so harsh. No wonder some folks are totally unimpressed with SL.....it probably looks like an acid trip nightmare under spot lights. E-gads.