Typing Animation

It's nice to be able to turn off the TA. Get rid of the hand movement and the sound. But the silence and lack of movement creates another problem!!
In IM you can see that the other person is "typing" a reply...so you can wait till they finish..otherwise you cut across their train of thought and the conversation becomes jerky!
In chat, I rely on seeing the typing action for the same purpose.
So when chatting to people who have TA turned off, you dont know whether they are typing, waiting, thinking or just daydreaming!!
A pity the Speach Gestures only apply to voice! Nice if they also could be used for typing!!
Any suggestions?

Several!

1. Suppress the typing animation, but not the sound. An AO that uses high-priority animations will do this. I use one from SEmotion by Marie Sims.

2. Suppress the annoying clacking, but not the typing anim. You can do this in the Debug settings of the Advanced menu. (CTRL+ALT+D to get that, if you don't see it.)

3. Substitute some other animation for the typing hands. There are several options...
- a laptop that magically appears when you type. At least you have something to type ON.
- a book that appears, that you write in (I think that one's from Grendel's Children).
- a set of "waving arms" gestures that mimic the normal gestures we all make to emphasize our words. There are a couple of vendors that make these. Some look more realistic than others. I used to use one called "FemTalk", but stopped when I got my SEMotion AO.

For more information, check out the SL Exchange Marketplace, under the category Animations/Typing Animations.

You can actually get rid of the entire animation in the Debug Settings. Look for "PlayTypingAnim" and set it to FALSE.

huh I wasn't aware you could do this, I should add this to the instructions for my typing overrides, thanks!

If you have the determination... You can lead everything you type in chat with /0 and there will be no sound or animations. (^_^)

As long as you're asking for suggestions, mine is: embrace it. I find the typing animation and sound not only to be useful and necessary as a communication cue, but very funny, cute, and just SOOO SL.

But to each their own. If you just don't like it, then Lindal's alternatives are nice. I like the animated laptop she mentions; it's even funnier and cuter than the typing, IMO.

I also like your idea of the voice cues being applied to typing; maybe that's the future.

Geeze, Johann, thanks for upping the stakes. Don't do that until I have a chance to pop in world and double check.

Do you know the name of the debug setting? Or did you get confused and were thinking about PlayTypingAnim? That turns off both sound and animation.

I found this type overrider that makes a mahjong table appear in front of you and you move a little mahjong tile. It is just sooo weird. Free at mahjong island.

Someone gave me a TO that rezzes a smoking crystal ball in front of me while playing demonic incantations. I only use it to seriously freak people out. (^_^)

That's what I need to check.

[EDIT] After looking in the Knowledge Base and the debug menu, it appears I was wrong. I don't see a way to turn off ONLY the clacking sound.

Sorry!

I had an idea that I'd like to use for a typing override, but I have no idea how to implement it. I'd like a light bulb to appear (and maybe spin)over my head while I'm typing. Anyone know if that's feasible?

Yes, it could be done quite easily. Use a typing override script such as the one here:

http://www.lovelymachine.com/Dolmere/2006/09/keyboard_override_typing_anima.html

Add commands to set the bulb invisible when typing is not happening and visible when typing is happening. Rotate the bulb texture to make it look like it's spinning all the time. Attach the bulb to some attachment point on the head. Done!

And yes, there is a way to turn off just the typing sound. It turns it off for everyone's typing, not just for you. I can't check it right now, but it involves deleting the UUID for the typing sound in the Debug menu.

curses!


Hope springs anew!

Select the item UISndTyping in the Debug pulldown list. Delete the UUID. No typing sound!

oo thanks!

Thank you! I'll play around with that.