A particle visibility range problem.

This question has to do with the Field of Dreams vegatation generator. It was asked over in the "Building" forum, but got no response. It really is more of a particle systems scripting problem.

Here's the original question:I use the Field of Dreams flowers a lot, but I too find that they aren't visible until you're on top of them. Other particle system generators, tho, like the smoke from my chimney, are visible at much longer distances.

Is there anything that can be done to allow the Field of Dreams particles/flowers to be seen at a greater distance?

Sudane

i dont have a field of dreams, but ow big are the emitters? if the prims that are emitting the particles are too small then the dont draw until you are very close. try making the prims larger.



jester



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Thanks. I'll try that.

It's possible it's just a client-side issue. You have a limited number of particles your client will draw. Perhaps you've set it down too low?

I thought of that, and changed it from the default 4096 to 8000. Made no difference.

The interesting thing to me is the relationship between the two adjacent particle generators, one visible perhaps 100 ms away and the other only 10. And, the fact that the multiple instances of the Field of Dreams emitters (at different locations) all demonstrated the same distance limitation.

I did try the idea suggested by Jester Knox. Definitely made a difference! I changed the emitters from their default size of about a football to the size of a person, maybe 10x, and they definitely draw from further away. Thanks Jester!! (Thankfully the emitters can be made invisible).

But that doesn't give an explanation why the tiny smoke generator prim (smaller than a football) on top of my chimney emits smoke which is visible much further away than the flowers.

Sudane

is the smoke linked to the chimney? that makes a difference, a small prim linked to big ones will draw sooner than a small one on its own.



jester


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This is actually related to how the client draws objects, and yes - it's how "field of dreams" and such functions.

See, if the client were to draw *everything* in a sim at *all* times, you would lag considerably more than the way Second Life does it. So instead, the client draws stuff with a bounding box larger that X amount within Y range, based on one's visibiliity settings.

What's a bounding box? Why does it matter, anyway? Well, the bounding box is the size of all the prims in an object, or linked set, as well as many other things (ie. avatars). So, for your chimney example, if the mini particle emitter is linked to a 30m x 30m x 30m house, it'll still display at a much farther distance than if that emitter were not linked. It's just how the client renders stuff.

And, since displaying particles is linked to whether or not a client is "seeing" the object, there's your problem.

hmm this bring out interesting ideas about how using the lod in a client resouces optimisation point of view

If a prim is material = light, it will be visible from farther away, and therefore so will any particles it emits.

Thanks everyone very much! Certainly makes the whole subject very clear. And now the flowers and grasses can be seen from much further away.

Sudane