My Eye View v3 Version 3.0

Like lots of things in Second Life I think we can all agree that the default camera position is... Somewhat less than totally optimal. It's too high - especially if you're short like I am, or if you're using a prim or mesh avatar like a Petite or animal avatar. It's too far away, and worst of all, it prevents you from seeing the shoes that you spend all your Lindens on.

Seriously, that last one was a prime motivator for me when I wrote the first version :)

That's where the My Eye View HUD comes in - and let's start calling it MEV right away. This is the third version of my little gizmo. I've given away just over 5000 of the previous version which you can still pick up for free at my shop in Second Life or here on MP.

So let's get down to why you should part with your L$ for this version when I just told you that you can still get the previous version for free. I must be ether really confident in the new version, or the worst business person in SL.

Or, to quote Gomez Addams - "Why not both!?"

There are several photos showing the various camera effects and positions. All were shot in SL using the standard "Save photos to hard drive" option. I resized my viewer to a narrow view, but other than adding the text and combining two shots into one image there has been no image manipulation of any sort.

Also, after spending all day writing this and taking photos to try to explain everything it occurred to me that I could just cheat and create a fully functional demo of the MEV and let people see for themselves, so I did that.

Of course I'd already written all this and taken photos so I'll be hanged if I'm going to not post it so...

Features:

✓ The MEV actively over rides the default SL camera position, zoom, and angle. This means that you can move your camera both horizontally and vertically, zoom in or out, and change the angle of the camera, and when you move MEV keeps the camera where you set it rather than snapping it back to the default SL camera position.

✓ The Auto Tilt option will cause the camera to tilt when MEV detects you walking, running, or crouch walking up or down an incline. Once you're back on a relatively flat surface the camera will return to the position you've set it at.

✓ The Auto Avoid option - which was impossible to take a meaningful picture of - detects when there's an object between your avatar and the camera and moves the camera so it's just behind you and slightly to the left. Once the obstacle is out of the way the camera repositions to where ever you've set it.

✓ The Float function is... It's hard to explain. This is the third version of this HUD and I still can't easily explain it, but here goes nothing. Normally when your avatar moves the camera moves instantly. You walk forward five meters the camera moves forward five meters at the exact same time. Float allows you to delay the camera's movement up to one full second, so when you start to walk it appears that you're walking away from the camera until it starts to move. When you stop the camera "catches up" and then stops. A low float settings makes the camera movements smoother and more organic looking. High float settings are lots of fun in fast moving vehicles like air craft, making you feel as if you're in a pursuing vehicle trying to catch yourself :)

✓ There is a reset button which returns the MEV to its default setting, and three Preset buttons where you can store camera positions you like for instant retrieval.

✓ Clicking the power button hides or restores the HUD. Clicking and holding it for three seconds turns the HUD off.

✓ The MEV will continue to work even in no script areas so long as it's active when you enter the area.

✓ The Help button takes you to the MEV instruction page (http://diabolicalsuperscience.net/?p=422).

MEV uses one script which takes up about 40KB and typically uses .000003 MS of script time or less. It's copy, mod - except for the script of course, and no transfer.