VBFM #5 – NY Eve ARC 1 Flashmob

What better way to ring in day 1 of a new decade than by wearing sparkling ARC 1 avatars!

If you don’t know, ARC, or “Avatar Render Cost” is a measure of how much work it is to render your avatar. As I understand it, this is 3D graphics processing, so a location with high ARC avatars is not necessarily too bad for SL’s Server load, but is murder on Your Graphics Card.

System clothing has no ARC because it is “painted” on your body, not rendered in-world. That’s why your system clothes have the reflections painted on them.

Depending on the prim attachments you like to wear, your ARC could be a few hundred or even more. Some of, *cough*cough* Carina’s B-I-G hair has an ARC of 5,000!! And, of course, Alisha prides herself on making wedding and coronation gowns with an unbelievable ARC of 25,000 (I was once kicked out of an SL ballet for showing up in an avatar with a measly ARC of 1,000)

You can actually wear a lot of clothing and still have an ARC of 1. What will kill you (and Zola) is that you can’t wear your bouncy prim hair or your new Bax boots.

To have an ARC of 1, here is what you CAN wear:

1. Shape
2. Skin
3. System Hair – that’s right, like Philip Linden, NOT Prim Hair!
4. Eyes

TOPS:
5. Undershirt
6. Shirt
7. Jacket
8. Gloves

BOTTOMS:
9. Underpants
10. Pants
11. Socks
12. Shoe Base (yes, you can wear a shoe base, but no prim shoes)
13. System Skirt (again, not a prim skirt)

Amazing but true, you can wear 13 things and still have an ARC of 1. You can actually dress really well if you like, you’ll just be a little pressed on shoes and hair. And jewelry. But your custom shape, fabulous skin, sparkling eyes – all good. Well, as long as your skin isn’t glowing from a facelight, and as long as your eyes are “sparkling” because of their beauty and not from prim-eye sparkles!

Anyway, we’ll be the fastest rendering mob this world has seen in a good while!

To see your own, and everyone else’s ARC above your heads, just go:

ADVANCED  >>  RENDERING  >>  INFO DISPLAYS  >>  AVATAR RENDERING COST

Oh BTW, you can’t actually have an ARC of 1 using the Emerald viewer. In your Inventory, below TRASH and above LIBRARY you’ll notice the folder “#Emerald” which wears on your “bridge” the “#LSL<->ClientBridge v 0.04” – this actually carries an ARC of 15 with it. If you take it off, your viewer will just put it back on in a couple of seconds. Peeps using the standard viewer will actually see you with an ARC of 1 anyway, but you’ll see yourself with 16. So, to be a purist about it, break down and run the standard viewer – hey, you’ll get way better pix from the standard viewer anyway.

In the spirit of “low lag” you might think about your HUDs, Radar, AO, etc… you can actually have all of this stuff you like, scripts for days, and still have an ARC of 1 — you’ll be following the ARC 1 “law,” but perhaps not the ARC 1 spirit.

Since it doesn’t effect your ARC,  it’s your choice to wear or not wear any/all of this stuff. But for myself, it’ll be a Duck Walk, and I’ll know who’s near me by looking around – I’ve done it before… how hard can it beeee…. ? 🙂

If you need any help putting together your ARC 1 outfit, just give a shout on VB FRIENDS Chat – some knowledgeable peep will help you find something nice. Yes, you should actually try making your own system hair – it’s easier and more fun than you think. And it’s not *that* painful! kk – we’ll give you some if you want! 😛

As with all VB Flashmobs, everyone is welcome, and anyone can come or go at any time. You should join & activate the VB FRIENDS group so the world can recognize you by your VB “I Rez Therefore I Am” tag.

Happy 2010 Everyone!

I hope it’s a great year!!

–VB