3.e Advanced Mode

The IMVU previewer comes prepared for the painter to change textures and the novice modeler to play with geometry. In order to create a Head you must enter the dark and forbidding world of.....ADVANCED MODE. Muahahahahahaaa.

Under Edit in the main menu, check Advanced Mode. This will actually set the previewer default to Advanced Mode so there is less hassle. You will notice several new tabs appear within the previewer window. You will use most of these before we are through.

Fig 3.2 - Choosing Advanced Mode

3.f Auto-refresh

Something you might want to do at some point in the Head making process is turn off Auto-Refresh. With Auto-Refresh on, the previewer applies every change you make when you make it. Sometimes a single change can cause a pause of about 10 to 20 seconds while your change loads. You are going to be making so many changes that a 10 to 20 second wait between them will quickly become tiresome. When you are ready to see any of the changes you have made, just hit any available Apply Changes button.

3.g Use OpenGL Rendering option

IMVU's default rendering software is provided by Pixomatic, or Pixo. Pixo is a software renderer while most other renderers use hardware acceleration. Because of this, the Pixo renderer is able to run on a larger base of machines and is likely to cause fewer headaches upon first installation of IMVU. However, because Pixo omits some of the more costly rendering calculations (filtering, anti-aliasing, and alpha textures just to name a few) it does not usually look as good as OpenGL.

IMVU users have the choice of running IMVU in either Pixo or OpenGL. This support is also available in the Previewer. If you want to see your Head looking fantastic, choose “Use OpenGL Rendering” from the edit menu. However, be advised that you should always check to see what your Head looks like in Pixo in case there are any problem areas. I, for one, always build in Pixo because I know that if I get things looking good in Pixo, they will just look better in GL.