[sldev] VWR-10311 Enabling lip sync by default

[Jonathan Bishop]

Q Said...

"Given the excessive complexity of the preferences dialog already, we  
should take every opportunity to remove things from prefs, and there  
should be a VERY high bar for adding anything to prefs. It's all too  
easy for open projects to grow massive preferences systems and  
configuration files because the outcome of most feature debates is to  
compromise and add a preference.

In this case, especially given that it already lives in Advanced, I  
strongly recommend we not move it to Preferences." Q

-----

I could not disagree more - which is kind of unusual for me, since I rarely
have much dispute with the LL team.  Prefs is not yet even approaching
complex, whereas the advanced menus are nuts.  Put it in prefs.  

I absolutely agree with those arguing for lip synch being on by default.
For effective immersion lip synch and a range of other behaviours are
valuable in game play, but for other purposes it is or will rapidly become a
defining requirement for acceptance among those who are not technophiles, or
necessarily experienced VW users - eg lecture based education, corporate
meetings, mixed mode 2D-3D delivery, and even for the more technically
competent users engaged in machina (where lip synching must other wise be
done with extensive post processing).  

However, as with voice, there will be those that object to it because it
removes some of the characteristic, imagination and imposed creativity of
the current experience (while replacing it with new dimensions of the same).
So when first introduced it should be able to be turned off easily in prefs,
and as it achieves normality and users have adapted their
game-play/world-view to the new dimension, the control can be moved to
advanced.  As with the colour TV example - raised elsewhere, I hate losing
control entirely, so I would not want the off option to totally disappear,
but I think stuffing things into advanced as they become rarely used is the
right way to go.

Given the technical advice elsewhere that lip-synch has no impact on
bandwidth, performance or CPU load, I can't see any advantage in denying its
introduction, but I do acknowledge the variety of game play argument, and
accept the importance of allowing people to preserve their current
experience - so allow it to be turned off in prefs initially and migrate it
to advanced over time.

I do not use voice much normally (but then most of my SL time is spent alone
building and scripting), but in training sessions, business meetings, sim
management, and promotional work in SL I always use it - and in those spaces
it makes an incredible difference.  The biggest single impact is in
acclimatizing new users - particularly real world clients - to SL so they
can attend training or a meeting.  Voice - and the current sound based
flappy mouth thing that passes for lip synch at the moment, gives them a
something familiar around which to anchor in an otherwise alien experience.

Regards

Jonathan Bishop