Alchemy viewer made a Christmas Day release of their latest Beta, version 3.7.23.34447, on December 25th.

Described as being something of an interim release pending the next full release, the update sees the viewer maintain parity with the Lab’s code base (3.7.23). This means it should have recent Lab-driven updates such as the latest maintenance fixes. There’s also a number of tidy updates and tweaks as well.

The headline update on the Alchemy blog is the inclusion of FMOD Studio, which “provides the latest in 3D audio in gaming”. I didn’t in all honesty noticed that much of a difference switching between the same music stream while swapping between this release of Alchemy and the official SL viewer; but doubtless there is additional work under the hood to eliminate bugs and issues, and I believe the update may be offered as a contribution to the Lab.

The viewer also sees the following new additions:

A WORN tab in inventory – always useful to have

A nicely reworked Object Profile floater

A new Transaction Log (Me > Transaction Log), described as “useful for keeping short term track of tips, donations, and sales”)

The ability to “pop-out” profile pictures, as seen with some other TPVs, by clicking on them

A new status bar icon for Flycam use with the likes of Space Navigator

Inclusion of Qarl Fizz’s Tree and Grass picker from the Inworldz Viewer.

The Transaction Log is likely to be handy for those receiving regular indirect payments. Transactions are recorded across the current log-in session, and when I pulled an old tip jar script from inventory and dropped it into a prim cube, the log immediately recorded payments from my Alt just fine. Received payments are recorded in terms of time, name of payer and amount, and each can be ordered in ascending / descending order.

I’m not entirely convinced of the new Flycam icon, mainly because the “usual” button found at the bottom of the screen worked just fine, so this seems to be a change for change sake, rather than for any definable improvement. However, this is purely a personal observation, and the new icon appears in the top right corner of the status bar when the Flycam capability is in use with a Space Navigator.

Alongside of these changes, the release notes for the update offers bullet points on the remaining updates in the release, and the bugs which have been addressed. Rather than repeat things here, I’ll leave it to those interested in the viewer to take a poke at them.

One thing very worth the mention is that Linux users get a special treat with this release, as with it, Alchemy supports 64-bit Linux distributions.

And interesting, lightweight release (no bad thing given all the Christmas excesses people have been enjoying!), which probably hides a lot more work under the hood than is at first apparent. I’m curious to see what is in store with future releases for machinima makers and photographers, as it certainly sounds as if the Alchemy devs are cooking something up there. But in the meantime, this update should help keep Alchemy users happy.

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