Month: April 2012

The obsession continues…

Posted on by Inara Pey

I’ve blogged extensively about my love of Frank Lloyd Wright’s Fallingwater, and my attempt to develop a personal interpretation in Second Life. At the time, I was rather pleased with the result, even though elements of the build had to be altered in order for it to fit into a 1/4 sim space – the house really requires an entire region, and that’s not something I’m prepared to invest in within SL; the tier is simply too high.

However, I recently joined Kitely, and as a part of that process gained an entire region for myself, and 100,000 prims to play with – and the perfect opportunity to reproduce Fallingwater in a location more in keeping with the original.

Fallingwater in Kitely, April 15, 2012: “By day…” (click to enlarge)

The work is still ongoing, but I’m already well pleased with what I’ve achieved so far. The recent updates to Kitely have been a joy; not only have I been able to rapidly zap between worlds to grab fixtures and fittings I didn’t want to get caught-up with making, the fixes to the scripting end of Kitely mean I can now employ my usual scripted lighting. This may add a little to the processing overhead, but I hope it gives a much greater depth to the build – as I hope the night shots I’ve taken demonstrate.

Fallingwater in Kitely, April 15, 2012: “…and by night” (click to enlarge)
The Great Room by night, April 15, 2012 (click to enlarge)
As it looked in Second Life, squeezed into a quarter-sim

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ETA: should have said: all daytime images taken using Firestorm, with deferred rendering enabled and lighting & shadows on, Windlight set to Dynamic Richness. Night images taken with Sun set to Midnight, deferred enabled and lighting & shadows enabled. 

Scripted lighting effects produce best results with deferred rendering active.  

What might have been: Graphical SL on the iPhone

Posted on by Inara Pey

We’ve all dreamed about running “full” SL on mobile devices; while there are some great text-based clients available for both Android devices and the iPhone which offer a lot of functionality, it’s fair to say that SL doesn’t always feel like SL when the graphical element is removed. Whether we will eventually see SL accessible via mobile devices and tablets on a regular basis is open to debate – although with the likes of Unity, it’s hard not to believe there will be a time when graphical access to SL via such devices will be available.

In fact, where the iPhone is concerned, it wasn’t that long ago that it looked as if graphical access to SL might not be that far away, as the video below shows.

This concept demo was developed by Comverse back in 2008. It made SL on the iPhone possible by using a server sitting between SL and the iPhone to handle all the hard number-crunching, with the results being streamed to the iPhone’s web browser, with inputs from the interface being sent back to the server for processing, prior to being sent to the SL servers. The go-between server clearly has an impact on response times, but as   Tech Digest said at the time, it wasn’t bad for a proof-of-concept at the time.

Sadly, the project never seemed to go beyond this demo phase, and there is now no mention of it on the Converse website. Still, it’s interesting to contemplate where the idea might have gone, and whether it might yet simply prove to be an idea a little ahead of its time, technology-wise.

When putting the “lab” back into “Linden Lab” might need more consideration

Posted on by Inara Pey

The recent Marketplace issues are not precisely news any more. LL are working to resolve matters, but in the meantime are coming under increasing backlash from users as in response to the overall management of the situation, both in terms of the manner in which the company has handled open communications with merchants on the matter and in the way the Marketplace as a whole has been handled over the years – which frankly, has been far from stellar.

My thoughts on LL’s handling of communications on the core issues is a matter of record here. Others feel the same way, so much so that a vexed comment from Sera Lok on Twitter lead to a response from Rodvik:

On the one hand, the honesty in Rodvik’s response is to be applauded. Free from BS, it speaks to the heart of the matter in many respects. However, it has to be said that one apology via Twitter isn’t actually enough.

Not One-off

The problem here is that the current Marketplace issues are not a one-off situation; the fact is that the Marketplace as a whole has effectively lurched from controversy to controversy ever since XStreet, its progenitor (so to speak), was purchased by Linden Lab back in January 2009. Indeed, some of the problems being experienced today are as a result of issues relating to the re-coding / relaunch of XStreet as the SL Marketplace back in 2010, as LL themselves note in updates to their forum posts on problems.  As such, it has caused merchants and SL commentators to give voice to the widespread sense of frustration many feel towards LL and their management of updates and changes:

And herein lies the rub: one can well understand the managing, maintaining and updating a beast such as Second Life, which has had an organic growth over its 10-plus years of life,  to be nothing short of a major headache. It’s a difficult and complicated monster to control without sometimes breaking things; but the same cannot be said of SLM. This is a product that was originally purchased  as XStreet in a reasonably robust and working form, thus LL had no reason to rush through its redevelopment  and implementation  – yet that appears to have been precisely what happened in the drive to replace XStreet with SLM.

There can be no excuse here: the entire process appears to have been mishandled from start to finish, frequently with deadlines seeming to come ahead of consideration as to whether code was ready and often missing critical functions.  Even the recent roll-out of Direct Delivery trod this all-too-familiar route; while merchants openly pleaded with the Commerce Team not to roll out DD without ANS (Automated Notification of Sale) with some even posting precisely why ANS is vital to many merchants. Yet, when launched, DD brought with it the statement that ANS would be enabled in “next couple of weeks” (a time frame which itself, unsurprisingly, has slipped given the ongoing problems).

“Putting the Lab back into Linden Lab”

In a recent interview with Games Industry,  Rod Humble indicated that one of his goals from the start of his tenure as CEO was to “put the ‘lab’ back into Linden Lab”. Well, the mark of a good lab is its ability to rigorously apply robust and consistent processes and procedures to the work it carries out. At the moment, particularly with reference to the company’s management of the Marketplace, it would appear that much more needs to be done before the “Lab” is anywhere near being back in “Linden Lab”.

While it is very good to know the team is “crunching hard” to resolve issues, one very much hopes that the outcome will be more than a simple “fix it and move on”, leaving the door for the same mistakes to again be made in handling future Marketplace updates. Rather, one hopes that a long, objective look will be taken as to how things are being managed and the necessary checks and balances implemented to ensure that product roll-outs are no longer subject to the poor level of quality that  – as Tateru points out in her Tweet – users have been forced to expect and accept over the years.

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Upcoming Events, April 14th-15th

Posted on by Inara Pey

I’ve received notecards relating to two events occurring this weekend I’ve been asked to pass on to readers.

Saturday 14th April: LEA Hosts Project 48 Machinima Premiere

From Pete Linden, Linden Labs

The global sensation that is the 48 Hour Film Project comes to the virtual world of Second Life on with an exclusive in world screening of all entries from the 2012 Machinima 48 Hour Film Project, accompanied by film crew interviews and a presentation by Emmy nominated Film SFX supervisor Tony Dyson.

22 teams have entered the world-famous 48 Hour Film Project Machinima, where crews must create a movie within exactly 48 hours: write, shoot, edit and score it. With 3 required elements (prop, character and line of dialogue) and a randomly assigned genre, filmmakers must work fast to create high-speed cinematic history. In the Project 48 Machinima edition, films are created within games and online platforms.

The Linden Endowment for the Arts (LEA) is a resident-managed agency within the world of Second Life, tasked with nurturing and promoting the arts community within the virtual world. LEA’s new Media Arts Center specifically works with awareness, education and development of virtual world-generated video (machinima) and will be hosting this screening within its new LEA Theater, a high-tech facility designed for cutting-edge media events.

The program will also feature the head of jury, noted Emmy-nominated special effects supervisor Tony Dyson (Moonraker, Dragon Slayer, Star Wars, Altered States) delivering his jury keynote speech before the official awards ceremony. This event will be streamed live to the Casula Powerhouse Theater in Sydney, Australia.

Other judges; Sean Callinan, Paul Nunes, Chris Howlett, Dan Graf, Trace Sanderson (aka Lainy Voom) and event host Phaylen Fairchild.

The winning film will represent the 48HFPmachinima at the Filmapalooza Filmfestival 2012, in Los Angeles, and take away a grande first prize of 3,000 Australian dollars.

Event producers: Chantal Harvey and Tom Papas

Event Details

  • Location: LEA Theatre, SL
  • Times: Saturday April 14th 23:00 SLT (Sunday 15th April @ 08:00 Europe; 16:00 Australia).

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Sunday 15th April: Duche de Coeur: Opera meets Couture Gala

From Baharat Atlas, Duché de Coeur

Duché de Coeur’s Academie Royale de Musique (ARM) and MANIERA LLC present the first annual Opera Meets Couture fashion show and gala. A magical night inspired by Vogue’s Night of a 1000 Stars. Please join us Sunday, April 15th starting at 12pm SLT for an afternoon filled with music, dancing and fashion.

A selection of gowns from some of Second Life®‘s top designers will be sold with partial proceeds being donated to help support the Academie’s education and outreach efforts.

ARM’s director, Marquise Baharat Atlas, “Music education is of course at the forefront of our education agenda, and we offer a series of music education workshops and listening sessions. The Academie however continues to grow and expand beyond music into the performing arts enabling us to produce elaborate dance productions. We also offer immersive educational activities that allow guests to experience 18th century French customs and culture. All of our offerings are open to all”

Academie Royale de Musique supports and promotes superior music and theatre at the Duche de Coeur. The Academie’s mission primarily focuses on classical music however it showcases a variety of genre through several music appreciation and educational workshops and sessions.

The Academie also produces modern and liturgical dance as well as ballet and stage plays. We are proud of our partnerships with Unity Productions (liturgical and modern dance) and KG Shine Productions (theatrical plays). Together we bring spectacular performances throughout the year.

Maniera Inc. is a premier Second Life® fashion and lifestyle corporation with three subsidiary companies including: Maniera Magazine, Maniera Model Management and Maniera Institute of Style. For all business inquiries, please contact Topaz Joubert, CEO of Maniera Inc.

MANIERA MAGAZINE is one of Second Life®’s top fashion and lifestyle magazines with a distribution of over 30,000 in world. We were the first themed magazine in Second Life® and boast a staff of professionals in their field not only in Second Life® but in real life as well. We raise the bar of Second Life®’s magazine publishing industry by demanding excellence in our professional writing, expert photography and sleek design. Maniera Magazine is published in-world Monthly and also on the world-wide web via Issuu.

Event Details

  • Location: Le Musee dans le Ciel
  • Times: Sunday April 15th
    • Pre-show reception: 12:00 midday SLT
    • Auction: 13:00 SLT
    • Gala featuring Aelthing Aeon: 15:00 SLT

LL: reaching out creatively

Posted on by Inara Pey

Back in the mists of time, I wrote several pieces centred on Linden Lab, one of which in particular, Business, Collaboration and Creative Growth, focused on the Lab’s relationship with the pool of talent it has at its fingertips: the user base.

In that piece, I bullet-pointed a number of ways in which engagement with the community could directly help market and promote Second Life as a whole, noting in closing:

“In short, Linden Lab needs to start collaborating with the user community once more and thinking more holistically about their product. Doing so isn’t going to solve all of SL’s woes (would it were that easy); but it will represent a major step in the right direction.”

Well, it appears that at least some of the holistic thinking is taking hold at the Lab, as the SL website log-in / splash page has been quietly undergoing an overhaul of late.

For a good while, the screen comprised a series of images that fell somewhat short of enticing – if not outright ugly. Perhaps the most famous of these was the “vampire in a snowstorm” image.

Camp-ire: the vampire-in-a-snowstorm log-in page image

Several commentators took LL to task over the images selection – which could at the time best be described as “vapid” – and earlier this year things started improving, with crisper images of avatars appearing, together with picture credits.

Now LL have gone the extra mile and not only engaged with some of best photographers and artists in SL to produce some really outstanding images for the log-in screen, they would appear to have started working on a theme-based approach to advertising SL through the splash page – the current theme being music. I caught sight of the new pages while browsing Strawberry Singh’s blog, but got sidetracked away from the new art by things like Havok sub-licencing and Marketplace updates, which became the focus of recent blog posts.

Strawberry is one of a number of SL artists who were asked by LL to produce music-themed images a few weeks ago, the other being Harlow Heslop, Miaa Rebane, siXX Yangtz and Harper Beresford, and Ivoni Miles. The results are simply spectacular.

Strawberry Singh’s SL log-in page artwork, featuring herself and Prad Prathivi

All of the images capture the heart of music entertainment in SL in all its diverse forms, with Strawberry’s in particular hinting at more – friendship and relationships. This is a fresh move from Linden Lab in combining user-generated images on a thematic basis to help promote SL and it is one to be applauded – and one I hope we’ll see more of – for how better to capture the rich diversity of Second Life other than by working with those intimately involved with it?

With efforts like this, it would be nice to see some kind of Destination Guide tie-in as well: perhaps with a special sub-category of “What’s Hot” appearing on the log-in screen carrying information on locations directly related to the image theme: in this case, a list of the currently hot live music venues in SL.

Harlow Heslop’s evocative image

After all, if music is being used to promote SL – then it makes sense for LL to provide the follow-through and help those drawn to SL as a result of the theme to actually  connect with the in-world music scene – or whatever the chosen promotional theme is.

Of course, this isn’t the first time LL have sought to work with members of the community, and it would be unfair to cast it as such. But given the way in which LL has been perceived to be retreating from direct engagement with the community over the last few years – a perception they have contributed in no small part themselves – this move is to be commended. Hopefully, it’ll be the first step along the way to the Lab working more directly with members of the user community to better promote SL and reach out to potential users. Certainly, there are many powerful tools that can be used in this regard – such as machinima, something I’ve again discussed elsewhere – and the talent to leverage those tools is rich within SL itself. I’ve little doubt that were this talent to be harnessed, the results would be beyond anything LL have themselves been able to produce using this incredible medium.

In the meantime, credit and thanks must go to Strawberry, Harlow and the other contributors to the artwork for their time and effort. So why not take a look at their work for yourself? (Remember you’ll have to log-out of the SL website in order to display the log-in / splash page and see the images.)

With thanks to Strawberry Singh.

Marketplace: LL updates further, but communications hardly “regular”

Posted on by Inara Pey

Linden Lab has issued a further brief update about the on-going Marketplace issues, to whit:

Today we updated Marketplace to address two of the top three outstanding issues:

  • WEB-4580: purchases are now delivered to recipients with the inventory name (which does not allow unicode characters). This will prevent future orders from getting stuck in the Being Delivered state due to this issue. In addition, all orders affected by this problem have been pushed through.
  • WEB-4587:  updates have been made to support updating store search results, which we will process over the next week; we continue to work on the issue related to mismatched data on listings. We do know that this issue has existed since September 2010 (during the migration from Xstreet to the Second Life Marketplace).

We continue to work on the other Marketplace JIRAs and will provide additional updates as soon as possible.

Menwhile, Rodvik has stepped in to defend how matters have been handled in terms of communications, stating on Twitter:

While it is true that the Commerce Team clearly engaged with individuals experiencing problems through the medium of e-mail exchanged, it is nevertheless also true that feedback on this matter in the broader sense has been severely lacking from the Lab, with little or nothing being posted to either the main forum thread on the WEB-4587 issues or the JIRA itself. This left many merchants both frustrated and feeling as if they’d been abandoned, while those who had received some feedback from the Lab via e-mail tried to pass on the information to a wider audience in lieu of LL doing so.

It is good that progress is being made – but equally, it would be nice if LL would do more to keep users openly informed. As those responding to Rodvik’s tweets note:

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