Day: May 23, 2017

Second Life mesh upload prerequisites revised

Posted on by Inara Pey
The Mesh Upload Tutorial is no more

When mesh content was being introduced to Second Life, linden Lab implemented a “gate” on people’s ability to upload mesh models to both Agni (the Main grid) and Aditi (the Beta grid).

In both cases, anyone wishing to upload mesh had to:

  • Provide payment information to Linden Lab
  • Complete a mesh intellectual property rights tutorial / questionnaire.

This has now been streamlined so that all someone who wishes to upload mesh needs to do is

  • Provide payment information to Linden Lab
  • Confirm they have read / agree to Linden Lab’s Terms of Service and Intellectual Property Policy, and acknowledge they may be subject to Linden Lab’s removal procedures should you fail to comply with these policies.

For those already “cleared” to upload mesh to Second Life, nothing changes – you remain approved.

However, if you are new to uploading mesh models to SL, you now have a far more streamlined process to complete in order to do so, as noted below.

Go to your dashboard at secondlife.com, and select Mesh Upload Status from the left-hand Account menu. This will display a summary page of your current status. If you have previously provided payment information to linden Lab and previously completed the Mesh Upload Tutorial, your information will be shown in green (below).

If you are registered for uploading mesh, both parts of the Mesh Upload status page will be shown in green

If you have not provided payment information to Linden Lab (only required for uploads to the Main grid) and / or you have not confirmed you have read the Terms of Service (ToS) / the Intellectual Property Policy, one or both of the status boxes on the page will be red.

Further, note that you cannot confirm acceptance of the ToS  / the Intellectual Property Policy until you have provided payment information, as shown in the image below (note the second red box).

The Mesh Upload status page for someone who has not provided payment information to Linden Lab. Note they cannot accept the Terms of Service / Intellectual Property Policy until they have.

If payment information needs to be filed, clicking the My Payment Info will display your account’s Billing Information Page, where you can add a payment method. When you have done so, you can return to the Mesh Upload Page, which will show the payment information section in green, indicating your payment method is on file.

You can now proceed with accepting the terms and policy, by clicking on the Accept The IP Terms link.

The Mesh Upload status page for someone who has provided payment information, but who has not confirmed they have read the ToS / Intellectual Property Policy

Doing so will display the Accept IP Terms page, which has a large I Accept button, and links to the ToS and the Intellectual Property Policy. note that both of these will open in the same browser tab as used by the Accept IP Terms page, so use your browser’s Back button to return to it when you are ready to accept.

When you are ready to do so, click the I Accept button to confirm your agreement to adhere to the ToS / Intellectual Property Policy. The Mesh Upload status page will update to show the required fields are green, and you are cleared to start uploading mesh models via the viewer.

Again, if you were already able to upload mesh to Second Life, nothing has changed. You do not need to re-affirm your ability to do so. The reason for this change, so far as I can tell, is because the tutorial  / questionnaire was seen as a little cumbersome and top-heavy.

With thanks to Whirly Fizzle for the nudge for me to take a look.

Another World in Second Life

Posted on by Inara Pey
Another World

Another World is the title of a full region installation by Solkide Auer. It is described (literally) as, “a flight in a pure geometric ambience where shapes and colours try to give a momentary lapse of relaxation. Nothing else than be at peace with yourself” – although I’m pretty sure “lapse” should actually read “period”, and I blame Google translate for the error, not Solkide.

Open through until the end of June, this is an intriguing piece – region windlight (or midnight) is recommended, and you will be to have Advanced Lighting Model (ALM) enabled in your viewer (Preferences > Graphics) to appreciate the build. Projected lights are used extensively throughout the build, so if you leave ALM off, all you’re going to see is a lot of grey.  Shadows are not required to see projected lights, so you don’t have to enable them (reducing any performance hit); however, if you can, the nature of some of the shapes in the build means than the play of light across them gain added depth.

Another World

As the description states, this is a world of geometric shapes – spheres, hexagrams, hollowed spheres, squares, circles, straight lines, sine curves – all brought together in a landscape which takes on many different forms as you travel through it. Parts of the lower section resemble a gigantic roller coaster, the sine curves twisting and rolling through and around the other shapes as coloured light play across them. Elsewhere, it might be taken to be a giant’s building set, the larger shapes such as the hexagrams apparently made up of girder-like sections somehow locked together; in other places it has the look of a great machine, with elements coruscating and / or pulsing with colour.

There are a number of ways to appreciate the installation, and I recommend that you try as many and yo can. First and foremost, there is the aircar ride, available from the landing point. I suggest riding this in Mouselook if you can. There is also a series of teleport doors available, which will deliver you to different points and levels in the build, presenting the chance to see it from different aspects.

Another World

Camming also offers the opportunity to see this build and the lighting from angles neither of the other two options can offer, so if you’re practiced with ALT-camming, I recommend you have a go. Better yet, if you have a gamepad, joystick or Space Navigator, flycamming is highly recommended.

Whichever you opt for, in whatever order – make sure you have the music stream enabled. The occasional advert can be a little jarring, but the music really does set the mood for this installation.

Another World

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Ani and Haya at Serena Imagine in Second Life

Posted on by Inara Pey
Serena Imagine Art Centre: Anibrm Jung

Now on display through to the end of the month at the Serena Imagine Arts Centre are exhibitions by Anibrm Jung and Hayael Bracula, two artists I’ve previously featured in these pages, and who between them have two unique perspectives on the worlds around us.

Anibrm Jung specialises in physical world photography, focusing on nature. Many of her images captured from her own garden, and all of them recorded using only her Nikon D60 camera and natural light. Everything is framed directly through the viewfinder, and no cropping nor image manipulation is used after the fact. In this way, we are able to see each picture exactly as she did when taking it, allowing us to share her own sense of closeness with her subjects.

Serena Imagine Art Centre: Anibrm Jung

The result is stunning images, rich is substance and detail; vibrant demonstrations of the art of working with nature, often at the macro level, skilfully utilising depth of field or soft focus to marvellous effect to produce truly stunning images.

In the north-west corner of Serena Arts, Ani is exhibiting over 20 of her images ranging from fabulous shots of the coast, through beautiful captures of nature, to the aforementioned pictures from her garden, many of which feature studies of cats and her macro lens work – which really is extraordinary. These are images which would grace any home, either in Second Life or the physical world, and all are available to buy. I challenge anyone not to be captivated by her work, particularly when it comes to the likes of aKELEI or Over the Moon! – the latter of which beautifully captures a Blood Moon.

Serena Imagine Art Centre: Anibrm Jung

Sitting between Ani’s exhibition and the region’s landing point is Heaven, a substantial exhibition of work by Hayael Bracula, which feature more than 40 pieces of work.

Haya focuses on images captured within Second Life, with a particular  – but by no means exclusive – slant towards avatar studies. Using a range of approaches to her work, coupled with a skilled application of post-processing, Haya’s work always draws the eye into it. There is a deep well of detail to be found in her studies, revealing much about mood, thoughts and emotions, both with her subjects and ourselves. These are, in many cases, pieces which are more about encompassing a statement than offering a narrative, and they do so extremely powerfully.

Serena Imagine Art Centre: Hayael Bracula

Scattered among the avatar studies is the occasional landscape or scene (one of which is actually repeated in the exhibition). These again reflect Haya’s approach to her work, setting a tone and style that is unique to each so that – in contrast to the more numerous avatar studies – do perhaps suggest a narrative to us.

Both Ani and Haya will be on display at Serena Imagine Arts Centre through until the end of May, 2017, and if you haven’t already done so, a visit is recommended.

Serena Imagine Art Centre: Hayael Bracula

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