Month: January 2018

Now is the time on Living in a Modem World when we dance…

Posted on by R.

Hi. I’m R. Crap Mariner. I write things.

While Inara’s keeping busy in both Second Life and Sansar, I thought I’d share a bit about something that’s been keeping me busy for a while (No, it doesn’t have anything to do with a certain pirate who’s not a very good pirate).

For the past year or so, I’ve been obsessed with shooting photographs of the Second Life dance performance scene.

Guerilla Burlesque

A few months ago, I pinged Inara about an upcoming Monarchs full-sim dance show, but she was busy with some stuff, and she asked me if I could write something up about it. Being a professional writer, I did what came naturally: I dawdled and procrastinated, and I missed the deadline.

Yeah, I suck.

It All Begins at the Beginning…

I got an invitation to see a show by Guerilla Burlesque on the Idle Rogue region (okay, dozens of invitations over the years, but remember, I suck). I enjoyed the performance very much, and got to know the folks there, Over time, I’ve learned of so many other groups, 50 so far. And every month there’s somebody new out there learning the dance controller systems and putting their imagination out there for an audience.

Guerilla Burlesque

It’s amazing what people come up with, individually and in groups, bringing together so many elements:

  • Costumes
  • Sets
  • Controller systems
  • Animations
  • Music

It all comes together to make something truly alive and special. It’s art in motion and sound.

Club Image

So Many Groups

There are groups and performers from countries all over the world. England, Scotland, Japan, Germany, France, Russia, Australia, and Brazil to name a few.

Debauche - July 23 2017

Some of these groups, such as the dadaesque Ballet Pixelle, have been creating and performing for over ten years. Man, all those shows I’ve missed… big time sad panda. But sometimes, Ballet Pixelle brings back the classics.

Ballet Pixelle - Olmannen - August 27 2017

There are many different types of shows out there:

  • Themed shows, like Guerilla Burlesque of the Idle Rogues recently did with Caledonia Skytower’s Dickens Project or TerpsiCorps movie-inspired productions. The Royal Opera does some impressive ballet and opera productions, too.
  • Full-region productions, like Monarchs Kingdom does for Halloween and Christmas, or Club Image did for their Monsters Tea Party for Halloween.
  • Variety shows, like Winds of the Sahara and Noir Neverland.
  • Racier shows, such as the complex classy choreography of Debauche and La Coquette, or the naughty fancy of Kiki’s Burlesque.

From individual cabaret acts to full-on dance theatre, there’s something for everyone.

A&M Mocap - August 12 2017

Yes, everyone.

After a while, you’ll notice a few names that come up over and over again in performances. A lot of performers work the circuit, whether bringing an act to multiple variety shows, or lending a hand (and a body) to a group act for their friends at different shows. It’s like a large extended family, odd cousins and all.

Elysium Cabaret Roster

Galleries and Resources

There’s an in-world gallery at the Dance Queens infocenter, where you can learn of many of the groups that perform in Second Life. They have also a group for performance announcements (search for DANCE QUEENS), and an online calendar and blog which collect announcements for upcoming shows. This is useful if you don’t have all that many group slots available to keep track of upcoming shows.

Dance Queens Lobby

The Burlesque Network and Belly Dance Goddess groups are similar to Dance Queens, only for Burlesque and bellydancing.

There a lot of other photographers out there who maintain in-world galleries and Flickr galleries. And there’s a large number of people who post videos of dance performances to YouTube, too. These previews can give you an idea if a group’s performances suit your tastes or pique your interest.

I post my photo archive on Flickr, and I maintain an in-world gallery of the best of these photos on the recently-highlighted Edloe region. Each pushpin under a group’s frame contains that dance group’s home venue landmark.

The Gallery

Audience Etiquette

When you do attend a performance, and I strongly encourage that you do, please keep in mind that scripting load and memory on a region is absolutely critical for the movers and controllers and HUDs to work properly. Just as many people come up with minimal outfits for shopping and events, I’d recommend that you come up with a minimal and optimized outfit for attending dance performances. You do not need that Maitreya Lara Body HUD or the Catwa mesh head controller, do you? Many of their venues post script-shaming boards, and they will let you know if you need to pare down a bit to help keep things moving smoothly. After all, everyone’s there to see the show, not you in your seat, right?

Club Image Audience Shots

Also, facelights can disrupt the lighting configuration that many choreographers use in their sets and performances. Once again, everyone’s there to see the show, not you.

One trick that some people use is to derender everyone in the audience to reduce their impact on your viewer’s performance. Be sure to use Temporary derender, because a lot of people in the audience may turn out to be performers in other groups.

Winds of the Sahara - December 10 2017

Oops!

Tips are not required, but greatly appreciated. That’s how the performers buy new mocap dances, costumes, and pieces for their sets.]Some groups and venues have individual performer tipjars, while others have a collective tipjar that’s split among the choreographers. They’ll let you know how they share the loot, but it’s also okay just to applaud and hoot and holler if you’re spent your last dime at The Arcade, okay?

The host of the event will go over the rest, such as Windlight settings, draw distances, nametags, and so on. But the most important thing is to enjoy the show.

Learning the Moves

If at some point you catch the dancing bug and you’re interested in learning how to perform, some groups and performers teach classes on how to put together dance routines. In fact, Bernard Herzog’s New Brighton Belles recently put out a call for new performers.

I haven’t yet gone down this road, because I’m still into the whole photography thing, but at some point, I should probably take a class so I can have a better appreciation for what my friends do to bring that experience together.

Of course, the chalkboards may also be dancing…

Elysium Cabaret - November 17 2017

But every now and then, when there’s an audience participation event…

Debauche? - December 24 2017

There’s so much more…

I strongly encourage performers and groups to post in the comments some friendly invitations to their performances. Because there’s just so many of y’all out there, I feel like I’m letting a bunch of y’all down by not mentioning everyone, but I’ve got to keep it concise, right?

Oh, and by the way, Inara’s invited me to cover the dance performance art scene, and I’m hoping to do some profiles of dance performers and groups. You know, like Inara does sim journeys and explorations, with interviews and photos and video and stuff.

Thank you, Inara, for this opportunity to get the word out, and here’s hoping something I post here entices y’all to check out some of these amazing and entertaining performances.

Until then, this has been your fast easy fun reporte- oh, wait. That’s the alt.

(Back to your regularly scheduled programming.)

Thank you, R., for writing this, and for agreeing to run a new series through these pages – I’m absolutely delighted you did, and looking forward to the reviews, profiles, pictures and learning more about performance dance in SL.

♥

Inara.

Neverfar in Second Life

Posted on by Inara Pey

Neverfar; Inara Pey, January 2018, on FlickrNeverfar – click on any image for full size

“A little piece of my heart and soul I created for this world to enjoy some quiet time and create moments,” inertia (Caridee Sparta) says of her Homestead region of Neverfar, which I came across recently while poking my nose into the Destination Guide. It is an atmospheric and eclectic place to visit, offering  a good amount to see and discover.

A good part of the region is formed by a rugged island rising from calm waters, its top stony and hard, a place where shrubs and old trees with deep roots claw for purchase. A small village sits on its hard back, a place with a strong oriental theme among its buildings – something which is always bound to attract me. While mixed in nature, with something of a lean towards Japanese influences, I found this little village put me in mind of secluded places along the south coast of China, huddling away from that country’s rapid urbanisation, or perhaps located on the Indochinese peninsula – although it might just as easily be somewhere on one of the islands of Japan.

Neverfar; Inara Pey, January 2018, on FlickrNeverfar

Surrounded by tall, evergreen mountains, and gathered around a little bay where two long fishing boats rest in the mist hugging the shoreline, the village is a mix of tall, cement-sided buildings and wooden huts and shacks, most of them with corrugated tin roofs. It has the feel of being a place of work, rather than being for vacation, so the tall face of the optimistically named Regent Hotel seems a little odd, while the neon lights illuminating a side street attempting to entice people to come and sample the local food, have an air of pathos about them, particularly considering a couple sit above shuttered entrances.

Wooden walkways offer routes around the buildings, wood being more practical given both the unforgiving rock from which the village rises and the way it extends out over the water. For example, to the north-east a small café sits on a wooden platform above the waves and reached via a narrow walkway. A second platform close by offering a place to sit warmed by an electric fire and with incense burning in a bowl in greeting while a cat enjoys the fire’s warmth.

Neverfar; Inara Pey, January 2018, on FlickrNeverfar

Behind the clustered buildings of this village are more board walks, raised over the rocks on wooden piles and reached by short stairways. They offer a view across the waters to the south, to where a smaller island sits, marked by a somewhat decrepit wooden tower at one end, and a Japanese-style house at the other. A rickety pier – or the remnants of an old bridge? – point towards this smaller island, but the only way to reach it appears to be to take to the air and join the gulls circling back and forth over the intervening water.

To the north-west is a further rocky islet, this one the location of a private residence, which is in use – so please respect privacy and avoid the temptation of trying to hop over. Facing this, on the main island, is a small music stage with a pier below it. Stage and pier are reached by crossing the rugged land to the west of the village, beyond the bicycle stands, and passing by way of an old, broken railway car now converted into something of an unusual piano lounge. Be sure to keep an eye out  for some of Cica Ghost’s animated stick figures along the path!

Neverfar; Inara Pey, January 2018, on FlickrNeverfar

Rugged and with a touch of haunting beauty under an evening’s sky, Neverfar is a welcoming place to visit. There is much to see and plenty of places scattered throughout where visitors can sit and rest.. Those wishing to have rezzing rights for photography can join the region’s group (L$499) – please do remember to pick up your bits if you do. There’s also a Flickr group for those wishing to submit their photos. Note that I do offer an alternate SLurl to that provided in the DG, as the latter (at the times of our visits at least) lands visitors atop a non-phantom tree alongside one of the broad walks.

SLurl Details

Firestorm 5.0.11.53634: rendering, LOD and physics

Posted on by Inara Pey

On Wednesday, January 24th, 2018, the Firestorm team released Firestorm 5.0.11.53634. This is a significant update to the viewer, incorporating code updates from a number of recent viewer releases from Linden Lab, as well as some major updates from the Firestorm team and a number of important new features and updates, as well as a range of bugs fixes and improvements.

Given the extent of the updates in this release, and in keeping with my usual approach to Firestorm releases, what follows is  not an in-depth review of everything new  / updated in version 5.0.11.53579, but rather an overview, highlighting some of the more significant changes and updates I feel will be of most interest to users.

For full details of all changes, and all due credits to contributors, etc., please refer to the official release notes.

The Before We Begin

  • There is no need to perform a clean install with this release if you do not wish to.
  • Do, however, make sure you back-up all your settings safely so you can restore them after installing 5.0.11.

Major Lab Derived Updates

Firestorm 5.0.11 brings the viewer up to parity with the Lab’s 5.0.9 code base. It includes the following major updates from the Lab.

  • Asset-HTTP Project: Firestorm now fetches the majority of inventory assets (landmarks, wearables – system layer clothing and body parts), sounds, gestures and animations) the same way as textures, mesh and avatar baking information: via the Content Delivery Network (CDN), rather than through the simulator. This should make loading of such content both faster and more reliable.
  • 64-bit Havok sub-libraries: the 64-bit version of Firestorm now uses Havok physics with the mesh uploader , and can now visualise the pathfinding navmesh.
  • Group ability Always Allow ‘Create Landmark’:  this was accidentally removed from the viewer, and has now been returned. When enabled on a group role, it allows members of that role to override the teleport routing (e.g. right-click >teleport to) on the parcel if a landing point is set, as long as Direct Teleport is enabled on the region (BUG-100719).
  • Incorporation of the Martini (November 2017),  Moonshine (September 2017) and Margarita (August 2017) viewer updates.

Note: while Firestorm 5.0.11.53634 includes the 64-bit Havok sub-libraries for Second Life, it is not using Linden Lab’s Alex Ivy 64-bit code base. That will be for the next FS release.

Firestorm Updates and Additions

Viewer Performance: Mesh Rendering Information Features and Updates

Key among the updates to this release of Firestorm are new features and updates to a number of floaters intended to help users make better judgement calls on how content in Second Life might be affecting their viewer performance, and potentially make more informed choices about the goods they purchase in-world.

Build Floater – Physics View

The Show Physics Shape icon (Build Floater > Features tab) – disabled (top); enabled (bottom)

Firestorm now includes an option to viewing the physics shape of objects you can edit. Among other things, this can help avoid having items you drag from inventory fail to appear in-world, with the message “Failed to place object at specified location. Please try again.” appearing in the top right corner of the viewer window.

The option is on the Features tab of the Build floater, and takes the form of an eye icon to the right of the Physics Shape drop-down.

  • If displayed with a red line through it (default): show physics shape is disabled
  • If shown without a red line through it: show physics shape is enabled.

When enabled, the selected object’s physical shape is shown in blue. Sometimes this will match the shape of the object itself (below left); other times, it may not (below right). Any attempt to rez another item on the part of the object covered by the blue will succeed; any attempt to rez on the part of an object not covered by the blue will likely result in the “Failure to place object” message.

The show physics shape option: Build floater > Features > eye icon next to Physics Shape Type drop-down. When enabled, it shows the physics shape of an object, which may (l) or may not (r) match the physical shape of the object. Click for full size, if required

Showing the physics shape of surfaces reveals why some may be walkable and why avatars may have problems with others – such as colliding with “something” while apparently not standing close to an object, or being unable to pass through a gap or open doorway.

Notes:

Build Floater: Mesh Information

The Build floater also provides a range of new information specific to mesh objects and their level of detail (LOD). This can be seen on the Object tab of the floater when a mesh object is selected. For prim objects, the tab is unchanged and will display the “old” information (Path Cut, Hollow, Twist, Taper, etc.).

For a detailed examination of LOD please refer to For LOD’s sake stop! by Beq Janus. The following is intended to provide a brief overview of the mesh object information.

Mesh objects can comprise up to four different versions, as defined by the creator a very High detailed model, with a high count of triangles, displayed with the object is being viewed up close, and then up to three models with progressively less detail (fewer triangles), designed to be used the further away the camera is from the object (Medium, Low and Lowest). These are collectively referred to as level of detail models, and are designed to improve the rendering of scenes. In essence, the further away (or smaller) and object is, the less detail can be seen and so the less detailed versions can be under when rendering it, easing the overall rendering load.

The first two parts of the mesh information related to these models when a mesh object is selected:

  • Mesh Information: lists the number of triangles used in each of the LOD models the creator has provided (note that if two ore more of the model types has the same triangle count, it indicates the same model is being used (so if Low and Lowest both show 3, or example, the same 3-triangle model is being used for both)
  • Default Drop-down: allows you to preview each of the different LOD models for the object (make sure Default is selected after use).
Up to four LOD models can be defined for SL – from a highly detailed, high triangle count version to a very low detail / low triangle count version (top). The Mesh information display allows the triangle count for the available LOD models of an object to be checked (Mesh Information section), and the actual models themselves previewed (Default drop-down). It also provides information on when the models will be swapped, one to the next, according to your viewer’s LOD Factor and the distance of your camera from the object (shown enlarged on the right) – click for full size

The Object LOD behaviour section defines the distances from your camera at which the different LOD model will be swapped one for the next, as defined by the Linden Lab (LL) default LOD Factor (1.250), the Firestorm (FS) default LOD Factor (2.000) and your current LOD factor setting.

Continue reading “Firestorm 5.0.11.53634: rendering, LOD and physics” →

2018 UG updates #4/1: server, viewer

Posted on by Inara Pey
Tralala’s Diner – blog post

Server Deployments

As always, please refer to the server deployment thread for the latest news and updates.

  • There was no deployment to the Main (SLS) channel on Tuesday, January 22nd, leaving it on server maintenance package #18.01.08.511751 with internal logging improvements.
  • On Wednesday, January 23rd, the RC channels should be updated to server maintenance package #18.01.17.511913, with further internal fixes.

SL Viewer

The Voice RC viewer updated on Wednesday, January 23rd to version 5.1.1.511952 on Tuesday, January 23rd. This brings the viewer to parity with the Alex Ivy viewer (the current release viewer), and so is offered in 64-bit for OS X and both 32-bit and 64-bit for Windows. Depending on how this version performs over the next week or so, it may be the next in line for promotion to release status.

The remaining viewers in the current pipeline remain unchanged from the end of week #3:

  • Current Release version 5.1.0.511732, dated January 9th, formerly the Alex Ivy Maintenance RC – NEW.
  • Release channel cohorts (please see my notes on manually installing RC viewer versions if you wish to install any release candidate(s) yourself):
    • Nalewka Maintenance viewer version 5.1.1.511871, January 17, 2018.
  • Project viewers:
  • Linux Spur viewer, version 5.0.9.329906, dated November 17, 2017 and promoted to release status 29 November – offered pending a Linux version of the Alex Ivy viewer code.
  • Obsolete platform viewer version 3.7.28.300847, May 8, 2015 – provided for users on Windows XP and OS X versions below 10.7. This viewer will remain available for as long as reasonable, but will not be updated with new features or bug fixes.

Other Items

Joe Magarac (animats) has been working to try to improve some of the viewer-side code which handles regions crossings – specifically in reference to vehicle crossings. He’s learning-by-doing, and testing ideas with a self-compiled version of Firestorm, although his work might be present in a future Firestorm release. He’s been recording his efforts in a forum thread (gaining some helpful and some less-than-helpful feedback), and providing updates at the last couple of Simulator User Group meeting. Anyone wishing to help or who can offer advice / ideas can reach Joe via the forum thread.

A Lady and 26 Tines in Second Life

Posted on by Inara Pey
Bryn Oh: Lady Carmagnolle

Bryn Oh is currently working on a new immersive installation to succeed Hand, which closed in late 2017, and about which you can read more here. While the new installation is under development, she has opened two single-scene poems, Lady Carmagnolle and 26 Tines, both of which can be found on Bryn’s home region of Immersiva.

“A carmagnolle is one of the very earliest full metal diving suits,” Bryn says in explaining the first of these scene poems. “Monstrosities of protection that allowed people to explore the depths.” In fact, it was the first properly anthropomorphic design for an atmospheric diving suit (ADS), designed in 1882 by the Carmagnolle brothers. It features a distinctive metal helmet with multiple small glass ports to provide a view outside for the wearer.

Bryn Oh: Lady Carmagnolle

In Lady Carmagnolle, the titular lady of the piece stands alone on a deserted stage in a broken-down theatre, the helmet of the carmagnolle suit in one hand, a rock in the other, a face drawn upon it. “She imagines the rocks to be injured birds who she cares for,” Bryn states, “When it rains the ink washes away leaving a simple stone. When Lady Carmagnolle looks to find these rocks and instead finds them gone, she wistfully imagines that they have grown back their wings and returned to the sky, finding others to fly with. In her loneliness this is her most beautiful dream.”

It’s a sad tale, accompanied by a sad poem and sent within the haunting setting of the tumble-down theatre, where the rain falls as Lady Carmagnolle’s only audience.

Bryn Oh: 26 Tines

26 Tines, on the other hand, is something of a love story, again accompanied by a poem. “The laboratory is silent, the scientists gone, we have seven hours, before the dawn,” so reads the first stanza of the poem. It directly refers to the emotional bond between two robots within a research facility, a bond where  – even were they both human – words would be inadequate to express their feelings.

So instead, when the working day has come to an end, and the humans have left this secretive, underground bunker of a laboratory, the maintenance robot pauses in its tasks of cleaning up. Instead, it sits down with its tiny kindred, and the two connect via cable. In this way, they bypass clumsy language and exchange their feelings and emotions directly one to another via the 26 tines of wire contained within the cable connecting them.

Bryn Oh: 26 Tines

Thus it is, the two robots pass the time until morning comes and the daily routine intrudes, scientists returning to their lair to resume their work. Separated, the robots are left with the intimate memories of dancing together through the nights, the sublime delight of sharing their time, their feelings, so intimately for seven short hours each day – and the knowledge that in the night to come, they can be together once more.

Like Lady Carmagnolle, Bryn’s 26 Tines is haunting in theme, but with a slightly dark, science fiction turn.  Both are easy to visit, but offer layered meaning and a richness of pathos, loneliness and devotion.

SLurl Details

Sansar: client Atlas update and Anu’s Copper Valley

Posted on by Inara Pey
Sansar: Copper Valley

As per my 2018 week #3 Product Meeting notes, the Sansar Client Atlas has been updates to include the new Popularity sort option and currency indicator.

When selected from the sort drop-down menu (see below), the Popularity option orders the listed experiences in a tab by current real-time use, so those with avatars actually visiting them will be listed first. In addition, those experiences with avatars in them have a concurrency indicator in the top left corner of their thumbnail image. This is a near real-time indicator that the experience is in use at the time it is seen in the Atlas.

Client Atlas: popularity in sort drop-down (circled), and the concurrency indicators (arrowed) available for all experiences with avatars in them on all tabs

The banner images from that Product Meeting report was an advanced look at a new experience by Anu Amun, which is now publicly listed in the Atlas, by the name Copper Valley. A work-in-progress, it offers a mechanoid landscape inspired by steampunk.

The spawn point for the experience drops visitors onto a platform roughly in the middle of this curious landscape. A raised walkway runs behind the spawn point, linking a tall windmill, sails slowly turning, with stairs leading up to another platform. Steps also offer ways down to the lands below – on one side a row of little houses, their walls and roofs seemingly made of copper – walls green and aged-looking, the roofs pristine.

Sansar: Copper Valley

On the other side, through peculiar trees, looking like they’ve been cut from blocks of metal or cut from heavy sheets, and past Mecano-like seats, to where massive blocks rotate as if on long axles hidden just below ground, rising and falling from flat fields of screwed-down metal plates. Overhead, great bulky clouds drift across a dusty sky with “normal” clouds at much higher altitudes.

It’s a strange environment, complete with it own enchantment; a mechanical place where the sandy hills are gradually giving way to more of the metal plate fields with their rotating axles of blocks. So much so, that in one corner, the “fields” are still under construction.  Exploring this realm is a case of following the elevated paths, climbing the stairs, descending the steps and following your nose – but be warned! Some surfaces aren’t as solid as others.

Sansar: Copper Valley

Having enjoyed Anu’s Anu, I admit to being curious as to where Copper Valley might go. In the meantime, it makes for a most unusual visit.

Experience URL