Month: November 2018

2 Lei: No Violence in Second Life

Posted on by Inara Pey
2Lei – No Violence: Solkide Auer and Magda Schmidtzau

November 25th is International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women, and since 2010, the day has been marked in Second Life by the collaborative arts group, 2Lei.

They do so by bringing together artists, galleries, event organisers, musicians and speakers in a multi-faceted, art-centric season intended to focus on the levels of physical, sexual and psychological violence that are specifically directed towards women and girls around the globe, and raise awareness of the need to put an end to what is one of the most widespread, persistent and devastating human rights violations in our world today.

2Lei No Violence: Mistero Hifeng

Some of the facts surrounding violence against women are horrifying:

  • 1 in 3 women and girls experience physical or sexual violence in their lifetime, most frequently by an intimate partner.
  • 1 in 2 women killed worldwide were killed by their partners or family in 2012; while only 1 out of 20 men were killed under similar circumstances.
  • Only 52% of women married or in a union freely make their own decisions about sexual relations, contraceptive use and health care.
  • Worldwide, almost 750 million women and girls alive today were married before their 18th birthday, and often in force / arranged marriages, including in countries such as the United States where between 2000 and 2010, more than 167,000 children — almost all of them girls, some as young 12 — were married in 38 states, mostly to men 18 or older
  • While 200 million women and girls have undergone female genital mutilation (FGM).
  • 71% of all human trafficking victims worldwide are women and girls, and 3 out of 4 of these women and girls are sexually exploited.
2Lei No Violence: Storie’s Helendale (glitterprincess.destiny)

For 2018, 2Lei is presenting No Violence, an installation that brings together some 73 artists from across Second Life, as well as offering a range of daily presentations and music events, details of which can be found on the 2Lei blog, or via the note cards provided at the installation’s central landing point.

As with the 2017 event, No Violence is one of the more involved art installations I’ve visited in Second Life. The core of the installation is spread across three levels, starting at ground level in the region and connected by spiral staircases. In addition, teleport stones at the landing point provided access to My Name is #25 / A Wrong Party, by Storie’s Helendale (glitterprincess.destiny). Others may also involve teleport elements, so careful exploration is recommended.

Such is the size of this installation, and the message it contains, a single visit is perhaps not the most ideal way in which to appreciate all that is presented by No Violence. Simply put, there is a real risk of visual and / or emotional overload that could leave one numbed to the core message.

2Lei No Violence: Betty Tureaud

Hence the use of daily events, both presentations and musical. These allow visitors to break up time within the region over numerous days – not necessarily back-to-back – and perhaps focus their attention on two or three of the individual displays and installations at a time. And even if you’re not drawn the any of the live events, breaking your visit down in a similar manner may still help both with appreciation of the art offered within No Violence and it’s central, and important message.

Installations vary in form: some are static, some are interactive, several  – such as My Name is #25 / A Wrong Party – are narrative in nature. Information plaques are placed with each, offering background and depth to pieces, as well as providing information on the artist responsible. Some, as with Betty Tureaud’s The Book Keeper Says, offer links to practical advice for those who may be the victims of violence and abuse (in this installation’s case, domestic violence / abuse).

2Lei No Violence: 2D art gallery

No Violence will remain open through until the end of 2018, with the list of supporting events for December still apparently in development at the time of writing this review, so be sure to keep an eye on the 2Lei website, in-world group and other resources.

SLurl and Additional Links

Fun with Kitbashing in Second Life

Posted on by Inara Pey
The updated Caitinara Bar uses the La Gare Vintage Train Station with kitbashed elements from other pre-fab builds

I’m not a creator, but as regulars to these pages know, I love fiddling around a building things with prims, and also modding various mesh items I buy “off the shelf”. But there is another aspect of content “creation” I enjoy – kitbashing buildings – taking parts from two or more and recombining them to provide something that little bit different.

Like modding items, kitbashing is hardly new, but in an age when pre-fab builds get used across multiple regions, sometimes resulting in a feeling of “sameness” when visiting, kitbashing – or even simple modding – can offer a way to provide a little uniqueness in look and feel to a place. Take one of my most recent (and admittedly relatively simple) kitbash / mod: the new Caitinara Bar at Holly Kai Park.

The original La Gare Vintage Train Station, as supplied by Sheerpetal Roussel  – note the multiple doors at the front (actually five in all) and the open platform nature of the rear.

When re-working Holly Kai Park a few months back, I knew I wanted to re-work the look of the bar, but had no idea precisely how to achieve what I wanted. However, my travels around Second Life have frequently brought me to contact with the La Gare Vintage Train Station by Sheerpetal Roussel, which looked like it might make a sound foundation for a re-work, while I knew the Chatham Skybox by Cory Edo, coupled with one or two bits and pieces from other creators and sitting in inventory, would help flesh-out the interior – notably the “brewery” look of the dance area in the bar.

Kitbashing does come with certain pre-requisites: the designs you’re using must obviously have Modify permissions in order to parts to be removed and re-used (and should preferably be Copy to avoid simply wrecking the original); you need a reasonable understanding of the tools in the Edit floater; and you obviously need some idea of what you want to achieve. For me, the Caitinara Bar kitbash was made easier by the fact that once I’d settled on it, the La Gare Vintage Train Station looked like it would fit around 90% of my needs.

The La Gare build itself is designed in such a way to make basic modding pretty easy: extending an enclosing the “platform” area was a simple matter of copying and using existing wall panels and support beams, and replacing the supplied “floor” with one of my own. As the bar is “underground” I admittedly didn’t have to worry about cutting a cylinder to fit the end of the arched roof

The important thing when assessing buildings for their potential use in kitbashing is to see them in-world, if you don’t already have them. This way you can use the Edit Linked option in the Edit floater to identify specific components – walls, floors, lights, support beams, stairs, fireplaces, etc., – and determine whether or not they might be easily be removed (either because they are not required or because they are the elements you want to use elsewhere). Similarly, the Edit Face option can (to a degree) be used to help determine how textures have been applied and whether surfaces are suitable for re-texturing, should the need arise.

In this latter regard, it’s important to assess whether things like shadows have been baked onto surfaces and whether they may become apparent in removing parts, or whether the bake applies across multiple faces, making it difficult to alter just one, and so assess how much re-texturing might be required and / or whether or not you may need to consider creating things like new materials maps to go with any re-texturing to perform.

Elements – some with a degree of re-texturing and new normal maps – from Cory Edo’s Chatham Skybox provided the means for me to add to the “brewery” look of the interior of the new Caitinara Bar

If re-texturing is required, and – like me – you’ve not a particularly good graphics artist, there are a lot of resources, both in-world and out, where textures can be obtained; just be sure to check any associated EULA / permissions prior to purchase / download.

For materials, tools such as PhotoShop and GIMP have options / plug-ins for creating normal maps, and there are plenty of on-line tools that can automate the process to varying degrees. NormalMap Online, for example is an exceptionally easy tool that can be used to generate a range of maps.

Normalmap Online is a useful tool for creating a range of material types, including normal and specular maps

However, automated tools aren’t always perfect – I tend not to use auto-generated specular maps, for example, as they can result in too uniform a result across a surface, making it look somewhat artificial. Also, if you are playing with textures and materials, remember to try them out on a surface using the Local Textures option. This both allows you to check the suitability of a texture ahead of any upload, and similarly, the in-world look of your materials maps can be tested and adjusted accordingly without having to go through paying for multiple uploads.

Putting things together obviously requires a reasonable understanding of how to unlink (CTRL-SHIFT-L) and Link (CTRL-L), moving and rotating objects – but these aren’t hard to grasp. Again, this is where using buildings that are Copy is important, as you’ll always have the original intact and available for use elsewhere in the future (or if things go wrong!).

The revised and enclosed “platform” area of the La Gare, incorporating the fireplace and pipes from the Trompe Loeil Chatham Skybox to add to the “brewery” feel (alongside of props by Jogi Schultz (yogijo) used in past versions of the bar), and with the glass canopy re-textured and mapped to provide the bar’s signature arched brick ceiling

Continue reading “Fun with Kitbashing in Second Life” →

2018 SL UG updates 47/1: Simulator User Group and News

Posted on by Inara Pey
Winter Wonderland

Server Deployment Plans

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

  • On Tuesday, November 20th, the SLS (Main) channel was updated with server release 18#18.11.09.521593, previously deployed to the RC channels and comprising internal fixes.
  • There are no planned deployments to the RC channels.

Due to the Fact the Lab is closed from Thursday onwards, it is unlikely there will be any deployments in week #48 (commencing Monday, November 26th).

SL Viewer

The Love Me Render RC viewer updated to version 6.0.1.521759 on November 20th, bringing it to parity with the Animesh release viewer.

Currently, the rest of the viewers in the official pipeline remain unchanged. Given this is US Thanksgiving week, the remaining viewers due an update for parity with the current release viewer may not be issued until week #48.

  • Current Release version 6.0.0.520636, dated October 18, promoted November 14. Formerly the Animesh RC viewer – NEW.
  • Release channel cohorts:
    • Spotykach Maintenance RC viewer, version 6.0.1.521757, November 15.
    • Estate Access Management (EAM) RC viewer, version 5.2.0.520057, September 28.
    • BugSplat RC viewer, version 5.1.9.519462, September 10. This viewer is functionally identical to the current release viewer, but uses BugSplat for crash reporting, rather than the Lab’s own Breakpad based crash reporting tools.
  • 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.

EEP

The next EEP function to see light of day should be llReplaceAgentEnvironment, that should allow an experience to override any environment setting currently being used by an avatar within that experience.

General News

Thanksgiving – Support Closed

Concierge Phone Support, Billing Phone Support, and Live Chat Support will be closed on Thursday and Friday, November 22nd & 23rd in observance of the US Thanksgiving holiday. Ticket submission will remain available, and support services will resume Saturday, November 24th, at 06:00 PST / SLT.

Winter Wonderland and 5 Weeks of Gifts

Winter Wonderland, the five-region activities area designed by Linden Lab and the LDPW, has reopened for the holiday season,, and the Lab is using it as the first swap on a gift hunt, which itself features the return of the Swaginator.  Find out more via Grab Your Winter Swaginator & Collect Exclusive New Gifts!

 

A Cherished visit in Second Life

Posted on by Inara Pey

Cherished; Inara Pey, November 2018, on FlickrCherished – click any image for full size

Cherished is the latest region design from Arol Lightfoot that opened recently to visitors. A homestead region, it differs from the current trend towards wintertime themes and opts to stay with autumn, as Arol loves that time of the year – and I can’t say I blame her.

This is  – as would be the case given Arol is responsible for its design – a fabulous region, uncluttered by an off-sim surround and offering plenty to see and enjoy as your travel through it. A visit begins out on the east side, on a headland sitting between a small bay and a narrow channel of water that cuts deep inland. A single cabin sits here, connected to a the rest of the region by an ageing, low-slung bridge running over a rocky finger.

Cherished; Inara Pey, November 2018, on FlickrCherished

A track points west from the bridge, leading the way to where the ground rises to a rocky bluff, bracketed on one side by the water channel and on the other by a path that leads either up to the top of the bluff or down to where another track continues inland. The bluff, with a second bridge running between it and a rocky hill on the far side of the channel offers the perfect vantage point from which to observe the rest of the island.

To the west stands a large house, the only genuine abode to be found on the island. Calling it a farmhouse, however, would perhaps be misleading; while there is a barn close by and a traditional American-style windmill, the house itself seems too big and grand to be a working home. Rather, it has the feeling of being a coastal getaway home, one complete with swimming pool – albeit drained and partially covered ready for the eventual arrival of winter, and a luggage-laden (if humble) VW Beetle parked outside.

Cherished; Inara Pey, November 2018, on FlickrCherished

Cows are grazing outside of the barn, while horses shelter within it – together with a couple of turkeys – but not even the presence of a tractor close by can leave visitors with a feeling this is all part of a working farm; so perhaps the horse are purely from the riding pleasure of those using the house, and the barn is under the care of the landowner who otherwise rents the property out.

The main body of water extending inland turns south close to the house, running before the barn and facing it across another track, before turning east once more to end in a narrow, reed-lined pool from which morning mist slowly rises. This southern and western extent of the island is a rough grassland and rolling humps of grey rock, standing like a frozen tide caught in time as it rolled over the landscape. Tall trees grow throughout, presenting plenty of discrete spots where deer roam and people can camp out in peace.

Cherished; Inara Pey, November 2018, on FlickrCherished

To the north, the land beyond the little headland and its landing point is gently rugged, but more denuded of trees. A low ridge angling away from the rocky bluff here offers a good place to appreciate the lighthouse sitting on is own rocky spur, as it is framed against the early morning Sun.

What might be a fisherman’s dock sits between the arms of the headland the lighthouse spur, and testimony of the dangerous nature of the waters here can be found in the wreck of a fishing boat lying close to the lighthouse rocks.

Cherished; Inara Pey, November 2018, on FlickrCherished

Throughout the region are places for individuals and couples to sit and appreciate the setting, while the trails offer plenty and very clever, given the way they tend to naturally connect to one another, opportunities for exploration. Similarly, the gentle sound scape included with the region offer a very subtle added depth to the setting, further encouraging time to be spent within it.

Unsurprisingly, this is a highly photogenic region, one in which photography is actively encouraged, as Arol notes in the About Land description, “If you take photos and want to share please add them to the Flickr group. I would love to see them!”

Cherished; Inara Pey, November 2018, on FlickrCherished

For those not quite ready to face exploring all the winter themed regions popping up over the grid, or who need a break from the snow and ice, Cherished is likely to make for an ideal visit. Appreciation for Arol’s work can also be shown by “feeding” the Labrador inside the cabin at the landing point. My thanks to Shakespeare for the landmark!

SLurl Details

2018 viewer release summaries, week #46

Posted on by Inara Pey
Logos representative only and should not be seen as an endorsement / preference / recommendation

Updates for the week ending Sunday, November 18th

This summary is generally published every Monday, and is a list of SL viewer / client releases (official and TPV) made during the previous week. When reading it, please note:

  • It is based on my Current Viewer Releases Page, a list of all Second Life viewers and clients that are in popular use (and of which I am aware), and which are recognised as adhering to the TPV Policy. This page includes comprehensive links to download pages, blog notes, release notes, etc., as well as links to any / all reviews of specific viewers / clients made within this blog.
  • By its nature, this summary presented here will always be in arrears, please refer to the Current Viewer Release Page for more up-to-date information.
  • Note that test viewers, preview / beta viewers / nightly builds are not recorded in these summaries.

Official LL Viewers

  • Current Release version 6.0.0.520636, dated October 18th, promoted November 14th. Formerly the Animesh RC viewer – NEW.
  • Release channel cohorts (please see my notes on manually installing RC viewer versions if you wish to install any release candidate(s) yourself):
  • Project viewers:
    • Environmental Enhancement Project (EEP) viewer, version 6.0.0.521803,  November 16th.

LL Viewer Resources

Third-party Viewers

V5/V6-style

V1-style

Mobile / Other Clients

  • No updates.

Additional TPV Resources

Related Links

A return to Let It Snow! in Second Life

Posted on by Inara Pey

Let It Snow!; Inara Pey, November 2018, on FlickrLet It Snow! – click any image for full size

It is with a good deal of delight that I received an invite from Milly Sharple to visit her winter themed Let It Snow!, which has once again returned to Second Life for the holiday season.

With the exception of 2017, Let It Snow! has been something of a winter tradition in Second Life for the last few years, so I’d been looking forward to visiting the latest iteration ever since Milly hinted she might try for it this year.  So as soon as the invite came in, Caitlyn and I donned our winter woolies and set out to explore.

Let It Snow!; Inara Pey, November 2018, on FlickrLet It Snow!

What I’ve always loved about Milly’s wintertime designs is both the natural simplicity with which they are designed, blending little scenes with open spaces and trails to explore, and the way she create little vignettes across her regions. When coupled with the opportunities for people to simply enjoy one another’s company, Let It Snow! has always offered something for everyone – and 2018 is no exception.

Another aspect of her winter regions I love is the use of certain elements that act as motifs linking each new design with its progenitors, helping to give a feeling of continuity down the years between designs. And so is the case with this iteration, be it with the great crystal greenhouse that harks directly back to 2016, or the cottages and  Harleywan Haggwood’s charming snow kids that encompass 2015 and 2016.

Let It Snow!; Inara Pey, November 2018, on FlickrLet It Snow!

Which is not to say Let It Snow! 2018 is in any way a re-run of previous builds; far from it. It is unique in is design in and of itself, from the Elven house that forms the landing point and which gives the region a little slant towards fantasy. At the end of a rutted, snow-filled track lies a little village square, home to Santa’s cottage. Close by, DJ Cat is waiting to entertain those wishing to dance (he’ll also accept tips towards the region’s upkeep!), while the snow kids can be found at play.

Dancing is very much part of the theme here, with heart-shaped dance machines scattered throughout the region (you may have to cam in close to some due to the snow), including inside the crystal greenhouse, which also offers the opportunity of romantic dining.

Let It Snow!; Inara Pey, November 2018, on FlickrLet It Snow!

Elsewhere across the region lie various places to sit and enjoy close companionship, be it a gazebo out among the trees, a bench suspended from the bough of a tree at the side of a path, a horse-drawn sleigh or an underground grotto (you’ll have to find that for yourself!).

As the region is caught under a steady snowfall that can at times obscure the star field of the surrounding skydome, it’s worth taking the time to experiment with environment settings when photographing Let It Snow! – as I’ve done with a couple of the images here, opting to use one of Stevie Davros’ sky settings (you can read about those here).

Let It Snow!; Inara Pey, November 2018, on FlickrLet It Snow!

Let It Snow! is, as always, a delight to visit: just be sure to take your time to let things load should you drop in when it has a significant number of visitors.

SLurl Details

Let It Snow!; Inara Pey, November 2018, on FlickrLet It Snow!