Month: December 2018

Five Artists from Spain in Second Life

Posted on by Inara Pey
Diotima Art Gallery: Mario2 Helstein

Five Artists From Spain is the title of an exhibition at Diotima Art Gallery curated by Redi (Red Bikcin), that opened on Thursday, December 20th, 2018. It features, well, the work of five artists from Spain.

The five in question are: Duna Gant, Mario2 Helstein, Redi herself, the inimitable Kimeu Korg, and Peta Cometa (mariajo60).

Diotima Art Gallery: Duna Gant

“My art is always a reflection of my emotions,” Duna states in introducing her art and herself. This is certainly the case with the five pieces presented here. Each is an avatar study rendered as a painting, and each represents an emotional reaction: No, Why?, Yes, When?, and Silence.

Within each, the force of the emotional response is borne in both the colour palette used to present each study, and the repetition of the titular word itself.

Diotima Art Gallery: Peta Cometa

Facing Duna’s pieces are four untitled (at least in terms of their mounting) pieces by Pepa. Primarily avatar studies (there is perhaps a hint of mixed media in one), and are a n interesting mix that again play on emotions – albeit this time the emotions of the visitor. Are they indicative of happiness and / or gaiety, as suggested by the almost Hareliquinesque dress of one and the carnival-like mask of its neighbour? Or are they perhaps expressive of something else?

Kimeu’s work is always a delight to see; there is often a whimsy to his work that cannot fail to bring a smile to one’s lips. Here, he present four pieces, all of which strong feature the colour blue as a linking theme through both water and sky.

Diotima Art Gallery: Kimeu Korg

These are also pieces with a wonderful element of narrative within them, and it is quite possible to become lost within the likes of El Observador (The Observer), the first piece in the set on the right wall of the hall, while The Otters, facing the main entrance (and seen above, right) is purely and simply delightful. The addition of an appreciative audience to both of these pieces and to A Piece of the Sky (above, left) adds a further depth to the display.

The rear portion of the gallery presents some marvellous abstract work by Mario2 and Redi. Mario’s 3D sculptures, together with his particle shows, never fail to impress, and the pieces offer here are no exception. From the mandala / fractal like forms of Efecto K and Object5, to the (almost seasonal, with its fruit suggestive of Christmas tree baubles) Arbol and the evocative Cara, these are all pieces that captivate the eye in both form and motion.

Diotima Art Gallery: Red Bikcin

Redi’s presentation also feature motion and combine 2D and 3D elements in three pieces of richly colourful abstract art, all of which can be quite mesmerising as the eye is drawn into their loops, lines, swirls and patterns.

My one small quibble with this exhibition is its lack of information on the artists themselves. While not vital to one’s appreciation of art, having a few liner notes on each of the artists involved in an ensemble exhibition like this can often serve curiosities piqued by the art, particularly in cases where a right-click Edit doesn’t reveal any links to the artist concerned (as it has perhaps been offered to the gallery as a texture for mounting and presentation by the curator).

SLurl Details

2018 SL UG updates 51/3: TPV Developer meeting summary

Posted on by Inara Pey

Dagger Bay; Inara Pey, November 2018, on FlickrDagger Bay – blog post

The following notes are taken from the TPV Developer meeting held on Friday, November 30th, 2018. A video of the meeting is embedded below, my thanks as always to North for recording and providing it. Note that was a brief meeting, with extended silences while things were discussed in chat.

SL Viewer

[0:53-4:05] The Love Me Render RC viewer updated to version 6.0.2.522531, dated December 18th.

  • Current Release version 6.0.1.522263, dated December 5, promoted December 13. Formerly the Spotykach Maintenance RC viewer – NEW.
  • Release channel cohorts:
    • Estate Access Management (EAM) RC viewer, version 6.1.0.522564, December 19.
    • BugSplat RC viewer, version 6.1.0.522614, December 18. 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. It also makes the version update check a child process to the viewer, which should prevent the creation of multiple viewer icons.
  • 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.

Currently, it would appear that the BugSplat RC will most likely be the next RC viewer promoted to release status.

As per my most recent CCUG summary, the Bakes on Mesh viewer will most likely have one more round as a project viewer before moving to RC status. It is also hoped that the EEP viewer will go to RC status in early January.

Feedback from estate / region owners / managers is still being sought for the Estate Access Management viewer, so if you have estate / region management rights for a region / estate, please give the viewer a go and report any issues back to the Lab via Jira.

Voice Service Update

[5:08-6:02] The Lab is planning an update to the voice service back-end over the holiday period. This should have been deployed prior to the break, but had to be postponed. When deployed, it could cause a brief interruption to services, and users may have to re-log to regain voice. Notification of the deployment will be given ahead of time via the grid status page. There is also a roll-back plan in place if the update causes issues.

 

The peaceful wilderness of [Valium] in Second Life

Posted on by Inara Pey

[Valium]; Inara Pey, December 2018, on Flickr
[valium] – click any image for full size
Updated, January 2020: [Valium] has closed. SLurls have therefore been removed from this article.

[valium] is the name of the latest region design by Busta (BadboyHi) and held by Valium Lavender and to which I was pointed to by fellow SL traveller, Shakespeare. Busta’s designs are always been worthy of a visit (you can find out about Yasminia here and Meraki here), so I was keen to hop over and explore as the region officially opened its doors to the public on December 21st, 2018. And once again, both Busta and Valium are providing a region that is quite extraordinary in its eye-catching design.

A full region utilising the full region land capacity bonus, [Valium] is open to the public, although group membership is required. This is currently free, and will remain so through until January 7th, 2019, after which a L$250 fee will be applied. The latter is to both help with maintaining a certain sense of privacy for those renting properties on the region, and for a reason that will become clear later in this article. There are many places to be explored during a visit, but do be aware that there are the aforementioned private residences scattered around the region, so please do take care to avoid trespass when exploring.

[Valium]; Inara Pey, December 2018, on Flickr
[valium]

The Vision

To create a picturesque, rugged countryside setting with naturally beautiful nooks, twists, turns and hidden gems for public and private use. There are many public areas to explore and it will probably take several visits to see everything the sim has to offer.

– Valium Lavender, describing [Valium]

[Valium]; Inara Pey, December 2018, on Flickr
[valium]
This is a marvellously diverse setting, ranging from high peaks to coastal areas, mixing little docks, headlands, remote dwellings, ruins, and islands (albeit one or two of them being off-sim).

The landing point sits towards the centre of the region, meaning that no matter where you go, there is something to explore. A terraced area, it overlooks the low-lying western side of the region where the ruins of a church sits on the largest of the region’s islands, beckoning visits to it as it rises among the trees guarding it.

[Valium]; Inara Pey, December 2018, on Flickr
[valium]
While this island is connected to the rest of the land by three bridges, getting down to them from the landing point is a little circuitous, ensuring visitors have the opportunity to start explorations, as the route carries them over semi-paved areas, past the ruins of an old farmhouse (with one of the private residences just behind it), and on to the waterfront or for those who prefer, past an old folly and then down to the water’s edge, and second of the three bridges.

It is the multitude of footpaths that make exploring [Valium] a joy. Whether you go up or down, inland or directly (or as directly as you can!) to the coast, there is much to discover, appreciate and photograph. There’s the ruin of an old tower facing the church, for example, or the rickety cabin build out over the water to the north, caught in a local shower, or a further terrace sitting just above, and nestled below and clear of another of the private residences.

[Valium]; Inara Pey, December 2018, on Flickr
[valium]
To the south-east sits a little commercial area, with a coffee-house sitting within a converted industrial building and offering outdoor seating with views of the local lighthouse. A further coffee-house, this one also providing music and dancing, sits on a wooden platform part-way up the island’s main peak, again offering marvellous views to the south and west.

There is so much about this region that is attention-taking that walking you through it with words is really a waste; [valium] truly is a place that deserves to be visited, and which can only be truly appreciated by doing so. There’s also another reason for visiting (and paying the group dues: Valium has decided a portion of the group membership fees, etc., will be forwarded to The Nature Conservancy, as she notes in the region’s website.

[Valium]; Inara Pey, December 2018, on Flickr
[valium]

[valium], a project from initial concept to the elaborate build, was created from visions of our naturally beautiful RL world. A place to explore and appreciate. With this in mind, I have decided to support a fantastic charity, The Nature Conservancy.

3400 lindens or more (out of group fees) per month [are donated] to The Nature Conservancy, a non-profit organization dedicated to land conservation and protection. Every acre they protect, every river mile restored, every species brought back from the brink, begins with us. Our support will help make a lasting difference around the world in 72 countries.

– Valium Lavender, describing [Valium]

 

[Valium]; Inara Pey, December 2018, on Flickr
[valium]
I believe that until the group fee is introduced, there will be a donations kiosk available at the landing point, while if visitors would like to donate directly to the Nature Conservancy, there is a link on the information board and also in the [Valium] website. Should you take photos of the region during your visit, do consider sharing them with the region’s Flickr group.

Kudos to Busta and Valium on creating such an wonderful setting.

2018 SL UG updates 51/2: Content Creation Summary

Posted on by Inara Pey
Whirly Fizzle’s EEP Saturn

The majority of the following notes are taken from the Content Creation User Group (CCUG) meeting, held on Thursday, December 20th, 2018 at 13:00 SLT. These meetings are chaired by Vir Linden, and agenda notes, meeting SLurl, etc, are usually available on the Content Creation User Group wiki page.

With the Christmas / holiday break now on our doorstep, this was a short meeting.

SL Viewer

There have been two further viewer updates:

  • The Estate Access Management  RC viewer updated to version 6.1.0.522564 on Wednesday, December 19th. See my preview of this viewer here for more information.
  • The Environmental Enhancement Project (EEP) project viewer updated to version 6.0.2.522550 on Thursday, December 20th.

Hover Height / Vertical Positioning Issue

Ever since server release 18#18.10.25.521081 was deployed at the end of October / beginning of November 2018, there have been reports of a hover height / positioning issue issue for full mesh avatars of less than “normal” height. This can leave such avatars floating 0.2 to 0.3 metres off the ground if non-height related changes are made after hover height has been set (BUG-225893).

Current Status

Anchor Linden has been investigating this, but is hampered by the fact the behaviour cannot be properly reproduced with consistency. This is making a root cause determination difficult. As this work is currently Anchor’s main focus at the moment, it means the Bakes on Mesh project is somewhat on hold.

Bakes On Mesh

Project Summary

Extending the current avatar baking service to allow wearable textures (skins, tattoos, clothing) to be applied directly to mesh bodies as well as system avatars. This involves viewer and server-side changes, including updating the baking service to support 1024×1024 textures, and may in time lead to a reduction in the complexity of mesh avatar bodies and heads.

This work does not include normal or specular map support, as these are not part of the existing Bake Service, nor are they recognised as system wearables. Adding materials support may be considered in the future.

Resources

Current Status

  • As per the notes above, Bakes on Mesh is “on hold” at present while Anchor is otherwise engaged in bug hunting.
  • There are apparently a couple of issues with BoM still to be ironed out, and there is also an internal wiki issue preventing the Bakes On Mesh documentation being published on the SL wiki.
  • Allowing for the hover height / positioning issue mentioned above and the remaining work on Bakes on Mesh (+ the QA testing), it’s possible it will be a few weeks after the start of 2019 before this project progresses again.

Environment Enhancement Project

Project Summary

A set of environmental enhancements allowing the environment (sky, sun, moon, clouds, water settings) to be set region or parcel level, with support for up to 7 days per cycle and sky environments set by altitude. It uses a new set of inventory assets (Sky, Water, Day),  and which include the ability to use custom Sun, Moon and cloud textures. These can be stored in inventory and traded through the Marketplace / exchanged with others, and can additionally be used in experiences.

The project also includes a new set of render shaders to support atmospheric effects such as rainbows, crepuscular rays (“God rays”), better horizon haze and fogging (but will not include rain / snow).

Resources

Current Status

  • This week has seen updates to both the simulator code (available on Aditi for test, and also on limited release on Agni via the Snack RC channel) and, as noted above, to the viewer.
  • It’s hoped that the last of the shader work (e.g. crepuscular rays) will be completed in January.
  • The set agent environment scripted controls (allowing the entire environment for an avatar to be replaced when using an experience) is now in place.
    • Documentation for this will be pushed on the wiki after the holiday break.
  • Rider Linden is working on some further UI clean-up / clarification.

In Brief

  • There has been an issue with joint aliases not being correctly supported (the “avatar_xxx” aliases were not working for all the bones in the skeleton). Vir now has a fix for this, which should be appearing in the relatively near future.
  • Date of next CCUG meeting: Thursday, January 3rd, 2019.

Lab issues 2018 snowball fight challenge

Posted on by Inara Pey
Credit: Danni Ravinelli, via Linden Lab

Coming slightly later this year is the Lab’s annual snowball fight challenge. The challenge was issued in a brief blog post with the invitation:

Come one – come all to the Snowball Arena for a friendly ice battle of epic proportions! This Snowball Showdown means you’re free to pelt your fellow Second Life Residents and Lindens with a bevy of sparkling snowballs! But the Lindens and your fellow Residents get to return fire with their own avalanche of snow-arsenal.

The event itself will take place between 11:00-13:00 SLT on Friday, December 21st at – where else? – the Snowball Arena in Winter Wonderland.

As with previous years, Winter Wonderland is a 5-region experience which, for those who haven’t visited, includes the 2-region snowball fight arena, a winter snow track for snowboard and snow mobile racing, a skating ring, a Ferris wheel, and spaces to walk. The best place to start explorations is the Village of Light, where the Lindens tend to place a seasonal gift.

Weapons can be obtained at the entrances to the Snowball Arena – walk through the Village of Light and climb the steps up into the hills behind the village. Snowball guns can be collected at the vendors around the Snowball Arena.

Collect your weapons at the vendors in the Snowball Arena. If you are Premium, you can use your Premium Member’s Token or HUD to claim the Premium-only Snow Zooka weapon (outlines in red on the HUD and in the vendor, above)

For those who are Premium members and who haven’t participated in the snowball fight before, don’t forget you can use your Premium Member’s Token or HUD you can claim additional Snow Zooka weapon. If you don’t have the Token HUD, you can can claim them by picking up the latest Premium gift, the Winter Cabin from any of the Premium Gift Kiosks. You can find out more about the Winter Cabin via the Lab’s gift blog post.

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Seeing out 2018 at Nitroglobus Roof in Second Life

Posted on by Inara Pey
Nitroglobus Roof Gallery: Natalia and Moni

“I’m not promoting it heavily,” Dido Haas informed me, as we met at the end-of-2018 exhibition she is curating at her Nitroglobus Roof Gallery. “I had another exhibition planned, but it didn’t go ahead. So I’ll just place some pictures on Facebook, Flickr and the SL group.”

Which is not to say that the current exhibition is simply a fill-in; rather it stands in part as a retrospective of some of the memorable exhibitions Nitroglobus has hosted through 2018. It also offers the chance to appreciate Dido’s own work, and that of David, aka “Mr. Haas” or silence (jemapelSilence) that speak to their growing relationship.

Nitroglobus Roof Gallery: Dido and David

Dido has a marvellous eye for art; as such Nitroglobus features a series of outstanding exhibitions each year – something that keeps me going back every month or so. As such, selecting artists and pieces for any kind of retrospective is going to be a challenge, but Dido nevertheless presents a considered series of pieces featuring  Monique Beebe (who I confess is one of my favourite artists when it comes to narrative avatar studies), from her exhibition Changing Moods. Alongside of it is a piece by Natalia Serenade, as featured in her evocative exhibition, The Colour of Unspoken Words (read here for more).

Cold Frog, who presented Fading in January, can also be found, as can Nevereux, with a piece from Out of Here, and Cat Boucher, who appeared at the gallery in August with Hypnopompia. Between and around these are images by Dido and David.

Nitroglobus Roof Gallery: Nevereux

The latter are very intimate pieces, some which might be regarded as NSFW, but which are all richly evocative for the story they tell. The pictures by Dido also act as a possible lead-in to the permanent exhibition of her own work, which can be found n the gallery’s second hall, and reached via an interconnecting tunnel. I’ve always found Dido’s work wonderfully expressive and deeply personal, and thoroughly commend a walk through the tunnel to her display space if you have not previously done so during a visit to Nitroglobus.

While unplanned, the selection of art offered here also perhaps serves a further purpose: to whet our appetites for the exhibitions Dido will bring to us in 2019.

Nitroglobus Roof Gallery: Dido

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