Month: January 2019

2019 SL User Groups 2/1: Content Creation

Posted on by Inara Pey

Winter's Hollow; Inara Pey, September 2018, on FlickrWinter’s Hollow – blog post

The majority of the following notes are taken from the Content Creation User Group (CCUG) meeting, held on Thursday, January 10th, 2019 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.

SL Viewer

There are still no updates to the current crop of official viewers in the pipelines, leaving things as follows:

  • Current Release version 6.0.1.522263, dated December 5, promoted December 13. Formerly the Spotykach Maintenance RC viewer.
  • 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.
    • Love Me Render RC viewer, version 6.0.2.522531, December 18.
  • 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.

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 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 found the root cause for the issue, buried in the Bake Service. He has a fix for the problem, and it will be going out as soon as possible after it has been through testing and QA.

Animesh

Animesh and Pathfinding

As noted in my Simulator User Group update, there is increasing interest in Pathfinding now that Animesh is available, and there is a forum discussion going on around the ways and means to move Animesh which encompasses tests with Pathfinding.

Again, the Lab currently aren’t working on Pathfinding, but they are aware of the discussions and following them. In particular, there is interest in hearing back from people who have used Pathfinding sufficiently who could perhaps help define a set of best practices for using the capability / who have used it sufficiently with Animesh to be able to point to deficiencies in the system or could suggest means of improving it.

Animesh Sex?!

Early on in Animesh development a feature request was put forward suggesting a switch be added to the viewer so that if Animesh creators are on a parcel with parcel privacy enabled, they will obey the setting and not be seen from outside of the parcel so long as the root prim remains within the boundary (see BUG-202592). The idea would be to prevent “adult / sex” Animesh from being accidentally seen.

The bug was closed without action, and a suggestion has been made to add a scripted capability to do the same things. This seems to be something of an edge case / overkill, given animated objects of a sexual nature can be seen within a region with privacy enabled, even if the using avatars cannot.

Animesh Marketplace Sub-Categories

  • There are currently no plans to add sub-categories to the Animated Objects category of the Marketplace.
  • If it is  felt there is a name to add further sub-categories, suggestions should be made via the CCUG meetings and also the Web User Group meetings.

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

  • Graham is continuing the final work on the shaders for things like crepuscular ray support, and Rider is working on a clean-up of the new EEP UI elements.
  • An updated project viewer that includes all of this work is anticipated as being available in week #3 (commencing Monday, January 14th, 2019).
  • Rider will also be updating the EEP LSL documentation in the wiki.
  • Sample settings objects are expected to appear in the viewer library “soon”. These will comprise all of the current default windlight settings found in the official viewer, plus a selection of windlights found in Firestorm.

ARCTan

ARCTan is the code-name for the project to re-evaluate object and avatar rendering costs to make them more reflective of the actual impact of rendering both, which it is hoped will also help correct some inherent negative incentives for creating optimised content (e.g. with regards to generating LOD models with mesh). This project has been on a slow burn through 2018, but is due to resume in 2019 – although when is still to be determined.

Other Items

  • iOS Client: Mention was made of the preliminary work being carried out to develop an iOS client. For details, please refer to the following blog posts:
  • Wiki updates: these is apparently some issue with the SL wiki which is causing problems with updates to the “official” pages managed by Linden Lab.
  • Mac Retina fixes: there are apparently issues of UI blurring with Mac Retina screens. There are fixes in-hand, but the time frame for deployment is not clear, although a new build of the viewer with Retina support was due to go to the Lab’s QA team on Thursday, January 10th.
  • Next CCUG Meeting: due to the Lab’s internal All Hands meeting (delayed from the start of the month), the next CCUG meeting will be on Thursday, 24th January, 2019.

 

High Fidelity pilots HFC and Ethereum trading

Posted on by Inara Pey
via High Fidelity

On Tuesday, January 8th, 2019, High Fidelity announced the start of a pilot programme that will allow High Fidelity users to trade between High Fidelity Coin s(HFC) and Ehterium Either (ETH).

Etherium is an open-source, public, blockchain based distributed computing platform / operating system featuring smart contract (scripting) functionality. It incorporates a cryptocurrency  – the Ether.

The latter functions in a similar manner to the Bitcoin, and its use has been boosted over the last two years by the  Enterprise Ethereum Alliance (EEA), an non-profit organisation of over 150 members, including national and global banks, technology companies such as Cisco and Microsoft, investment houses and research organisations, with the aim of driving the use of Ethereum blockchain technology as an open-standard across multiple market sectors.

via High Fidelity

Initially, High Fidelity will be allowing users to purchase HFC using ETH. However, over time, all High Fidelity users will be able to buy and sell their HFC for ETH, although an ETH wallet will be required.

Trades of HFC will be handled in fixed amounts of $25 or $50 (HFC 2,500 or 5,000), and will be handled via an in-world banker, through a process similar to that currently used to convert HFCs to USD. As the programme with ETH develops, High Fidelity plan to start offering an automated means of selling HFCs for ETH, and may eventually see the ability to sell HFCs directly for USD values discontinued.

An important point to note with trades is that HFC is a stablecoin pegged to the US dollar (100 HFC = US $1.00), while Ethereum varies against the Dollar. Thus, the exchange rate between HFC and ETH will fluctuate.

This is a further interesting move by High Fidelity, which High Fidelity see as being key to the future of buying / selling HFC:

Over time, we see this being our primary method for purchasing and selling HFC. It’s convenient, global, well-governed and broadly adopted. In future, we may enable trades to other cryptocurrencies or tokens, either directly or through third-party exchanges. We also hope that HFC will be used by other VR platforms or applications, making the transfer to Ethereum even more useful.

– High Fidelity blog post on HFC and ETH trading

You can read the full announcement here.

Second Life: LL confirm iOS client in the making

Posted on by Inara Pey
Logos © and ™ Linden Lab and Apple Inc

On January 9th, 2019, and thanks to a pointer from Whirly Fizzle, I blogged Lab working on a Second Life iOS client? noting that a Bit Bucket code repository had recently been set-up by Brad Linden for just such a purpose.

In writing the piece, which includes some of the Lab’s recent commentary of the subject of mobile / streaming solutions for Second Life, I indicated that I had contacted Linden Lab with a series of questions concerning the repository and what it might signify, and that I’d provide an update on receiving any reply.

Being so early into the work, the Lab declined to comment on all of the questions I asked, but here is what they did say via-email in responding to my enquiry:

As you point out, we discussed at our Town Hall events last year that we’re actively looking at ways to extend the reach of Second Life to new audiences including mobile platforms. For example, we’re in the early stages of work on an iOS companion app for Second Life.  

Right now we’re focused on getting a prototype out to our Residents, at which point we’ll be looking for feedback and suggestions. In the early stages, we will not be tying the app to a streaming service. However, we don’t have anything to formally announce yet about the specific features, capabilities, and availability.

– Brett Linden,  Second life Marketing Manager, via e-mail

Granted, it’s not a lot of information, but there are a couple of potentially interesting elements to the statement that might help contextualise things /  be indicative of some of the thinking still in place at the Lab. For example, the use of the term mobile platforms and noting that that the iOS work is offered as an example of this work.

This would perhaps suggests (and in answer to some of the questions asked following my original piece) that an Android client is still part of the Lab’s thinking. Certainly, it is something I’d anticipate, given both the popularity of the Android platform and the popularity of Lumiya and Mobile Grid Client*.

I also found the comment In the early stages, we will not be tying the app to a streaming service interesting, suggesting as it does that a future streaming solution is still very much part of the Lab’s broader thinking.

Again, this would make sense given the ongoing move of SL to the cloud. As well as providing the means to deliver SL as a whole to users, the cloud move further deepens the Lab’s relationship with AWS. This might in turn allow them to more positively and cost-effectively (to both the Lab and to users) supply a streaming service to mobile devices and web browsers at some point in the future. Perhaps this might even be part of a broader examination of their product offerings once Second Life is firmly established within a cloud-based infrastructure.

So, food for thought; in the meantime. I’ll continue to update on the iOS work as / if / when news emerges.

* I’m intentionally avoiding LittleSight here, as it is questionable as to whether the app is still being maintained and the repeated complaints that users have been unable to log-in since the last update (October 2016).

VWBPE: winter social fund-raiser and a reminder

Posted on by Inara Pey
via vwbpe.org

On Thursday, January 17th, 2019, the VWBPE team will be hosting a social event featuring music, dancing and more, from 17:00 SLT at Rockcliffe Village in Second Life. The Press release for the event reads in part:

Winter is perfect for dancing the night away in a beautiful winter themed venue complete with a skating rink and free ice skates! Enjoy an evening with friends and colleagues at VWBPE’s first networking and sponsorship social of 2019!

DJ Coz OKelly will be on hand to spin some fantastic dancing tunes (again donating his time in support of VWBPE).

Don your warmest, fanciest, fur-lined outfits (the one with the deepest pockets!) and take advantage of the photo ops available.

Donations in both USD $ and L$ are welcome at the event, and all proceeds will go towards VWBPE 2019 programme activities, specifically in the areas of support for the conference information systems, development of video and machinima archives, live video streaming, social activities, swag bag materials for conference attendees, buildings supplies (mesh 3D objects), and graphic design.

So, if you feel like supporting a very worthy part of Second Life, please hop along to the dance on January 17th!

Also, those interested in participating in this year’s conference, don’t forget that due date for papers, etc., are fast approaching:

About VWBPE

VWBPE is a global grass-roots community event focusing on education in immersive virtual environments which attracts over 2,000  educational professionals from around the world each year, who participate in 150-200 online presentations including theoretical research, application of best practices, virtual world tours, hands-on workshops, discussion panels, machinima presentations, and poster exhibits.

In the context of the conference, a “virtual world” is an on-line community through which users can interact with one another and use and create ideas irrespective of time and space. As such, typical examples include Second Life, OpenSimulator, Unity, World of Warcraft, Eve Online, and so on, as well as Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, Pinterest or any virtual environments characterised by an open social presence and in which the direction of the platform’s evolution is manifest in the community.

Read more here.

Additional Links

Ice in Second Life

Posted on by Inara Pey
InterstellART: Ice

Ice is the name of an exhibition by Fluer Heartsdale Chun (Fluer Heartsdale), now on display at the Artist in Residence gallery at InterstellART. This is a fascinating exhibition of real-life photography focused – as the title suggests – the subject of ice.

My journey into art began many years ago as a child while watching my grandmother paint. I experimented with many different mediums before falling in love with photography. Photography allows me to capture the world as I see it and show it to others.

– Fluer Heartsdale Chun discussing her art.

InterstellART: Ice

While perhaps in keeping with the time of year (at least in the northern hemisphere!), ice is also unique subject for photography, it is a unique substance, able to present itself in many different ways and forms, Fluer’s images demonstrate this, as well as revealing her eye and talent as a photographer.

When looking around my eye is drawn to the hidden and often overlooked common objects that surround us. With the aid macro lens I am able to capture and bring to light that which is often overlooked.

– Fluer Heartsdale Chun discussing her art.

InterstellART: Ice

Often seen as a colourless, sometimes clear, sometimes cloudly creation and generally thought of as smooth and evenly surfaced, ice can in fact be alive with both colour and form. Individual crystals are multi-faceted; they are both delicate and yet tremendously strong when unified. When we look at a surface of ice, it can be like looking into a frosted pane of glass or seeing the roll of waves on a pond or observing a limb of the Moon. All this and more is perfectly captured in the images Fleur presents within this exhibition.

With my macro lens I am able to take close-up photos which show that there is much more to ice than is visible to the naked eye. In the future I will collecting water from different sources to freeze and photograph, so that I may document any difference in how they freeze and photograph.

– Fluer Heartsdale Chun discussing her art.

InterstellART: Ice

This is a truly unique set of photographs, and one I thoroughly recommend seeing for yourself. When visiting, I would also suggest setting your viewer to midnight to fully appreciate the photos.

SLurl Details

A Moochie winter in Second Life

Posted on by Inara Pey
'Tis the Season - Winter Wonderland at Moochie; Inara Pey, January 2019, on Flickr
‘Tis the Season – Winter Wonderland at Moochie – click any image for full size

As thoughts among many in SL turn towards spring now the New Year is here, I thought I’d be a little contrary and pay a visit to a region still caught in the depths of winter – at least for the time being.

Maia Gasparini’s Homestead region of Moochie currently presents itself as a winter wonderland, even to the point of still showing the last vestiges of Christmas in places. It is a simple setting in terms of content, elegant and very snowy – although be warned that the amount of snow falling from the sky might adversely affect viewer performance.

'Tis the Season - Winter Wonderland at Moochie; Inara Pey, January 2019, on Flickr
‘Tis the Season – Winter Wonderland at Moochie – click any image for full size

Set within a broad wilderness, ‘Tis the Season – Winter Wonderland at Moochie lies richly wooded and blending neatly with the hilly, snowy sim surround. The landing point sits to the north of the region, alongside an old railway track emerging from a tunnel and with a couple of rail cars parked on it. Here visitors can get a map (texture) of the region that records points of interest. For romantics, the board also offers a walking rezzer. The landing point also advises using the local windlight setting, although I admit I flicked over to one of my preferred Annan Adored settings for the photos here.

This is a place where words of description are really superfluous; the natural beauty of the setting, coupled with its design and presentation means that the best way to appreciate it is to simply wander and discover. When doing so, do ensure local sounds are on, as the region is matched by an ambient sound scape that adds depth and can have you thinking about slipping into warmer clothes if you’re not already dressed for winter – as should be the case!

'Tis the Season - Winter Wonderland at Moochie; Inara Pey, January 2019, on Flickr
‘Tis the Season – Winter Wonderland at Moochie – click any image for full size

Among the things to discover whilst exploring are both ice skating and sledding, while the outdoor café (couple with little market) offers a place to sit and relax with a hand-warming drink while watching others skate or sled. Follow the sounds of singing, and you’ll be led to the local chapel, where a service appears to be in full swing.

Scattered throughout the region are places to sit and cuddle or chat, from sleighs to the backs of carts to sheltered seats or a camp site warmed by a blazing fire. But, as I said, this is a setting that’s best visited – particularly with a close friend or loved one – rather than described; therefore, I suggest that if you do feel like basking in another touch of winter, be sure to visit soon!

'Tis the Season - Winter Wonderland at Moochie; Inara Pey, January 2019, on Flickr
‘Tis the Season – Winter Wonderland at Moochie – click any image for full size

SLurl Details