Month: July 2019

Sansar Product Meetings week #28: more on avatar 2.0 + updates

Posted on by Inara Pey
Asteroid Escape – an MSL-class rover

The following notes were taken from my recording of the July 11th (week #28) Product Meeting. Once again, this meeting had a focus on Avatar 2.0 and also on the proposed upgrade path to it for creators.

R34 Release Updates

There have been two further bug fix updates for the R34 A Richer World Release:

(I’m not sure what happened to any Update 4; the numbers jump from 3 to 5).

Official Blog Post on Avatar 2.0

An official blog post outlining the Avatar 2.0 roll-out and its implications was issued on Tuesday, July 9th. This largely repeats what has been indicated in my last few Sansar Product Meeting summaries on Avatar 2.0, and also contains a link to a new Avatar 2.0. FAQ. In particular, this FAQ highlights the following information:

  • What wearable items will not be usable on Avatar 2.0? Any asset (avatars, rigged hair, rigged clothing) created using the avatar 1.0 avatar skeleton will no longer be usable in the new avatar 2.0 system. These items will be removed from inventories, and deprecated on the Store.
  • Why will these items no longer work? Changes to the base avatar’s skeletal structure had to be made in order to support Avatar 2.0 mean they will no longer work as expected.
  • Will it be possible for creators to update broken content? Yes, providing it has been listed on the Store – see below for more. 
  • Which avatar 1.0 assets should still work after the release of Avatar 2.0? All Marvelous Designer clothing, accessories and emotes created against the 1.0 avatar skeleton will have mechanism in place to help ensure they can still be used with Avatar 2.0, and will still be available via inventory and any listed items will still be accessible from the Store for purchase.

Updating Avatar Wearables

Deprecating  Old Content Listings and Updating Them

  • When Avatar 2.0 is deployed. the non-usable wearable defined above that are on the Sansar Store will be deprecated by the Lab, leaving the listings visible, but will not be modifiable.
    • However, items that have been uploaded but never listed will effectively be “hidden”, and will not show up in inventory searches.
  • It will be possible to update deprecated listings by associating them with replacement items in the character editor – but this can only be done once per item. The old item will then be unlisted.
  • Documentation on the update process will be made available around the time of the Avatar 2.0 deployment.

Updating MD Clothing, Accessories, and Emotes

  • Updating these items will follow the same process as deprecated items, except the Store listings are never deprecated.

Single Update Process Explained

  • The reason for the one-time update process on deprecated items is that the licensing system has yet to be properly hooked-up to the avatar system, so this is a temporary solution.
  • The Lab is working in parallel to extend the update system so users can make use of it and not be restricted to the one-time update. It’s not currently clear how long this will take to implement.
  • This  “full” system will also provide the means to update scene content items as well, and items with components from more than one creator, etc. This will likely be rolled out in phases of increasing capability.
  • So the one-time update for Avatar wearables might be considered a stepping stone towards a full update system (although that’s not its primary purpose).

Q&A

The following is a selection of the questions asked in the meeting.

Avatar 2.0 Related

Please also refer to the official blog post (link above), and my previous Sansar Product Meeting summaries for further information on Avatar 2.0, as some of the questions asked during this meeting have been previously covered, and are not repeated here.

  • Will Avatar 2.0 support custom skeletons? Not initially, but longer term, yes.
    • One of the issues in allowing this to happen, is putting in place a mechanism to determine what wearables might be used by different skeletons.
    • Sansar would also like – again, long-term – to support an Animesh-like system where attachments can have their own skeletons that can be used to extend the Avatar 2.0 skeleton (e.g. the hindquarters, body and tail of a centaur that can be added to the Avatar 2.0 skeleton).
  • Will it be possible to create custom avatars using the Avatar 2.0 skeleton? Yes.
  • Will it be possible to create custom heads / faces without having to create complete custom avatars? Yes. face presets should allow this, together with the additional custom texturing capabilities that will follow the initial release of avatar 2.0.
  • When will custom texturing be available? Hopefully, a couple of releases after the initial Avatar 2.0 release. The texturing releases will most likely be:
    • Initial Avatar 2.0 will support skin swapping, using supplied skins.
    • Custom skin texture support (around 2 releases after initial Avatar 2.0 release).
    • At some point thereafter a full texture layering system (make-up, tattoos, etc) for default and custom avatars.
  • Does the phased release of Avatar 2.0 mean there might be further content breakages? No. The breakage caused by the switch from Avatar 1.0 to Avatar 2.0 is a one-time only breakage.
  • Will Avatar 2.0 heavier to render? No, it shouldn’t be: tri count, skinning, etc., should all be about the same, the skeleton has been simplified. If anything, it should be slightly lighter on systems.

General

  • Users working in Sansars Edit Mode are not counted in the currency / user numbers for the platform. Could this be addressed?  Probably something that should be looked at.
  • Can there be a “global” text chat open that allows users in different experiences to chat with one another if they wish, regardless of whether they have friended or not? Being considered, but may not be fully on the roadmap as yet.
  • A.O. Systems: the Lab is looking at providing animators with a means to override the basic Avatar 2.0 animation: walk, run, crouch, idle, etc. This  will not be with the release of Avatar 2.0, but something for the future, as it involves a lot of work.
    • For picking up objects – guns, swords, etc. – the Lab is looking at a means of embedding the required animation in the object rather than having to make them a part of a core AO system.
    • Active feedback from creator on this subject via Discord, etc., is encouraged.
  • When will 3D mouse systems (e.g. SpaceNavigator) be supported? Not on the roadmap. Liable to be more part of any work undertaken to support joysticks and other controllers, rather than focusing purely on 3D mouse systems.
  • When will there be support for vehicles? Still to be developed, but something LL wants with Sansar.
  • Will it be possible to develop simple layouts in Edit Mode with data to allow basic mesh elements to be easily selected and swapped-out for complex (finished) mesh objects as a part of the build process? Recognised use-case, and something the Lab would like to try to address.
  • Could the upload process be de-coupled from the build process, to prevent work being lost on an upload failure? This would require saving builds locally; a better solution would be to make the upload process more robust to overcome losses due to momentary disconnects.
    • LL is already looking at making the client more resilient to prevent crashes should a disconnect occur, so that data on builds isn’t lost should the client disconnect from the server.
  • Would it be possible to preview object materials in Edit mode without having to preview them after each change as the preview option can take time to load and interrupts workflow? Possibly. Request will be relayed to relevant team.

Culprit Mousie: a little silliness in Second Life

Posted on by Inara Pey
Culprit Mousie – an Animesh companion

I’ll admit I’m not the greatest fan of attachable pets / companions in Second Life (I know, “Booooo!” 🙂 ). OK, so I do have a Zooby cat that can be attached and carried, but he’s designed more for free wandering and actually spends all of his time lying in his kitty basket at home. So when a Culprit Mousie (by Eku Zhong and Yure4u Sosa) arrived on our doorstep, I was not entirely sure what I’d make of it; however, having tried it out on-and-off over the last few days, I admit I can see some of the appeal.

One of the things that has recently revolutionised this kind of companion is, of course, Animesh. Thanks to the ability to make use of the avatar skeleton it is possible to produce companion attachments like this that have a considerable amount of dexterity and “natural” animations – and this is certainly the case of the Culprit Mousie.

I get the impression, someone might be mimicking me…

As the name implies, this is mouse companion who has the anthropomorphic ability to walk on his hind legs and use his forelegs and paws for gestures. He stands around 1/2 a metre tall when worn, and sits by default just to the right of your avatar.

The package is supplied with Mousie, a gesture HUD and instructions.  Both Mousie and the HUD are supplied Copy, No Modify / No Transfer. There is an order to wearing the HUD and Mousie – the former *must* be added first, then the latter.

Once worn, Mousie can be repositioned via right-click Edit, so if he is too close for your avatar’s stand animations so you look to be standing through him at times, you can shuffle him around within reason. Once in place, Mousie will self-animate, rocking on his heels, wriggling his tail, gesturing with his forepaws, etc., – and, if you’re standing still for a long period of time, will fold his forelegs and drum his “fingers” as if bored / impatient.

In this, Mousie’s “hand” movements are rather exquisite. His “fingers’ will curl and extend, he’ll delicately scratch himself, wipe his snout and even – or so it seems -occasionally and cheekily – raise a middle “finger” when his arms are upraised! As well as his forelegs / paws, Mousie will also occasionally flick his tail and twitch his ears. When you walk, he’ll waddle along beside you, looking like a speed walker with his forelegs swinging back and forth and little hind legs working overtime which – and I can’t believe I’m writing this – had me wanting to stop every so often and let him catch his breath!

The HUD provides access to the 3-function menu. This provides access to three buttons:

  • Gestures: as the name implies, provides access to Mousie’s range of gestures, each triggered via a button. These offer a range of options – dances, air guitar, blowing kisses – a total of 18 gestures in all.
  • New name: opens a dialogue box in which you can give your Mousie a personal name.
  • Channel: allows you to change the communications channel between your HUD and your Mousie  – this is recommended to avoid conflicts with other Mousie  users you might encounter.

The gestures themselves are – like Mousie himself – cheeky in places. They also include local sounds, so might be a source of irritation for others in the way that many gestures can – but there is no doubting their giggle factor, either.

Complexity-wise, Mousie adds around 5,300 to an avatar under the current ARC system, suggesting Eku and Yure4u have worked to optimise it. If you want to rez a copy of Mousie in-world, you can – he’ll have a cost of 29 LI (and a physics impact of 0.4 and server cost of 1.8); however, he will only play his default animations if rezzed like this, and will not be responsive to the HUD.

I’m still not won over to using a wearable companion for myself, but I admit that Mousie is different and fun enough in bursts  that he might make the odd appearance now and again 🙂 . For those who do like companion  / pets like this, he is somewhat different to the more usual dog and cat style of companion and  – as noted – comes with a certain giggle factor. Plus, at L$350, he certainly isn’t going to break the bank, and he can (at the time of writing) be obtained via the Culprit store in-world (at the time of writing it had yet to be added to the Culprit Marketplace store).

With thanks to Eku and Yure4u.

][Octopussy][ goes Cuba in Second Life

Posted on by Inara Pey

][Octopussy][ goes Cuba; Inara Pey, July 2019, on Flickr][Octopussy][ goes Cuba, July 2019 – click and image for full size

We were led to ][Octopussy][ goes Cuba on the recommendation of Shawn and Max, discovering in the process a sun-drenched tropical island with a lot to offer visitors.

A joint design by FleurLaRosa and WillkinThos, this homestead region is adult rated and does embrace nudity and adult activities – providing the clearly stated rules are followed; but this should in no way put people off paying it a visit, as there is a lot to appreciate.

][Octopussy][ goes Cuba; Inara Pey, July 2019, on Flickr][Octopussy][ goes Cuba, July 2019

This is very much a place of two halves, visually. There is the tall, rocky plateau of the island, and the low-lying beaches stretching out to the west and curling around to the south. The former is home to the main landing point, sitting towards the centre of the region, and a gaily-painted village location that sits above it.  The village, with its 50’s style cars and bright colours is obviously intended to evoke the Cuban feel suggested by the region’s title.

There might be a tendency to make allusions to James Bond given the region’s name, and certainly, the British spy has been to Cuba and other tropical locations, and in places the Octopus logo found the island kind-of offers suggestions of an inverted SPECTRE symbol. But really, any alignment of the region with Bond is purely in the imagination. Instead, this is a place for photography, fun and music.

][Octopussy][ goes Cuba; Inara Pey, July 2019, on Flickr][Octopussy][ goes Cuba, July 2019

The latter is catered for at several points around the island, but perhaps most obviously in the underground ][ Octopussy ][ Lounge. This can be found through the tunnel to one side of the landing point, and has is unique visual appeal. This makes imaginative use of the [Original] the Spa – Black edition by Abiss to provide an underground club space designed to give the feeling of being underwater; large screens around the walls present videos of fish swimming among rocks and coral, and the floor of the dance floor is, in part, glass sitting over coral and water through which more fish swim.

A set of steps connect the landing point with the broad western beach, which offers plenty of space to sit and relax in the sun, as well as broad walks extending out over the shallows to reed-covered sand bars. These are home to both birds and waterfowl, and offer more places to relax and enjoy company or the scenery.  One of these board walks extends well out to the north-west, offering visitors the chance to gain an off-shore view of the island – although it conveniently connects to the local rum bar should anyone get thirsty! For the more active, the board walk from the south beach connects to a wooden dance floor complete with line dancing options.

][Octopussy][ goes Cuba; Inara Pey, July 2019, on Flickr][Octopussy][ goes Cuba, July 2019

Two paths from the landing point lead up to the little village, the longer of them passing a little shrine and a place to sit before arriving at the village square. This offers another place where  music and dancing can be enjoyed, or for those who prefer, the opportunity to enjoy the local outdoor bar. A smaller square off the north-east corner of the village plaza provides access to a sunny, cliff-edge terrace, a wide path cut between the rocks inviting exploration.

This path reveals it actually runs along the far side of a box canyon that quickly opens up, in part separating the north side of the island’s uplands from the village. Water flows outward from the bottom of the canyon and a rope suspension bridge offers a means of crossing it from the north-east corner of the village. Follow the path as it slopes gently downwards and it’ll take you to a little log bridge spanning the canyon’s water just before it tumbles over high falls. The path then leads back to the landing point (but don’t miss the little look-out point!), making for a nice loop around the upper reaches of the island.

][Octopussy][ goes Cuba; Inara Pey, July 2019, on Flickr][Octopussy][ goes Cuba, July 2019

][Octopussy][ goes Cuba is a region rich in detail, including the support sound scape, and which also has its own sense of fun – including the late Stan Lee enjoying a twirl on one of the dance floors! His presence, and that of others dancing and static figures also help to add a little depth to the island, making it feel occupied even if you’re a lone explorer.

All told, an attractive region with much to offer visitors and nicely photogenic; whilst exploring, keep an eye out for the little gift envelopes waiting to be found.

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The art of Silence in Second Life

Posted on by Inara Pey
Nitroglobus Roof Gallery: David Silence

Officially opening on Saturday, July 13th, but available for preview at of Nitroglobus Roof Gallery curated by Dido Haas, is Silences, featuring the art of David Silence.

Dido is justifiably proud to have been able to persuade him to present his first solo exhibition at Nitroglobus, and Silences demonstrates he has considerable skill in constructing scenes that present a moment in time belonging to perhaps a larger story canvas, and for evoking emotional and intellectual responses through his work.

After returning from a long absence, SL became for me a tool to discover, recognise things of myself without filters without masks. I use Silence to capture emotions, which we can find with attention in an avatar. In this first exhibition … the intention was to see myself, to strip myself of myself, look at myself from a distance, naked, try to understand me and show me during this phase of my life.

– David Silence, discussing Silences

Nitroglobus Roof Gallery: David Silence

Thus it is we’re presents with a series of marvellous images, predominantly of David’s avatar, each of which engages the eye and mind on multiple levels. Given there is something of a metaphorical stripping away of preconceptions of self and the influence of how one might wish to appear to the rest of the world, many of the images feature naked, or near-naked avatars; their nudity perfectly reflecting the idea of the stripping away of ego and self (it also means, as an aside, some of the images might be considered NSFW).

Whether it is intentional or not, the images are displayed in such a way as to suggest grouping by theme. Along the southern arm of the gallery, for example, are images pairing David and his model (Dido?) in a manner suggestive an exploration of self and relationships – who are we with those closest to us?

Meanwhile, along the gallery’s north facing wing, are a pair of images that are suggestive of an exploration of self without the masks we so often wear, and the questions of who we might actually be, beautifully suggested through the presence of owl and zebra head, as they lead the way further around the gallery and its exploration of self before returning to the studies of self and companionship.

Nitroglobus Roof Gallery: David Silence

In this way the images engage the intellect, encouraging us to consider matters of self, identity and generate a degree of personal reflection. But alongside of this, many of the images have, as noted, a broader canvas of narrative in which we can become engaged. Again as an example, take the initial three images feature David and his model on the southern wall of the gallery; these present a story of a relationship that paints itself in our thoughts: who are the couple? What are the thoughts they are each holding? What is the cause of the apparent tension evident between them? And more.

Thus, Silences is a richly engaging exhibition, powerful in the ways in which it engages the eye and mind, the dark tones evident in many of the pieces simply serving to draw us deeper into them. With its official opening at 13:00 SLT on Saturday, July 13th, featuring music by Gitu Aura, this is yet another Nitroglobus exhibition that should not be missed.

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2019 SL User Groups 28/1: Simulator User Group

Posted on by Inara Pey

Iona Shore; Inara Pey, June 2019, on FlickrIona Shore, June 2019 – blog post

Server Deployments

There are no deployments planned for this week, leaving the SLS (Main) channel and the major RCs all running on server maintenance package 19#19.06.14.528215, comprising internal changes. The updated planned for the RC channels turned out to be “not quite ready” and so are being held over until week #29, commencing Monday, July 15th, 2019.

SL Viewer

The Love Me Render RC viewer updated to version 6.2.4.529065 on Tuesday, July 9th, 2019. At the time of writing, the rest of the current LL viewer pipelines remain unchanged:

  • Current Release version 6.2.3.527758, formerly the Rainbow RC viewer dated June 5, promoted June 18 – No Change.
  • Release channel cohorts:
  • Project viewers:
    • Legacy Profiles viewer, version 6.2.3.527749, released on June 5. Covers the re-integration of Viewer Profiles.
  • Linux Spur viewer, version 5.0.9.329906, dated November 17, 2017 and promoted to release status 29 November 2017 – 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.

Region Crossings

User Animats believes he has identified two consistent types of vehicle region crossing failure:

  • The vehicle makes it, but avatar is left behind.
  • At high speed, a complete failure occurs. The vehicle is gone, the avatar is left on the ground or underwater, and often the vehicle is never returned to Lost and Found.

In terms of the latter, it is possible the issue is caused by the vehicle crossing between more than two regions, so that the second region crossing commences before the first has completed – something that can occur when corner crossing between regions, and not just a high speed.

Commenting on this, Simon linden indicated the Lab should potentially slow things down, forcing the first region hand-over to complete before the second commences. He further noted that while this may not be smooth from the perspective of riding the vehicle – but it will be better than a total crossing failure.

Script Processing Issues

For those who may not have seen the comments on script run time issues (see  BUG-226851 and BUG-227099) in my week #26 Content Creation User Group and TPV Developer meeting summaries:

  • There are simulator updates awaiting deployment that should provide better script performance on the “more expensive [resource-wise] scripts events”, such as sensors. This could potentially reduce the overhead of idle scripts by as much as 20-30%, although actual mileage, may vary. The hope is that once deployed, the changes will help push script processing performance in the right direction.
  • These updates are now set to be deployed “soon” as result of the cancellation of this week’s RC deployment.

Lab announces Tilia town hall event

Posted on by Inara Pey
via Linden Lab

On Monday, July 1st, Linden Lab issued a blog post announcing important changes to how Second Life US dollar accounts are to be handled with regards to the Lab’s subsidiary, Tilia Inc (which the blog post officially introduces for the first time) and credit processing (cashing out) from Second Life.

The announcement caused a certain amount of confusion among users. As a result, a forum thread raising questions was started, and since the initial announcement, the Lab has been trying to address these, including starting a Tilia Q&A thread of their own, which has been subject to a number of updates.

Due to the continuing questions, and in support of the forum efforts to address them, on Tuesday, July 9th, the Lab announced a special town hall meeting will be held specifically to address concerns, questions and confusion relating to Tilia, its role in managing accounts associated with Second Life and cashing out US dollar amounts from the platform.

The meeting will take place on Friday, July 12th  at 13:00 SLT. It will be attended by:

  • Grumpity Linden, Second Life Senior Director of Product.
  • Patch Linden, Senior Director of Product Operations.

The meeting will take place at the Town Hall meeting islands, and I hope to be able to record the meeting and produce a summary with audio after-the-fact.

The Town Hall meeting venue will host a special meeting on the upcoming Second Life dollar account changes, credit processing and Tilia – Friday, July 12th, 2019 at 13:00 SLT

In the meantime, the Lab will continue to try to respond to questions asked via the official Tilia Q&A forum thread – so do continue to keep an eye on this to see if any specific concerns you may have are addressed between now and the meeting.

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