Artcare Gallery, January 2023 – JadeYu Fhang, Une Sorte De…
Currently open at Artcare Gallery, the art hub curated and operated by Carelyna, is Une Sorte De… – “A Kind Of…”, by JadeYu Fhang.
JadeYu has a reputation for being one of the most visually evocative artists in Second Life, and her installations often plumb the depths of the human consciousness and psyche (examples: Roots and War, Everywhere and Nowhere and OpeRaAxiEty). She is also perhaps best known for her 3D installations (such as those mentioned above, offering deeply evocative, layered and expressive pieces – which can also be enigmatic when JadeYu sways in that direction. However, she is also a 2D artist, as Une Sorte De… reminds us.
Artcare Gallery, January 2023 – JadeYu Fhang, Une Sorte De…
Provided within a futuristic display space also designed by JadeYu, the exhibition opened on January 19th, 2023, and is presented sans any artist’s notes. However the 18 pieces presented – a mix of colour and greyscale images – combined with the exhibition’s title suggests these are images intended to convey a feeling and / or emotion or a sense of mood.
From the pictorial to the abstract by way of real and faux 3D elements, these are all highly individual works, exhibiting and intensity of image and form that deserve individual interpretation. As such, this is another exhibition for which I’m again not going to overlay with my personal reflections or reactions – I’d rather JadeYu’s work speak directly to you, and so encourage you to pay a visit to Une Sorte De… for yourself.
Artcare Gallery, January 2023 – JadeYu Fhang, Une Sorte De…
SLurl Details
Une Sorte De, Artcare Gallery (Emotion, rated Moderate)
Where Our Journey Begins, November 2022 – blog post
The following notes were taken from
My audio recording and chat log transcript of the Content Creation User Group (CCUG) meeting held on Thursday, January 19th 2023 at 13:00 SLT.
Pantera’s video of the Third Part Viewer Developer (TPVD) meeting held on Friday, January 20th, 2023 at 13:00 SLT, embedded at the end of this article.
These meetings are chaired by Vir Linden, and their dates and times can be obtained from the SL Public Calendar; also note that the following is a summary of the key topics discussed in the meetings and is not intended to be a full transcript of all points raised.
Note, The TPVD meeting was abbreviated to 20 mins.
Official Viewers Status – TPV Meeting
Available Viewers
On Thursday, January 19th, 2023, the Maintenance R RC viewer was updated to version 6.6.9.577678 – translation updates and the return of slam bits.
On Wednesday, January18th, 2023:
The Maintenance (Q)uality RC viewer was updated to version on 6.6.9.577581 – new Debug settings UI, quality of life improvements.
The PBR Materials project viewer updated to version 7.0.0.577610, on January 19, 2023 – SSR support.
This viewer has been reported as “broken” when running on systems with AMD GPUs, a situation that was being investigation as these notes were being written.
This leaves the rest of the currently-available official viewer as:
Release viewer: Maintenance P (Preferences, Position and Paste) RC viewer version 6.6.8.576863 Monday, December 12, 2022.
Release Candidate viewers:
Performance Floater / Auto-FPS RC viewer, version 6.6.9.577251, January 4, 2023.
Project viewers:
Puppetry project viewer, version 6.6.8.576972, December 8, 2022.
General Viewer Notes
Vir pointed out that as Microsoft has ended support for Windows 8 on January 10th, 2023, it is no longer regarded as a supported operating system for running Second Life, and the viewer will not be tested against it (and the System Requirements page has been updated to reflect this, specifying Windows 10+ most recent service pack as the baseline supported Windows OS.
The second phase of the Github work in on-going, notably updating all the viewer build libraries.
Inventory Enhancement Project – Both Meetings
Linden Lab is looking to enhance the Inventory system.
The first element of this work is to be the addition of a fixed-resolution thumbnail preview capability, allowing users to see a small image of a given object (where this makes sense – so the likes of note cards and scripts would be excluded) within inventory, with these thumbnails either being of individual items or entire folders.
This work has now started, but it will be “some time” before there is anything user-facing to show.
A code contribution from Kitty Barnett (Catznip) for an inventory texture tool tip / preview may well be folded in to this work.
Once the thumbnail preview work has been completed, it is possible the Lab will look to further enhancements to inventory management. One future enhancement under consideration is support for folders to be included in the Contents inventory of individual objects.
glTF Materials and Reflection Probes – CCUG
Project Summary
To provide support for PBR materials using the core glTF 2.0 specification Section 3.9 and using mikkTSpace tangents, including the ability to have PBR Materials assets which can be applied to surfaces and also traded / sold.
To provide support for reflection probes and cubemap reflections.
The overall goal is to provide as much support for the glTF 2.0 specification as possible.
The project viewer is available via the Alternate Viewers page, but will only work on the following regions on Aditi (the Beta grid): Materials1; Materials Adult and Rumpus Room 1 through 4.
Screen Space Reflections (SSR) has now been integrated into the Project Viewer, (January 19th onwards), although work around this is still being finalised, notably mixed Reflection Probes with SSR.
Some fixing is required to the default colour curves in the viewer.
Stability issues have been noted on Intel integrated graphics hardware, and these are being investigated / fixed.
There have now been a total of two further weeks focused on optimising the viewer’s performance, and the results of this work should be available in the next update to the Project Viewer.
UI updates: the viewer will likely see some UI updates as it progresses:
The next update will likely include a new dedicated icon for on the Build floater for creating Reflection Probes.
The drop-down in the Build floater Textures tab (Currently Materials and Media on the release viewer, may be re-labelled for PBR (where it is Materials, Media, PBR) to more clearly differentiate between the current materials maps system and “new”” PBR materials.
Similarly, the new Materials Inventory folder in the Project Viewer may also be renamed to avoid the potential for confusion between the use of PBR materials assets and the current materials maps system.
Further, the menu option Build → Upload → Materials (in the Project Viewer) may be reamed to more clearly reflect it is for PBR materials, not material maps.
Exactly was terms will be used is TBD, but the general push (from LL’s perspective is to use meaningful lbeels on options and menus which can be Googled with some relevance by those wanting to know more about the underpinning file formats / standards, etc.
Work is going into messaging between the back-end and the viewer to ensure it will scale once the viewer starts to see widespread use.
In Brief
As the PBR Materials project is approaching a possible RC release, the questions has been asked as to what is next on the graphics front. While no formal decision has been made, options include:
A return to looking at adding something like Vulkan / MoltenVK (for OS X) API support alongside of the OpenGL API (which has been slated for deprecation by Apple and is growing increasingly long in the tooth). This work is being looked at more as a performance optimisation rather than a visual boost to rendering (e.g. allowing SL to be less CPU-bound and make more use of the GPU, reducing the volume of draw calls, etc.).
Further expansion of the glTF work to include mesh (and moving away from Collada .DAE), animations, etc. But again, no definitive plans / direction has been agreed within the Lab.
While there is a appetite at the Lab to support as much as the glTF 2.0 specification, some aspects will be excluded from the list – mentioned at the meeting were Setting the filter mode and sampler state of textures, both of which were described as “problematic” for implementation within SL.
Overhauling / updating support / options for ground textures.
The CCUG meeting saw a general discussion on animations, the skeleton and all that it involves (bones, attachment points, collision volumes, rigging, etc., and the rules / policies surrounding them, couched initially in the potential for expanding the skeleton / avatar system – for which there are currently no plans to do so beyond what has already been done.
Pivot points: (related to the above) past CCUG meeting saw some extended discussion on implementing pivot points on the skeleton, and LL indicated they would investigate this. Since then, it has become increasingly apparent that a node hierarchy would be beneficial and potentially easier to implement; ergo pivot points have been pulled into the pot for a future hierarchy project.
There is a known bug where Premium Plus users – who gain free texture uploads – are being charged for textures included in mesh uploads. An upcoming simulator-side maintenance update should correct this.
A request was made at the CCUG meeting to allow mesh uploads greater than the 64m single object size limit, to make it easier to import large structures / scenes without having to curt them into sections (and thus avoid potential issues in fit, scale, update, etc, and can result in Interest List related rendering issues).
LL is unlikely to change the limit, but would prefer to provide improved tools that can help content creators / scene builders.
One should tool discussed – which is currently not in development – is that of a “scene view” tool which identifies every individual instance of an object in scene, and provides a mechanism to allow (subject to permissions, obviously) them to be swapped-out to fix things like “broken” items / those for which there is an update / replacement.
The Great Library of Eruanna, January 2023 – click any image for full size
Sam Rougefeu, by way of Twitter, alerted me to The Great Library of Eruanna, located close to the south-western coast of the northern continent of Gaeta. Occupying a quarter of a Full region, this is an imaginative build by Amara Shino, forming both her private home and a place open to exploration by visitors and light role-play is welcome.
I say imaginative, as it takes the form of a stone castle sitting over a honeycomb of tunnels, caverns, halls and rooms – all of which is sitting on and within a giant floating island of rock. As such, despite the apparently small land area for the setting, it has – literally – a very real sense of depth to it.
The Great Library of Eruanna, January 2023
The landing point sits on one of the walls of the castle, immediately before one of the more notable of its towers (not that many are not noticeable!) and offering a view down into the main bailey.
The architecture is a curious mix, the design suggesting this is a place which has grown organically rather than any planned development. The tower immediately in front of the landing point perhaps offers the first curiosity, a tampering, angular finger topped by a single-story house extending beyond its narrow top on a wooden platform.
Across the grass sitting outside of the castle walls is another tall, angular tower, this one offering a sense of mystery to it, being the home of an apothecary / alchemist, the vapours from cauldrons within its the ground floor escaping under the front door. Stairs climb the inside of this tower, allowing an escape from the vapours to the upper levels – including an enclosed bridge spanning the gap between this tower and a great shoulder of rock rising over the bailey of the castle.
A Hobbit-like front down sits at the foot of this shoulder (one of two Hobbit houses backing their way into the rock, each furnished in a manner that should keep orc, dwarf hobbit or human in reasonable comfort), while the flat top is home to more spire-like towers with conical roofs of another castle awaiting exploration.
The Great Library of Eruanna, January 2023
This upper castle can be reached in one of two main ways: via the narrow tower rising from the keep of the lower castle, or via a path winding up the shoulder of rock itself. Both of the castles present multiple rooms to explore, one of the rooms in the lower keep hinting at the use of the building as a library, the walls lined with cabinets of scrolls. But this is just the start.
The real secrets of this place lie within the tunnels and caverns below the towers, keeps and little houses, together with the rooms they contain. These tunnels can be can be accessed from more than one point, but I’m not about to spoil things here by listing any of them; you’ll have to visit yourself to find them. All I will say is the majority – but not all – can be found within the castle.
The Great Library of Eruanna, January 2023
Once within the tunnels, you’ll again find there is much to explore, including the great library itself, tucked away in the depths of the rock. Spanning multiple levels and comprising several rooms, this is an ideal setting for casual role-play. Part of it even comprises a tower built within the living rock, its floors linked by wooden stairways and an open-sided elevator passing level after level of bookcases.
The lowest level of this “tower” accesses another larger hall; at one time, this may have also been a used to store books and scrolls, but it now stands empty, the upper floor broken, and only the side rooms remaining in use. But books are not all that might be found here; some of the caverns have been turned into catacombs where mummified bodies lay at rest – those of past librarians perhaps? You decide
The Great Library of Eruanna, January 2023
I could write more here, but as noted above, this is a location thoroughly deserving of exploration – and as such, I’ll break off here and encourage you to do so!
Starborn Gallery, January 2023: Banagher Crisp – Whispering Sky
Whispering Sky is the title Banagher Crisp has selected for an exhibition of his Second Life photography, currently being hosted by Lizbeth Morningstar in the guest artist of her Starborn Gallery.
This is a selection of predominantly greyscale images with a focus on avatar studies, although they are interspersed with colour images and landscapes spread across the two levels of the hall. They are both evocative and personal pieces, each one focused to evoke a specific instant in time, intended to project an emotion and / or idea, as Banagher explains within his introduction to the exhibition:
We all remember certain moments in our lives where they makes us feel happy, sad, angry, grateful, or loved. My work focuses on “moments” a paused second in a certain place that reflects many different feelings. Each person sees that moment differently and that is what I find fascinating.
– Banagher Crisp
Starborn Gallery, January 2023: Banagher Crisp – Whispering Sky
Given this, these are all pieces that contain a richness of narrative that is quite extraordinary – made more so by the fact that Banagher has left each one untitled so as not to impose his thoughts or ideas onto our encounter with each image. Given this, I’m loathe to offer my own thoughts on individual pieces in this selection for the same reason; these are works that deserve to be seen fresh and unburdened by the interpretations of an intermediary.
What I will say is that the way they individually convey their emotional content: passion, regret, love, loneliness, joy, solitude, contemplation, honour, and more; is captivating, making each piece an image the eyes are drawn back to again and again. Even those without an avatar within them richly evocative in focus, colour (or tone) and content they naturally draw out an emotional response in which feelings and thought bubble.
This is, I believe, my first encounter with Banagher’s work; I’m not sure how long he has been producing pieces in-world, although I note his Flickr stream is no more than two years old – which might indicate the obsession which started as a hobby (to reverse Banagher’s own words) is recent. Be that as it may, both Whispering Sky and his Flickr speak to a depth of artistry I very much hope I will be expressed at more exhibitions in the future.
Starborn Gallery, January 2023: Banagher Crisp – Whispering Sky
Also, when visiting Whispering Sky, do be sure to step into the second hall within the gallery, where the latest exhibition of Lisbeth’s own work, How Many Faces Do We Have? can be appreciated.
Gothbrooke Forest, January 2023 – click any image for full size
Sitting within one-eighth of a Full region (which utilises the Full Private region land capacity bonus) is Gothbrooke Forest, a public setting designed by Myka Winchester (Dremonawolfe) as, to quote the setting’s About Land description:
A gorgeous rustic themed forest complete with a serene pond and plenty of places to cuddle with your partner or simply take photos.
– Gothbrooke Forest
This is a gently relaxing setting, comprising a house – Cory Edo’s excellent Noa Ranch Cottage, which I’ve had my eyes on as a possible purchase for personal use (so get ready for a blog post on modding and using it that might be forthcoming) -, woodlands in autumnal colours, and a large body of water around which the trees have gathered.
Gothbrooke Forest, January 2023
The landing point sits close to the house at the eastern extreme of the parcel, alongside sign board offering group membership and / or a teleport up to the Mysteria store. At the time of my visit, I was not sure if the house was open to the public or not – while there were no signs to indicate it was not, I erred a little on the side of caution. However, Myka has since contacted me to let me know that it is indeed open for people to explore.
Running parallel to the front of the house is a gravel path leading to the first of the setting’s cuddle-spots: a small pergola among the trees. Here blessing can be had from the small figure of Buddha and which, under the shroud of Midnight, can be romantically lit by a parade of candles.
Gothbrooke Forest, January 2023
Before reaching it, a junction in the path leads west to the parcel’s waters (or back to the house if you prefer!). The waters are fed by tall waterfalls to the north, and as the path leaves the shade of the trees a wooden boardwalk stretches over them to what at first appears to be an island, but which is in fact a small headland jutting from the western extreme of the parcel. Steps can be found along the boardwalk allowing a descent into the waters, and rubber rings are available for floating around for those who wish to take a dip.
On the far side of the water, a mix of decks, gravel and log-supported paths climb up to a ring of trees and and an outdoor seating area beyond which sits a small café.
Gothbrooke Forest, January 2023
Prior to reaching the clearing, stone steps climb over the rocky headland and descend into a gravel-floored depression and another secluded spot for couples, this one furnished with a pallet table on which wine, cheese and crackers has been provided. It’s a cosy spot, but slightly spoiled by the fact that while the shrubs and logs ranged around the outer side of the depression give it a greater sense of privacy, they also block the view out over the water.
The latter extends two wet fingers into the land either side of the headland, both of them reach almost as far as where the café sits above them. Each is home to a water floater complete with its own sun shade. The café is a cosy place, two floors within a wood-framed building, and carrying with it hints of both Halloween and Christmas. As well as the outdoor seating, it offers comfortable armchairs downstairs and more traditional table-and-chairs seating upstairs.
Gothbrooke Forest, January 2023
The ribbons of land running along the north and south of the parcel to connect the eastern end with the house and the western end and the café offer no footpaths – which is not any loss to the setting. Instead they are rich in trees and rough ground, giving the entire setting a sense of being deep within a forest, as the parcel’s name suggests.
Small, rich in places to sit and pass the time, Gothbrooke Forest offers itself for a range of EEP settings (as well as its own – I actually used one of my custom settings in the images here), and multiple places to sit and relax. All of which makes for a pleasant and engaging visit for Second Life explorers.
The following notes were taken from the Tuesday, January 17th, 2023 Simulator User Group (SUG) meeting. They form a summary of the items discussed and is not intended to be a full transcript. A video of the entire meeting is embedded at the end of the article for those wishing to review the meeting in full – my thanks to Pantera for recording it.
Server Deployments
On Tuesday, January 17th 2023, the simhosts on the Main SLS channel were restarted with no deployment, leaving them on simulator version 576542.
On Wednesday, January 18th, 2023: the RC simhosts should receive two new simulator updates:
577628 – (Le Tigre RC Channel) an update for HTTP_CUSTOM_HEADER usage in llHTTPRequest(). Previously, a maximum of 8 custom headers were allowed, and each header had a hardcoded limit of 253 bytes. With this update, both of these limits have been removed; the only limitation is that the total custom HTTP header size must be under 4096 bytes.
The cryptographic signing utilities – potentially llHMAC (per BUG-233005) and llSignRSA and llVerifyRSA (per BUG-233009) had to be delayed due to “last minute snag” requiring a further look at the functions.
577595 – (Bluesteel and Magnum RC channels) contains stability improvements, fixes a few miscellaneous bug. It also fixes the bug preventing 30-second sound loops from being played back, and introduces new functions to the LSL API to allow for sound playback across any prim in a linkset. The new LSL functions include:
Maintenance (Q)uality RC viewer, version 6.6.9.577418, January 4, 2023.
Performance Floater / Auto-FPS RC viewer, version 6.6.9.577251, January 4, 2023.
Project viewers:
PBR Materials project viewer, version 7.0.0.577486, January 11, 2023.
This viewer will only function on the following Aditi (beta grid) regions: Materials1; Materials Adult and Rumpus Room 1 through 4.
Puppetry project viewer, version 6.6.8.576972, December 8, 2022.
In Brief
As well as the crypto signing noted above, there are a couple of new functions coming down the pipe dealing with cryptographic hashing which are described as being useful for things like JWT or other HTTP auth schemes:
It has been suggested that the server-side of Pathfinding might be in line for a re-visit, although no time frame for when this might be or what it might comprise has been determined as yet.
It is reported that llRequestAgentData(id,DATA_NAME); is failing with increased frequency (the issue was first reported in BUG-231884), with other request functions also reported as having issues (e.g. llRequestSimulatorData incorrectly reporting a region’s online status until the region is restarted). It’s not clear at this point in time what is causing these problems, but server-side caching errors might be the cause of some.
A request has (again) been made for the servers to have valid SSL certificates. A Jira has been filed on this, and the engineering team are going to try to get it moved forward with TPTB.
BUG-227303 “collisions makes a script stop running and revert its mono status”, is now described a “high on the list” of things to be addressed.
BUG-10442 “llGetHTTPHeader does not accept custom headers” has been raised as something to be addressed given the upcoming release of Simulator RC 577628.
BUG-233107 “Objects failing to render is happening more frequently of late” continues to be an issue, an might be occurring more frequently for some, and its priority has been raised.
BUG-233140 “LSL Feature Request: PSYS_PART_TEXTURE_ANIM” a feature request relating to animated particles has been raised and accepted. Whilst seen as a 2nice to have”, and something that might spark renewed interest at poking at the particle system (viewer performance permitting) – it generated interest and discussion at the meeting.
Inara Pey: Living in a Modemworld 