Author: Inara Pey

Eclectic virtual world blogger with a focus on Second Life, VR, virtual environments and technology.

2020 TPVD meeting week #40: summary (more cloud uplift)

Posted on by Inara Pey
Eterea, August, 2020  – blog post

The following notes are taken from the TPV Developer meeting held on Friday, October 2nd, 2020. These meetings are generally held every other week, unless otherwise noted in any given summary. The embedded video is provided to Pantera – my thanks to her for recording and providing it. Time stamps are included with the notes will open the video at the point(s) where a specific topic is discussed. Note these summaries are not intended to be a full reporting on all topics discussed, but focus on those items that are more directly user-facing.

This was an exceptionally brief meeting, with some discussion in chat, so please refer to the video as well.

Cloud Uplift – Agni

[0:06-3:39]

In my CCUG meeting summary, I noted that regions running on AWS are starting to appear on the main grid (Agni).

Commenting on progress of the Uplift project at the start of the meeting, Oz Linden indicated the Testylvania region (a restricted access region intended for testing purposes) is also running via AWS. It is regarded as “feature complete”, and the region is specifically available to TPV viewer developer for compatibility testing.

Any TPV developers who cannot access the region should contact one of Mazidox, Maestro or Kyle Linden.

It addition, Oz noted:

We currently have several dozen regions [on Agni] running uplifted, some of them user-accessible and some not. We will be ramping that up over the next few weeks. … At some point we will be moving the regular RC [deployments]  there as well, but we’re not quite ready for that yet due to back-end considerations that shouldn’t affect users directly … But one of the ways you can ask for trouble when dealing with computer programmes is by saying it “shouldn’t” do something.  

Oz Linden, TPV Developer Meeting, October 2nd

There may be a issue with attachments ghosting more frequently when teleporting between two regions running on AWS, but this has yet to be confirmed / a bug report raised.

SL Viewer News

[2:45-6:08]

As per may SUG and CCUG meeting updates, the current official viewer pipelines are as follows:

  • Current release viewer :Love Me Render #4 (EEP fixes), version 6.4.9.549455, released September 24, promoted September 28th.
  • Release channel cohorts:
    • Cachaça Maintenance RC viewer, version 6.4.10.549752, issued October 1st.
    • Mesh uploader RC viewer, version 6.4.10.549686, October 1st.
  • Project viewers:
    • Project Jelly project viewer (Jellydoll updates), version 6.4.10.549690, October 1st.
    • Custom Key Mappings project viewer, version 6.4.5.544079, June 30th.
    • Copy / Paste viewer, version 6.3.5.533365, December 9th, 2019.
    • Project Muscadine (Animesh follow-on) project viewer, version 6.4.0.532999, November 22nd, 2019.
    • Legacy Profiles viewer, version 6.3.2.530836, September 17th, 2019. Covers the re-integration of Viewer Profiles.
    • 360 Snapshot project viewer, version 6.2.4.529111, July 16th, 2019.

General Viewer Notes

  • With the promotion of the LMR #4 viewer, the graphics team are turning to other graphics / rendering projects.
    • Note that LMR #4  appears to resolve the issue of the large performance hit linden Water has on EEP viewers.
  • The next viewer liable for promotion is likely to be the Mesh Uploader RC viewer, most likely in week #42 (commencing Monday, October 12th, 2020).
  • An upcoming series of viewers will be focused on UI improvements. /one of the aims of this work will be to overcome some of the long-standing viewer issues, as well as adding some new features.
  • For the project viewers:
    • The Legacy Profiles viewer is still awaiting the back-end changes.
    • The Custom Key Mapping viewer has not had a lot of feedback, and as a result is being considered for update to RC status.
    • The remaining project viewer are unlikely to change in the short-term.

In  Brief

  • [8:10-8:45] There are concerns among some Mac users on older hardware over their upgrade path with Apple’s announcement of a move to using ARM-based CPUs. LL is trying to get hold of an ARM-based test system directly from Apple to enable them to carry out in-depth investigation / testing.

 

JudiLynn’s Mindscapes in Second Life

Posted on by Inara Pey
Mindscapes: JudiLynn India at Janus Gallery II

I made my second visit of the week to Chuck Clip’s Sinful Retreat region in order to see Mindscapes, an exhibition by JudiLynn India, and which can be found within the region’s Janus Art Gallery II.

JudiLynn is a remarkable abstract artist who has been active in Second Life since 2009. Having studied graphics design at the Tyler School of art, at the opening of the new century she decided to focus her creativity on acrylic and digital painting, particularly exploring the opportunities for textured painting in the former and the ability to play with light and colour with the latter. When combined, these two approaches give her art a genuinely tactile dimension which in turn breathes a fascinating sense of life into them.

The title of this exhibition appears to be drawn from the fact that much of JudiLynn’s work originates within her mind’s eye, rather than being inspired by external sources. These are bold, vivid pieces, clearly drawn from her love of colour, their finish retaining the layered, tactile look that is so intrinsic to her art.

Mindscapes: JudiLynn India at Janus Gallery II
It is my goal to make charitable creation my life’s work. My intent is to share my craft and use it to raise much needed support for organizations that improve the quality of life for people at home and abroad.

– JudiLynn India, describing her art and her approach to life

Fourteen pieces are offered – twelve as conventional canvases, two as totems standing within shallow alcoves in the gallery’s curved wall. While all the pieces naturally draw and hold the eye, their mix of bright tones and more organic colours quite captivating, I confess that I found Mindscape 2 Totem particularly attractive; the colours within it richly organic, its form – a rectangular block – primal, its entire form exceptionally Earthly – by which I mean it has an element of having been drawn from the very crust of the planet, and raised up to offer a story of the ages that progresses down through its colours.

but each of these pieces that make up Mindscapes has something to say to those looking upon it; there are subtle narrative running through each, be it due the the shapes that are suggested within each or the manner in which colours ebb and flow with one another or intertwine gracefully, or the suggestion of things half-seen produced by the mix of line, colour and textural layering.

Mindscapes: JudiLynn India at Janus Gallery II

Captivating, entrancing, emotive and offering a combined journey into the art and imagination of their creator, the pieces presented through Mindscapes are not to be missed.

SLurl Details

2020 CCUG meeting week #40 summary: UI proposal; Agni Uplift news

Posted on by Inara Pey
Chapel Imagination, August 2020 – blog post

The following notes were taken from my audio recording and chat log of the Content Creation User Group (CCUG) meeting held on Thursday, October 1st 2020 at 13:00 SLT. These meetings are chaired by Vir Linden, and agenda notes, meeting SLurl, etc, are are available on the Content Creation User Group wiki page.

Content Creation Related SL Viewers

EEP Fixes

As noted in my viewer release summary for the week and my SUG meeting summary, the EEP fixes have been promoted to de facto release status with the issuing and promotion of the Love Me Render (LMR) #4 viewer (version 6.4.9.549455, at the time of writing).

Mesh Uploader

  • As a result of the EEP fixes release, the Mesh Uploader was merged to the release code, with version 6.4.10.549686,  issued on Thursday, October 1st.
  • If there are no significant problems with this version of the viewer, it is likely to be the next  viewer to be promoted to de facto release status. There is some debate as to whether this will occur in week #41, or if LL will hold off for a week in order to not make three back-to-back promotions in as many weeks.

Jelly Dolls Project Viewer

  • The Jellydoll Project viewer also merged up to the current release code, with version 6.4.10.549690 issued on October 1st.

New Maintenance RC Viewer

  • A new Maintenance RC viewer, coded named Cachaça, was issued on October 1st. Among other things, version 6.4.10.549752 includes several more EEP fixes and also some fixes for CEF.

Viewer UI Improvements

Steeltoe Linden, who handles most (/all) for the work around the viewer UI attended the meeting in what was billed as potentially the start of a semi-regular appearance in order to discuss viewer UI updates that the Lab is considering.

  • For the first session, he raised what was referred to as a “trivial” change: offering a new inventory icon for HUDs.
  • Instead of showing HUDs as an object cube, the idea is to show it as a distinct icon type – the example being a cog-like icon, in order to make HUDs more easily recognisable when scanning Inventory folders.
  • This icon would also be visible in the Outfit and Received Items panels.
The proposal UI change to distinguish HUD items from other objects in inventory.Left: how things are now, with HUDs using the same cube icon as other objects. Right: the proposed new HUD cog icon.
  • The viewer would use the HUD attach point (stored with the object data)  to identify HUDs as such, and so display the icon.
  • It was noted that this could (allowing for trying to remember all of the icon types) pave the way for items that attach directly to the avatar have a unique icon type.
  • One suggestion at the meeting was to also add HUDs as a distinct option when filtering inventory, and Steeltoe indicated he has already ask one of the viewer engineers to look into this.
    • However, he noted that filtering works on object type, rather than attachment location, so it would require an additional layer of code for filters to distinguish attachments like HUDs from other objects.  This might make filtering for things like HUDs too computationally expensive.
  • Overall, the response from those at the meeting was positive.

Proposed Bakes on Mesh Improvement: llWearFromInventoryTemp

  • This is a proposal by Rider Linden that has been filed as a feature request – BUG-229423 to allow public comment / feedback.
  • It is aimed primarily for Bakes on Mesh (BOM), but may have wider applications.
  • The basic idea is defined within the feature request:
Mesh bodies used a system of alpha cuts to hide parts of the body that should be obscured by clothing. Alpha cuts were originally controlled through a HUD associated with the body. Clothing creators and body vendors then developed a system to automatically turn some of these alpha cuts on and off through a script in the clothing item.
BOM provides no similar mechanism. In order to hide parts of the body, the users must search through their inventory for an appropriate alpha layer and attach it or add it to the outfit manually.
This function will allow clothing creators to create BoM enabled clothing without forcing their consumers to search for the appropriate alpha layer.
  • So essentially, it would be a scripted function clothing makers could use to ensures that when a clothing layer is utilised in BOM, the appropriate alpha is also applied, and similarly, when the item is no longer being worn, the alpha is automatically detached.
  • Due to the way SL is configured, this would only apply to the Clothing object type (skin, hair, eyes, and shape would be excluded, as only one of each of these can be worn at any time, so trying to deal with what happens to these wearing / removing, if they were included in the system becomes complicated and potentially conflicting.
    • If you wear clothing that have a shape associated with it, the function could end up removing the clothing *and* the shape, leaving your avatar a cloud, for example.
  • Currently, the idea is only under consideration – and if feasible, any work on it would not occur until after the cloud uplift work has been completed.
  • This approach would also offer an alternative approach to part of the idea put forward by Cathy Foil at the last CCUG meeting, which would require LL to adopt elements of the RLV / RLVa code base.
  • Precisely how the capability would be implemented is still to be determined; there is some antithesis to having a script directly access an agent’s inventory (as RLV / RLVa can do, using the #RLV folder), so the precise functionality might focus more on being driven by script within an attachment (such as a HUD)  or even added to the clothing layer itself (if I am understanding Rider correctly – although I don’t know how this would work in practice).
    • A  negative seen with the RLV / RLVa approach is that it dictates how items that it is to access are organised (through the #RLV folder tree), which in turn places constraints on the freedom users have to organise their inventory as they would prefer.
    • Further, given that people do organise their inventories differently to one another, having a  script that accesses inventory directly means that it must somehow be able to determine where and how within their individual inventories users have organised and placed  clothing layers and alphas.

Main Grid Regions in the Cloud

Publicly-accessible regions on the main grid (Agni) have been quietly appearing. As far as I know, these are predominantly Linden-owned regions – such as Hippotropolis, used for various in-work user group meetings (although I would suspect any private region holders who may have their regions running on AWS to be potentially subject to an NDA  or similar, in order to avoid LL being inundated with requests for regions to be uplifted).

Spotting a region hosted in the cloud via Help About. Left: a region hosted at the Lab’s co-location facility (note the agni.lindenlab.com in the address). Right: and a region running on a simulator in the cloud,  using an AWS address.

Patch Linden also posted a forum update on a number of topics (the availability of Linden Stilt homes, the work in partnering with various organisations with in-world events, for example), which included a reiteration of the Lab’s view that the Uplift project is proceeding well, and the work should hopefully be completed by the end of the year.

Date of Next Meeting

  • Thursday, October 15th, 2020.

 

Dya’s Southern Twilight in Second Life

Posted on by Inara Pey
Dya’s Southern Twilight, October 2020

We received an invitation from Dya OHare to visit the latest iteration of her region builds, “We’re not so far from the Caribbean,” she said, referencing her last design I covered in these pages (see Dya’s Scent of the Caribbean in Second Life). “I’ve tried to show a bit of the Southern Life and I hope you like it.”

So off we hopped to see Dya’s Southern Twilight, a place that presents a rich mix of southern American life in the form of aspects of New Orleans together with sights that might be found in Mississippi and Louisiana. This sounds a lot to cover in a single region, but Dya does a good job of mixing multiple aspects of these states and the Crescent City, with touches that suggest the era of the 1930s-1940s – although it could just as easily be a modern setting.

Dya’s Southern Twilight, October 2020

The region is diagonally split by a river running from the north-east to the south-west, representative of the Mississippi itself. The landing point sides on the north bank of the river, on a road that serves a built-up area suggesting the older parts of New Orleans. Here can be found multiple places of business, side streets with cobbled surfaces and tram tracks, a place where street urchins play (or perhaps whisper plans to hop a tram whilst avoiding the fare), and an open air café awaits patrons.

Also to be found on this side of the river is a touch of the city’s French Quarter. This takes the form of a street overlooked by wrought iron guarded balconies draped with flags, with more fluttering from short poles leaning out from the railing tops. Lights strung across the street help illuminate it, together with the signs for the local bar and the hotel, whilst the end of the street is awash in colours that splashes over aged whitewashed walls from two tall street lamps.

Dya’s Southern Twilight, October 2020

This built-up area is bracketed by sights often associated with New Orleans in film and television: a paddle steamer moored on the river, and a cemetery complete with family mausoleums. For the romantics, one of the Crescent City’s white horse-drawn carriages sits at the roadside as well.

The south side of the river has a small harbour area that connects it to the north side with the assistance of a girder bridge of the kind seen along to Mississippi, but also opens out to contain a suggestion of the bayou, complete with trees rising from misty waters, with cabins potted in the open spaces.

Dya’s Southern Twilight, October 2020

Separated from the bayou by shrubs and dense foliage sits one of the grand old plantation houses associated with the southern states. Set back from the riverside road, it rises from the end of a long footpath, the front door open to invite visitors into the partially furnished interior. Horses graze in the field alongside the the house, whilst a tall hedge guards a small, neat garden to the rear, which also has access to a local beach.

Rich in detail with plenty to discover, appreciate and photograph, Dya’s Southern Twilight continues Dya’s tradition in creating engaging locations for people to visit.

Dya’s Southern Twilight, October 2020

Our thanks also to Shawn Shakespeare for the LM.

SLurl Details

 

October’s Haunted Hollow in Second Life

Posted on by Inara Pey
via Elite Equestrian and Seanchai library

The season of Haunts and Things That Go Bump In The Night is once again upon us, bring with it plenty to do across the grid. Two groups that are offering a themed quarter-region and events throughout the month are friends of this blog, Elite Equestrian and Seanchai Library, who are jointly presenting Haunted Hollow to one and all.

Once Upon a Time there was an Enchanted Hollow somewhere between the Hudson River Valley and the land of the Brothers Grimm. It was here, under the glow of the Hunter’s Moon, that the tales gathered. They settled in as cooling breezes whirled the falling leaves, nestling between the autumnal heights and that place where the brook waters blend with the salty sea. Mind your step! In the centuries between this moment and when these stories were born, some few of them may have begun to twist, just a very little.

The introduction to Haunted Hollow

Highlights of the event include:

  • A treasure hunt.
  • Skeleton pony companion give-aways.
  • Free Bird’s annual live trick or treat event.
  • Sotrytelling and tales with Seanchai Library.
  • Music events, and more!

Seanchai Library bring tales for the season throughout the month with a programme featuring (all times SLT):

  • 13:30, October 4th, 11th, 18th (Sundays) – Tea Time with The Shadow: tales from the classic radio series, originally featuring the voice of Orson Welles (1937-1938).
  • 19:00, October 7th and 28th (Wednesdays – The Halloween Tree: episodes 1 and 4 respectively of Ray Bradbury’s fantasy novel tracing the history of Samhain and Halloween through the tale of a group of trick or treating boys.
  • 13:00, Saturday, October 17th – Baba Yaga: Caledonia Skytower reads tales of the supernatural being (or a trio of sisters of the same name) of Slavic folklore, who may help or hinder those that encounter her or seek her out, as she appears in assorted roles.
  • 13:00, Saturday, October 24th – The Witch’s Headstone: Caledonia Skytower reads Neil Gaiman’s short story that originally formed the 3rd Chapter of The Graveyard Book, the story of Bod (short for Nobody), the boy raised by the ghosts of a graveyard, and which has also been published as a short story in its own right.
  • 13:30, Sunday, October 25th: Tales of Washington Irving: Seanchai present tales penned by the essayist, biographer, historian, and diplomat who is best known for his short stories, including The Legend of Sleepy Hollow.
Haunted Hollow 2020

The treasure hunt runs through the entire month and starts at the landing point – just click the cauldron or the board behind it for hint, and start seeking out the places within the hollow that are hinted at. There are thirteen locations to find, with prizes awaiting those who take the hunt.

Visitors are also invited to ride the Hollow’s skeleton horses and ponies – simply click on the rezzer boards and make your choice of horse or pony and ride the trails. Rides are available throughout the event, and random (and changing) gifts are offer throughout. In addition, the rides will be opened on three days of the month when registered riders can participate and have the chance to receive a special Animesh, rideable pony-sized skeleton. These special rides will take place as follows (all times SLT):

  • 08:00-09:30, Saturday, October 10th.
  • 17:00-18:30, Friday October 16th.
  • 18:00-19:30, Saturday October 24th.

The Live Trick or Treat events will include a tour of the homes in the hollow – participants are asked to wear suitable costumes! – and will also feature tarot card readings, music and fun. Details will be made available through the information boards at the landing point, so be sure to keep an eye on it throughout the month!

Haunted Hollow – the Headless Horseman!

As you ride through the Hollow, look out for the shoe-like Witch’s House, where spells and potions might be found; and there’s the hut of the Baba Yaga – what might she offer to you? But use caution, as you might note from the surroundings, not all who arrive actually leave…  And while your name may not include “Ickabod” or “Crane”, you will nevertheless come across the Headless Horseman!

Climb the trails and you’ll find the Story Teller’s Ledge, where tales might be heard and music and dancing enjoyed. Further up, and the Fairy Tale Tower awaits. Run by a skeleton crew, its rooms have nevertheless been rented out by the characters of assorted tales.  Could that be Cinderella’s glass slippers left in the tower’s hall, her pumpkin coach carelessly parked alongside? And just who might that mirror, mirror on the wall belong to – take  care after looking into it that you don’t prick you finger on the needle of the spinning wheel left in the middle of the room, or you might be staying at the tower longer than intended!

Whatever your Halloween treats might be, Haunted Hollow may well offer them to enjoy together with its own tricks. So why not pull out your favourite ghostly look or horrorly costume and drop in throughout October to join the fun?

SLurl Details

Second place for STÖMOL at digital film festival

Posted on by Inara Pey
From STÖMOL

STÖMOL, the feature-length science-fiction move produced entire in Second Life, has been awarded second place in the 2020 SUPERNOVA Digital Film Festival.

The film, written, directed, produced and starring Huckleberry Hax, together with Caitlin Tobias, Ylva, Boudicca Amat, Anthony Wesburn and Mich Michabo in leading roles, was one of a number of entries to the festival that were wholly filmed in Second Life and which were open to viewing on-line throughout the festival’s almost month-long run.

The film gained numerous plaudits from those at the festival for its style, content, story arc and composition, including founder and Creative Director Ivar Zeile. It was runner-up to #21XOXO, “a stylized window into the zeitgeist of youth and pop culture,” by Sine Ozblige, and earned a prize of US $750 for Huckleberry and his team.

I was stunned when I watched STÖMOL for the first time. I’ve seen some Second Life animations – we’ve really supported artists that are working in that platform over the years – and I didn’t believe I was going to be taken by a feature length film made in Second Life, but Huckleberry absolutely delivered the goods.

Ivar Zeile, Supernova founder and Creative Director

Very special and deserved congratulations to Huckleberry and his team for STÖMOL’s runner-up status at the festival, it was well deserved. I hope that – as nerve racking as entering this festival was to him – this award will spur Huckleberry to continue filming, and we will get to see the sequel and the answers to the question posed by the film’s end credits (nope, not going  to spoil it for those who haven’t seen it! – but if you are interested, my own review of the film can be found in Second Life’s STÖMOL: a review).

Other pieces filmed in Second Life and featured in the festival were machinima by Erik Mondrian, and a piece by Tizzy Canncci.

Erik had a total of three pieces accepted by the festival, comprising his CalArts Master of  Fine Arts thesis For the Light of Other Shores, a marvellous 10-part series, selected for the Director’s Choice programme of the festival; together with Tripping through Skyscrapers, his video journey through Gem Preiz’s Skycrapers installation ,and Cetatea Poenari, recording a visit to the region of the same name, and both of which featured in the festival’s Everything Abstract-Sonic programme.

For her entry, Tizzy submitted Out of Isolation Came Forth Light, a recording of a performance by artist SaveMe Oh that took place in CapCat Ragu’s installation entitled Isolation, displayed at Ribong Gallery’s Artspace 1789.

I’d also like to offer my congratulations to Tizzy and Erik for entering their work for the festival. I know that Erik had a certain amount of trepidation in making his submissions, but his work  – which I have the privilege to be able to discuss with him and write about (see Erik Mondrian: master of fine arts in and beyond Second Life) as well as follow via You Tube – full deserves recognition through a wider audience.

Film Links