For the opening exhibition of 2022 at her Nitroglobus Roof Gallery, Dido Haas brings us Mindscapes, a celebration of the humble prim by Moki Yuitza. Featuring both 2D and 3D elements, this is an engaging, joyous exhibition, which is best introduced by Moki herself:
SL is a virtual world in which everything is possible; space is a mathematical/mental construction in which anything we can conceive can be realised. When I was young, I loved building everything that popped into my head with coloured bricks, and here in SL I used the same basic bricks which were available to give substance to my mental spaces; landscapes, formed just with simple prims in which we as avatars, giving it body and dimension [because] one is meaningless without the other.
– Moki Yuitza on Mindscapes
Mindscapes can be very broadly split into two parts. On, over, and under the transparent floor is the 3D element: prims ranging from the relatively small to the extremely large, some apparently jumbled together, others arranged to form patterns and objects or stacked into columns. Around the walls, meanwhile, is a series of 2D images by Moki, presented in the traditional large format used at Nitroglobus.
The latter most clearly offer a visual representation of our avatar-based relationship with prims. Offered as primarily black-and-while / monochrome pieces, the 2D elements used the shapes and forms present within several of the 3D pieces within the gallery to present intriguing landscapes, rooms and situations from the seemingly simple – giant pyramids being looked upon by a couple of avatars -, through to almost alien landscapes filled with what might be giant spores or pollen, or spaces that seem to comprise random shards of light and dark through which two tiny avatars dance.
Colour plays a minimal role in these pieces, but where it is used, it is to great effect, emphasising the avatars through arms, hands, feet (and in one shot, the avatars directly). By using colour in this way, Moki both draws attention to the avatars, even if largely unseen, and thus the relationship we have with them when bringing this virtual world to life, whilst also equally emphasising the life and vitality we give to our avatars.
Through many of the images and the 3D elements, Moki also celebrates the mathematical dimension of shapes and space, a further outworking of the aspects of Second Life, design and art she notes within her introduction to Mindscapes.
Moki has a long and deservedly recognised reputation for producing installations and art that is richly expressive, engaging and thought-provoking. With Mindscapes she offers all of this and an exhibition that simply offers – as noted – a joyful celebration of the magic to be found within the humble prim.
Catznip version R13 surfaced on Sunday, January 2nd, 2022 as the current release version of the viewer. It comes some two years after the last full public release of the viewer – although there have been interim releases of “alpha / beta” versions during that time. As such, it is a significant release in terms of Catznip moving back towards a good degree of parity with the official SL viewer.
In reference to the official viewer, this release see Catznip:
Reach full parity with SLV release 6.4.12.555248 (Dawa maintenance viewer, promoted to de facto release status, February 1st, 2021)
Incorporate:
The Environment Enhancement Project (with Catznip improvements).
The Camera Presets capability (again, with Catznip improvements).
As always, full details of the changes and updates in this Catznip release are available through the official release notes; what follows is a general summary of the more interesting updates.
Linden Lab Derived Updates
Environment Enhancement Project (EEP)
The Environment Enhancement Project (EEP) was officially released on April 20th, 2020, and incorporated into numerous Catznip “alpha/beta” builds, but R13 marks the first “full” release of the viewer to incorporate EEP functionality.
A complete overhaul and replacement of the Windlight system, EEP is a complex capability which has been covered expensively in blog posts and tutorials including within this blog. As such, I will just drop a couple of links in here for those who may need a further introduction to / understanding of EEP and its capabilities:
However, Catznip R13 incorporates a number of refinements over the original EEP implementation, as outlined below.
EEP Quick Preferences: The Catznip Quick Preferences panel has been updated to provide a set of EEP options. This includes:
Buttons to apply a region’s or parcel’s Shared Environment and to access the Personal Lighting floater.
Individual sections for selecting / editing Fixed Sky, Day Cycle and Water settings, each with:
A drop-down list of available settings, defined by those in your inventory → Settings folder and those in the Library → Environments folder.
The ❮ [left] and ❯ [right] buttons to cycle you through each type of setting.
A wrench button to open the Edit floater for each class of setting.
Day Cycles only:
Radio buttons for selecting the Sun or Moon
Azimuth and Elevation sliders tied to the radio buttons to adjust the position of the Sun or Moon.
A Reapply Current Windlight at logon check box, which does precisely what it says when checked.
An Interpolate Preset Changes checkbox. When checked, this will transition you from one setting to the next over 5 seconds; if unchecked, transitions between EEPs will occur fairly instantly.
The EEP options available through the Catznip Quick Preferences
Edit Library EEP Assets: Under most EEP implementations, those contained within the Library → Environments folder must first be copied to a user’s inventory (e..g to the Settings folder).
Catznip R13 allows users to open EEP assets within Library → Environments directly into the appropriate edit panel (highlight the asset, then right-click on it and select Open) the Windlight settings straight from the library (right-click inventory / Open). This allows changes to be made to the settings, which can be saved to inventory (e.g. within the Settings folder) using the edit panel’s Save As option (or, if the changes are to be temporary, Apply Only To Myself can be used without creating a new inventory asset).
Active EEP Asset indicator: Catznip R13 will display “(active)” alongside the currently active EEP asset / settings in both inventory and the My Environments floater.
General panel / floater clean-up: the majority of the EEP panels and floaters have been cleaned up to reduce their footprint without feeling too cramped.
Camera Presets
The ability to create and save custom Camera Presets (how the viewer camera is positioned) became part of the official release viewer release viewer in the first half of 2020, and which finds its way into the Catznip release viewer with R13.
Again, I’ve covered the capability in depth within: Tutorial: Viewer Camera Presets, so those unfamiliar with the capability should refer to that document – keeping in mind it directly reference the official viewer. However, Catznip have implemented the capability with their own updated Camera floater, which also includes a couple of options specific to the viewer, and this panel and its options is outlined below.
Catznip’s Camera Presets implementation
A gear icon opens the Presets panel, where the default set of Camera positions (e.g. Front, Rear, Side), can be amended to suit personal needs, and where additional custom presets can be created (via the New button within the panel).
Note the Catznip Camera Prresets panel also allows the setting of the viewer’s field of view, an option not included in the official implementation of Camera Presets.
All presets (default and custom) can be accessed via a drop-down list at the top of the camera floater – click the arrow to the right of the button to open the drop-down and then click on the required preset.
The Zoom and Field of View sliders:
Using the Camera icon, the Zoom camera slider does what its name states: zooms the camera in and out.
Using the Eye icon, the Field of View slider controls the field of view (Ctrl-8 / Ctrl-0) which is more commonly used to ‘zoom’ in tight to an attachment for editing.
Note that both of these sliders will refer to their defaults on tapping Esc. If you wish to set a new Field of of View, this should be done by creating a new preset.
Catznip have also included Penny Patton’s popular over-the-shoulder presets within R13.
Catznip Updates
Resolution Scale
Viewer frame rates (FPS) can be a problem for some, and while Linden Lab is attempting improvements to address this, Catznip R13 includes one of the Catznip team’s approaches to boosting FPS – altering the screen resolution scale in the viewer.
A new slider, Resolution Scale, has been added to the Advanced Graphics Presets panel (Preferences → Graphics click Advanced Settings … button). By default, this is set to the highest resolution of your monitor, and but can be reduced by up to half of that resolution by moving the slider to the left. Doing so should improve viewer FPS – but will make the scene resolution displayed on your screen look increasingly blocky.
The Catznip R13 (screen) Resolution Slider
Other Updates of Note:
Places Search tab: Catznip R13 adds the following capabilities to the Legacy Places search tab:
Pressing Enter within the text input field will search on the text in the field (as will click the Search button).
Pressing Enter or double-clicking on a specific search result will teleport yo to that location.
CATZ-530 – Group Notice Creation: when writing a Group notice, the number of remaining characters is displayed under the text entry field.
CATZ-547 – Option to turn off extra lighting that is applied when editing appearance.
CATZ-557 – Improve initial opening time for the landmarks floater (+ improved filtering performance).
CATZ-584 – Give visual feedback when using an invalid regex for an inventory search.
CATZ-593 – Add option to sort Nearby and Friends list by username.
CATZ-594 – Opening the feedback floater should give focus to the feedback form.
CATZ-601 – Increase default and minimal texture cache size.
Again, please refer to the official blog post from the Catznip team for a complete list of updates and fixes.
Feedback
Catznip still lags somewhat behind the official viewer in terms of more recent releases from the latter, but this release gives a good base on which to build and catch up. Points worthy of note for me are:
EEP Quick Preference Tab – well considered, and with more-or-less the right options.
Camera Presets – good to see them “officially arrive” in Catznip, and the reworking of the Camera floater and the Camera Presets floaters / panels is very well done.
Even so, and again from a personal perspective, Catznip still isn’t quite there in terms of becoming my viewer of choice – in that regard Kokua has currently overtaken it in terms of an alternative to Firestorm, but I remain swayed towards the latter purely because of the Phototools floater and its tabs – it simply offers everything I need in a nice, convenient package that Catznip R13’s EEP Quick Preference tab doesn’t fully match and Kokua really lacks – although it does offer more that is up-to-date with the official viewer than either Firestorm or Catznip.
That said, for Catznip users, there should be little, if anything, in R13 to complain about.
It’s time to highlight another week of storytelling in Voice by the staff and volunteers at the Seanchai Library. As always, all times SLT, and events are held at the Library’s home in Nowhereville, unless otherwise indicated. Note that the schedule below may be subject to change during the week, please refer to the Seanchai Library website for the latest information through the week.
January 10th, 19:00: A World Out of Time
After being cryogenically frozen in the 1970s to await a cure for his (then) incurable cancer, Jaybee Corbell awakes after more than 200 years – to find his own body destroyed and his mind and memories transferred into the “mindwiped” body of a criminal. And this is not all that has changed: the Earth is now overseen by an oppressive, totalitarian global government called “The State”, and Corbell’s existence is to be determined by a “checker”; if he is found wanting, he will be discarded.
However, Peerssa, the checker, recommends Corbell as ideal fodder in The State’s attempts to seek out exoplanets suitable for terraforming. Disgusted by his treatment, Corbell works out a way to take control of his one-person ship on its otherwise one-way mission, and heads toward the galactic core. Entering suspended animation, he is unaware his vessel skims close enough to the super-massive black hole at the centre of the galaxy to experience time dilation.
Emerging from his suspended state, and believing only 150 years have passed, Corbell returns to the solar system to find it vastly changed: more than three million years have passed, and the Sun has become a bloated red giant, and Earth … well, Earth appears to have been relocated to an orbit around Jupiter, whilst humanity itself had endured extensive changes – and Corbell must face an entirely new set of challenges if he is to survive.
Join Gyro Muggins as he reads the 1976 novel (and originally a short story) by Larry Niven.
Logos representative only and should not be seen as an endorsement / preference / recommendation
Updates from the week ending Sunday, January 9th, 2022
This summary is generally published every Monday, and is a list of SL viewer / client releases (official and TPV) made during the previous week. When reading it, please note:
It is based on my Current Viewer Releases Page, a list of all Second Life viewers and clients that are in popular use (and of which I am aware), and which are recognised as adhering to the TPV Policy. This page includes comprehensive links to download pages, blog notes, release notes, etc., as well as links to any / all reviews of specific viewers / clients made within this blog.
By its nature, this summary presented here will always be in arrears, please refer to the Current Viewer Release Page for more up-to-date information.
Note that for purposes of length, TPV test viewers, preview / beta viewers / nightly builds are generally not recorded in these summaries.
Official LL Viewers
Release viewer: version version 6.5.1.566335, formerly the Cache+ 360 Capture viewer, dated December 7, promoted December 15 – No change.
Kondor Art Centre – Into the Future Gallery: Clau Dagger
January 6th 2022 saw the opening of Awakening, an exhibition of art by Clau Dagger, which is being held at the Into The Future Art Gallery, a part of the Kondor Art Centre, operated by Hermes Kondor.
Specialising in avatar studies, Clau is an artist photographer whose work I’ve not previously seen exhibited in-world, but who has – as this exhibition demonstrates – a talent for creating images that not only present her avatar, but offer an entire story within – and beyond – their frame. As someone who always tends to look for a narrative within a picture, this makes her work particularly fascinating to me.
Kondor Art Centre – Into the Future Gallery: Clau Dagger
Comprising over 30 images spread across the three levels of the gallery building, the art within Awakening presents an visually engaging mix of studies that are richly expressive in terms of their colour and presentation, and which offer a range of themes and stories. From “simple” pictures celebrating the seasons, through to those focused on fantasy, horror, science fiction and glamour, with dips into literature and film, this is a collection that will capture the eye and offer a richness of story that extends will beyond the framing of each picture on its own.
While there are many who practice the art of avatar study and in creating single-frame stories with their images; Clau’s work stands apart in the level of detail presented in each piece. From backdrop through props, to angle, framing, focus and pose, everything within each picture is brought together not just the create an image, but to create a world that lives beyond the limits of each image.
Kondor Art Centre – Into the Future Gallery: Clau Dagger
One aspect of this “larger than the frame” story aspect of Clau’s work is her conscious directing of her avatar’s eyes. Rather than looking out of the image towards the camera, Clau frequently directs her avatar’s gaze to a point off-camera, with the rest of her avatar’s pose set to suggest a reaction to something out-of-frame and entirely separate to the camera’s position. This gives these pieces – such as Ritual Night, Holy Gral [sic] and Cabell (as three examples) – a cinematic feel, we are caught in a moment of something wider, that were the camera pan around, we’d see more of the story and the action would resume.
Another factor that brings a number of these pieces to life is their richness of colour. Often with avatar studies, there is a tendency to tone down colour in post-processing an image, to add “natural” haze or “natural” light. While this is true in several of the pieces within this exhibit, there are also pieces here where the colour has either been left untouched or perhaps enhanced (e.g. Supernatural, Under the Holiday Tree, Spring Fae and Metamorphosis) that further intensifies their framing and story.
Kondor Art Centre – Into the Future Gallery: Clau Dagger
All of which makes for an exhibition that is genuinely worth visiting, one that lifts avatar studies to a new dimension of expression.
Hanging Gardens of Babylon, January 2022 – click any image for full size
In this palace he erected very high walks, supported by stone pillars; and by planting what was called a pensile paradise, and replenishing it with all sorts of trees, he rendered the prospect an exact resemblance of a mountainous country. This he did to gratify his queen, because she had been brought up in Media, and was fond of a mountainous situation.
The above words – admittedly quoted almost 300 years after they were said to have been written – are the earliest mention of the fabled Hanging Gardens of Babylon.
Hanging Gardens of Babylon, January 2022
Listed as one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World by Hellenic culture, the gardens were said to have been constructed close to the city of Babylon and alongside the grand palace built by the Neo-Babylonian King Nebuchadnezzar II (642-562 BCE). As the quote from Berossus notes, they were said to have been a remarkable feat of engineering; an ascending series of tiered gardens containing a wide variety of trees, shrubs, and vines resembling a large green mountain constructed of mud bricks, which he ordered built in order to help his queen, Amytis of Media to overcome her homesickness for her native lands.
Hanging Gardens of Babylon, January 2022
Whether or not Berossus was writing literally or figuratively is unclear: a lot is known about Nebuchadnezzar II’s reign and works – and there is no mention of fabulous gardens built for Amytis (or any of his other queens) isn’t listed amongst them, nor do any other ancient Babylonian texts from the times around the period in which the Gardens were said to have existed make any mention of them; further, of all the ancient Seven Wonders, the Hanging Gardens alone are the one for which the location has not been definitively established.
Hanging Gardens of Babylon, January 2022
This has led some scholars to believe that the texts quoting descriptions of the Hanging Gardens are actually describing palace gardens that were known to exist, such those that Assyrian King Sennacherib (704–681 BCE) had built in his capital city of Nineveh (close to the modern city of Mosul in Iraq), and Berossus attributed them to Nebuchadnezzar for purely romantic / political reasons; others lean more the the belief the Hanging Gardens were simply the result of romantic imaginings.
Hanging Gardens of Babylon, January 2022
However, whether real or not, the legend has given rise the many descriptions of the Hanging Gardens, together with a plethora of illustrations and paintings, such that it is possible to (re)create how they may have appeared through 3D modelling – or to use the basic descriptions to offer an interpretation of how the Hanging Gardens may have appeared, complete with personal expressions and twists.
This is precisely what Patch Thibaud has done within Second Life, with his utterly fabulous Hanging Garden of Babylon, a Full region design (utilising the private Full region land capacity bonus), and which is currently highlighted in the Destination Guide. Patch is a long-time Second life resident who has, down the years created some outstanding builds in-world. In fact, I recently wrote (in part) about one of his most famous – The Cathedral – which has become both an outstanding statement of art in its own right and a venue in which art can be presented, courtesy of it being located within Chuck Clip’s Sinful Retreat arts estate (see: A Cathedral and Silent Beauties in Second Life).
Hanging Gardens of Babylon, January 2022
With this build, Patch (with the assistance of Cristabella Loon and Lιlly Hawk (NatalieRives)) brings together a genuinely stunning interpretation of the Hanging Gardens that mixes into it elements that are not from the period in which the Gardens were said to exist but also from periods a lot more recent, including touches that might be seen has echoing the Greco-Romano period in which the legends of the Hanging Gardens began to gain wider circulation within the (then) Known World.
The centrepiece of the design is the great “mountain” of the gardens, here presented as a towering palace, tiered without and with multiple levels within, the structure rises from the waters and surrounding gardens to offer a place of rooms, stairs, walkways, rooms, outlying tiers where trees and shrubs grow as per the classic descriptions of the Gardens. Routes window up through the interior of the building and via outside stairways and ramps connect the various levels and eventually reach the “rooftop” gardens.
Hanging Gardens of Babylon, January 2022
The latter is a formal garden, richly laid out around a water feature, and of a kind that would look at home in the gardens of any grand European home or palace of the 18th or 19th centuries. Surrounded by building elements with the Greco-Roman lean, this “rooftop” garden also sits within rooms that have a distinctly Renaissance styling. Taken on its own, this rooftop area, complete with terraces and infinity pool, would be eye-catching enough, but it is just the jewel in a stunning crown of the design.
However, I’m not going to ramble on about the build here – I hope the photos I’m including here will encourage you to visit – what I will say is that this a genuinely engaging build, from the outlying gardens through the lower levels of the palace to the rooftop gardens. Throughout all there are numerous places to sit, paths to explore and – obviously – multiple opportunities for photography, the Hanging Gardens of Babylon is one of the Seven Wonders of our Digital World. And don’t miss the boat ride around and under the palace!
After being cryogenically frozen in the 1970s to await a cure for his (then) incurable cancer, Jaybee Corbell awakes after more than 200 years – to find his own body destroyed and his mind and memories transferred into the “mindwiped” body of a criminal. And this is not all that has changed: the Earth is now overseen by an oppressive, totalitarian global government called “The State”, and Corbell’s existence is to be determined by a “checker”; if he is found wanting, he will be discarded.
Inara Pey: Living in a Modemworld 