Optimizing Second Life Snapshots: Alchemy Viewer & Reshade Guide

I don’t write often these days. A couple of things have inspired me. One is ValKalAstra posting an interesting image. You can see it here on the Second Life Forum or on Flickr. For me this was a ‘how did she do that?’

The Second Life viewers, the Lab’s and third-party viewers, have filters for the Snapshots. Those are easy to use. To change the active render one has to get into tweaking a huge set of settings. Not so easy. And the sort of wireframe look in Val’s image was something I know I could not do in Firestorm or Black Dragon.

For whatever reason I though this was done in the Alchemy Viewer. I didn’t know about Reshade. Reshade is an add-on app for video games. It used to add image filters to a game that does not have them. So, the wireframe looks of the image intrigued me. I though Alchemy had some new twist on wireframe mode. So… I got the viewer.

ReShade Image from Alchemy
Playing with ReShade in Alchemy Viewer

Alchemy Viewer for Second Life

Alchemy is a third-party viewer. You’ll find it listed in the SL Wiki’s list of Third-Party Viewers. See the Details.

I downloaded and am running Alchemy Beta 7.1.9.2492 (64bit).

Alchemy supports RLVa and uses version RLV v3.4.3 / RLVa v2.5.0.2492.

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Feed a Smile, a charity serving Kenyan school children.

The Silk Road Series #1 FUND RAISER for Feed a Smile is a combined RL & SL LIVE EVENT held at The Writers Centre, Singapore and a region in Second Life™ from which it will be streamed.

Time: Saturday, May 18  – TIME: 5am-8am SLT

Location: Caravanserai, (SL Map URL) the Crossroads of the Arts In SL and a Monash University, Melbourne Australia region.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X-JErgwvpoY

Twitch stream: http://tiny.cc/tktk6y – Try this during the event.
Second Life link:  http://tiny.cc/9gtk6y or Map URL.

From Singapore to Second Life: come to the Caravanserai for a one-night stopover to witness a grand live concert, streamed online as Singapore wordsmiths and improv musicians team up with accomplished artists, writers, musicians, comics, filmmakers and poets from Germany, UK, Holland, Portugal, Japan, Mexico, Costa Rica, Hawaii, Canada and the USA.

This coming together of SL and Singaporean artists is in aid of Feed a Smile, a charity serving Kenyan school children. Continue reading

Every Pixel – Artificial Intelligence is how smart?

I enjoy looking through the images appearing on Flickr. Also, in a few threads in the Second Life™ Forum. One of the more fun threads that just popped up is My photo has a 97.7% chance of being awesome. Of course it does…

We can blame or congratulate Bree Giffen for starting the thread. Patch Linden has gotten in the thread, proving Lindens do have a sense of humor.

So… am I cute? Well, I’m not overwhelming the A.I.

The point of EveryPixel.com is to evaluate images using A.I., Artificial Intelligence. As you scroll through the SL Forum thread you realize it is either a stupid A.I. or using a different criteria than we do for our appreciation of images in threads like How does your avatar look today ? and The VaNiTy ThReAd. The Every Pixel site does explain what they are evaluating on. Part of the rating and apparently a significant part is the technical aspects of the image; contrast, vibrance, composition… Continue reading

Proportional Shapes in Second Life

Recently there have been a number of articles about the shape and size of avatars and things related. Penny Patton has been on about how camera position affects our perception of size in SL for years. Now the Lab is preparing to support her altered camera position settings. Plus, she has written articles on avatar size and the effect it has on everything else in Second Life™.

This image is the work of Luc Viatour – https://Lucnix.be

I’ve written a number of articles on the same and similar subjects. Several pointing to Penny’s articles and expanding on the subjects. Continue reading

Second Life – Hot, Amazing, Gorgeous…

I like playing with photography in Second Life… second to dressing up and teasing others… well, maybe dressing up and shopping more than teasing. But, I’m often snapping pictures in SL, whatever I’m doing. Those pictures which I think are good enough, just fun, or show off a new thing I’ve learned, make to Flickr.

Dee Dee Deepdene – April 2017

On Flickr, I look around to see what others are doing. This is where the hot, amazing, and gorgeous comes in. Here I’ll show you some of the photographer-artists I’ve come across. Of course, these are ones I like. I use no objective standard. It’s just what touches, thrills, or wow’s me.

I do in a small measure consider the number of fav’s an image gets when deciding if it is great or I just my really liking it. But, I’ve seen some awesome images with almost no views or fav’s. So, the number of fav’s represents a mix of popularity and marketing. How many people see the image? Is the artist talented and understands social media well enough to promote an image?

The following images are not completely safe for work, no XXX, but some are definitely eroticContinue reading

Second Life: Finding Photographers

I keep looking for ways to find great photos of Second Life™ in Flickr. I am slowly learning how to find artists I have no clue exist.

Regrets in a lost world

Regrets in a lost world

I’ve been trying to see how one sees the new images in groups I have joined. I’ve Googled and dug through the Flickr HELP. No joy. People seem to think it is not possible. May be those that know how think it so basic everyone knows. Continue reading

Lit Up Festival Online

Interesting… A friend asked me to post this press release. I’ve seen bits of information about the festival floating around the net. If you are into machinima, check it out.

Issued: December 18 2015
PRESS RELEASE
IMMEDIATE RELEASE
MEDIA CONTACT
Rahimah Rasith, Lit Up Festival Online.
rahimah23@gmail.com

UWA Challenge Machinima Stars Commissioned for Lit Up Festival in Singapore

As a virtual door closes a real life one has opened for the top three winners of the final University of Western Australia Machinima Challenge VIII. The diversely talented machinima makers have each been offered a commission to create something for a cutting edge live literature digital arts festival in Singapore.

Kobuk Farshore, Tutsy Navarathna and the third-placed team of Lilia Artis and Haveit Aeon will collaborate with the Writers Centre, Singapore and its seven year old flagship festival .

The lucky artists may also get to travel to the tech hub of South-East Asia in November 2016 for the launch of their new films.

“This will depend on funding, but we hope they can come and give talks, workshops and participate in panel discussions on the relationship between virtual art and the real word.”

She went on to say that the machinima makers will hopefully get to meet up in person with their Singapore collaborator Chris Mooney-Singh who is providing original material for the three projects. In SL he is better known as Singh Albatros, back in world after a long spell having completed a doctorate in Creative Writing from Monash University in Australia.

Ms Rasith also went on to say that the Writers Centre, Singapore, a non profit organisation was glad to support SL artists in world and out world.

“In a sense we feel we have been passed the torch by Art Challenge director Jay Jay Zifanwe and the University of Western Australia.”

“Its a creative alliance. Following UWA’s lead we hope to execute other in world events and stream them live to Facebook,” she added.

 

More information can be found at:
http://www.litup.sg
https://www.facebook.com/LitUpSingapore/?ref=hl

Second Life in the News Week 42

Second Life is part of a presentation at the Burlington Performing Arts CentreI (Burlington ON, L7S 1T7). The performance calendar describes it this way:

Tottering Biped @ Burlington Performing Arts Centre - Oct 2015

Tottering Biped @ Burlington Performing Arts Centre – Oct 2015

The online virtual world of ‘Second Life’ stretches thousands of kilometers and millions of visitors. While searching for her lost sister, Jessica struggles to find out what – and who – are real. Life and its double are at stake in this multi-media exploration of loss in the digital age. The Second Life was devised by the company through workshops with light, movement, and text over a four-year period. The Second Life explores the increasingly fluid relationship between the real, the digital and the spiritual.

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