Second Life News 2017 w14

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Caleb Linden sort of posts the new deploy information for server software. Those posts have gotten progressively shorter providing less and less information. We are down to it being a pasted in URL to the release notes.

Rustic Kitchen 3
Rustic Kitchen 3

This week we did get a roll to the main channel. The only stated change is a tweak to the ‘asset metrics stats’. I think this is for the change to deliver more assets by the Content Delivery Network (CDN). They are collecting information pre-change to CDN. You’ll see the new viewer needed to support this change in the viewer’s list. 

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Second Life Adult: The Monarch Conspiracy

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If you have been around Second Life™ for a year plus, you have probably started to recognize how the adult side of SL works. While often ‘adult’ is just a euphemism for sex, it does cover more than just sex. However, in the context of The Monarch Conspiracy (TMC), its use as denoting sex is… appropriate.

The Monarch Club

TMC is mostly a member only place. From time to time they open the mansion to everyone. But, it probably isn’t locked down as you may think from those sentences. The region is open to most everyone all the time but, they have 5-minute warning signs in various places. Of course, those are the places where people would get intimate. In those areas, you have five minutes to explore before they teleport you out. The 5-minute idea allows one to explore, test, and decide if they want to shell out L$ to join the group. 

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Photoshop 2017: Bump, Normal, and Depth Maps

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How Bump, Normal, and Depth Maps are created in Photoshop changed in 2017 CC. I hadn’t noticed until I needed to make a normal map. Then I stumbled across this video while checking to see if NVIDIA’s normal map tool would work with the newest 2017 CC.

The video uses the 3D mode. When creating mesh from bump map as shown PS isn’t exactly polygon efficient, but for use in PS and texture creation that isn’t an issue. For a 100+ brick wall PS made just under 500,000 vertices and 977,000 faces, which is way too heavy for Second Life(TM).

I’m playing with Photoshop’s 3D and deciding if I can use it for some of the things I want to make. My choices seem to be PS, Blender, and Sculptris… or to spend money… For work I have Adobe’s suite of apps. But, increasing my monthly software rental cost or spending US$800 or more for a 3D painting app isn’t something I want to do.

So, I’m painting in all three and trying to figure out how easily put fine detail into things I want to make for my Slink body.

What app do you use for making finely detailed textures for clothes in SL?

 

Second Life: Finding Photographers

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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.

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AvaStar: MakeHuman or Manuel Bastioni?

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I noticed Machinimatrix posting a video on how to integrate Manuel Bastioni with AvaStar. BElow is an image link to the video as it won’t display embedded here. Sheeesh..

Video Link

So, what is Manuel Bastioni? It is an open source character generator for Blender. Seems it is competition for MakeHuman. The download is here: Manuel Bastioni. 

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