Casting Call for Project Bento

Here’s your chance to be in the movies. The Lab has posted a Second Life casting call for a Drax machinima (1/14/16). If you are interested in showing off what you are working on, be at Bento Island, ADITI January 19 at noon (SLT – PST). The region won’t open until noon.

They'll change the avatar when pigs fly... WELL!?!

They’ll change the avatar when pigs fly… WELL!?!

While you cannot enter Bento Island early, I advise you to log into ADITI, the preview grid, early. The last few weeks have proven the log in process for ADITI is slow and flawed. I have yet to see my inventory update as the planned changes are supposed to. So, I’m pretty sure the new ADITI login process is not in place.

The notice advises those with avatars to show contact Draxtor Despres inworld. Provide him pictures and as much information about your creation as possible. I suspect he is looking for color and human interest and has less of an interest in the technical. What tools you are using will probably be pertinent.

Project Bento is one of the biggest changes to the Second Life avatar ever! More than 90 new bones have been added to accommodate features like subtle facial expressions, articulating fingers, smoothly-flapping wings, waving tails, and much more that was previously impossible or required complex workarounds.

If you’re a creator who’s testing out Project Bento, or one who’s eager to give it a try – now is the perfect time! We’re looking for creators to show off some of the possibilities of Project Bento for an upcoming episode of The Drax Files. There are detailed instructions on how to get started and how to get to the beta grid (aditi) on our wiki page. (TIP:Testing on Aditi does not cost you upload fees!)

Bento Meeting W#1

The first meeting of Second Life’s™ Project Bento User Group was held today. There was a good turnout, about 33 residents and 3 or 4 Lindens. We got new information about the Bento Avatar and lots of questions were answered.

First Bento UG Meeting 1/7/16

First Bento UG Meeting 1/7/16

The meeting is Lindens in voice and residents mixing text and voice. The plan is to have the meeting each Thursday at 1 PM SLT. But, scheduling conflicts will push that around so all are encouraged to see the Bento UG page to confirm the meeting time.  Continue reading

Second Life: History – Who Made the Skeleton?

The Project is months old. But, it has a history already. Cathy Foil was one of the developers aske into the project and under NDA. Now the NDA has been lifted and she has made a 52 minute video relating her experience in the project. I have an index of the video below.

0-11:00 – Mostly audio talking about the people involved in the project. Cathy talks about her MayaStar and cooperating with the Machinimatrix AvaStar people to solve various problems.   Continue reading

Second Life: New User Group

Ron tipped me off that there is a Linden new user group: Bento.

The list of Second Life User Groups, formerly Office Hours, has been shrinking over the years. So, I am initially surprised we are getting a new user group. But, creating a group for a large new feature is a common practice of the Lab. It was done most recently for mesh and pathfinding. So, it isn’t all that surprising.

The first meeting will be Thursday, January 7th, 2016, 1PM SLT. The location is in the Mesh Sandbox, ADITI – Preview Grid.

The group is hosted by Vir Linden.

Get the word out to your animating friends.

Second Life: Bento Rotation-Translation Debate

For those making animations this is an important issue. While I haven’t been sure which side of the debate to take because I am pretty much an amateur when it comes to making animation. Medhue, of Medhue Animations, made a video that explains the problem. I’m not sure it depicts the problem as well as it could.

I think because Medhue does so much animation he can see the problem in ways those of not as familiar with animating can’t see it. So, if this still doesn’t explain the problem for you, read on.  Continue reading