I suspect most Second Life people know about Flickr. Lots of SL peeps use Flickr. However, I suspect few know how to find the awesome art that is appearing every day. I know it has taken me some time to realize how to find the awesome art.
Mystic
There are people that mention artists and give you their names, Hamlet at New World Notes often features an artist. I do from time to time. Other bloggers do too. But, waiting on us to reveal those you think are awesome could be tedious. So, how do you find awesome Flickr artists to follow?
Making stockings for the Classic and Slink legs has some challenges. One is understanding how to get a straight edge at the top of the stocking. I’ll explain some of the oddities between Second Life™, Photoshop, Blender, Classic and Slink.
Classic UV Map: Slink and Classic
The frustrating oddity is dealing with avatar templates. Slink and Classic are not compatible, close but a problem.
In the image, look in the ‘A’ section, there is a copy of one of the Robin Woods templates made for the Classic Avatar. I’ve used Photoshop 3D to paint some lines on it.
If you have drawn a straight line across the 2D template assuming it will appear straight on the avatar, think again. I knew it wouldn’t work as I’ve experimented before.
There are things I had for my classic avatar that I can’t find for my mesh avatar. There are some classic stockings that had great lacy tops and topped out at just the right place on my legs for my mini and mid-thigh skirts. I’ve not found similar stockings for my mesh body. So, I am making them.
There is a lot to learn. The Appliers are simple enough, but one does have to figure them out. See my tutorial for making Slink Hand’s nails. It isn’t difficult. But, it is different.
Next is the challenge of using Photoshop to make the textures. I once used Multi-Chan Hax to handle the SL Avatar UV Map Seams… But, that is 2011 tech and I haven’t tried it in PS CC 2017.
I have PS CC 2017 with a 3D capability. It can paint across the UV Seams in 3D mode. Easy… sure…
However, PS 3D is NOT intuitive. I am tempted to say Blender is more intuitive than Photoshop’s 3D. So, I’ve been going through tutorials and watching videos. They never seem to answer the questions I have or solve the problems I am running into.
But, I did find one that I think is way helpful. So, here it is.
YouTube is a fun site and offers lots of handy features. When we start to build things in Second Life ™ we run into some challenges. YouTube gives us some help.
The CrazyBump normal maker talked about in the video is a US$99 retail app. There is a demo video on the site. It is impressive. The site is VERY small, almost nothing to read. If you an analytic personality, it isn’t enough.
However, CrazyBump has been around for a while. I first downloaded it in 2013, v12. It is now version 122.
Mesh development is shaking down into some common methods. This tutorial covers how to make Slink Nails using 2017 information. Section headings will give you an idea of what you can skip and what you need to read based on your experience level.
Basics
If you are totally new to Second Life™ there is a lot to learn. I am only touching on the parts needed to make nails for Slink Hands. Other brands of hands are similar.
Make Your Own Slink Finger Nails – 2017
Classic verses Slink Mesh
In 2013 Linden Lab, owner of Second Life (SL), added a feature we call ‘mesh’. Prior to that all things in SL were made of primitives, shortened to ‘prims’. Technically everything in SL is a primitive and made of mesh.
What we call mesh is a particular type of primitive just as a cube or sphere is a specific kind of primitive. While everything in SL is made of mesh (press Ctrl-Shift-R to see it), we only refer to things made in Blender, 3D Max, Maya, and other modeling programs and then imported to SL as ‘mesh’, more convenient than rational. Linden Lab® added the mesh prim in 2013.
