Wagner James Au reports on Second Life and other virtual worlds, and related topics, such as virtual goods, next gen gaming, and new immersive technologies (Kinect, iOS, etc.)
This month an item I'd been waiting ages to get finally came out. Even better, something I didn't even know I needed came out alongside it... Lucky me, the pair happen to coordinate perfectly together. I've mixed them in with some oldies-but-goodies for my SL avatar's current look, so here's the full breakdown:
Iris Ophelia's ongoing review of gaming and virtual world style
For nearly a decade, SL tattoo makers have had to respond to one irritating and ignorant request day after day, week after week. "Can you make a single-arm tattoo?"
No, they couldn't. They really couldn't. The limitations of the avatar itself stood in their way. But mesh has opened a lot of doors and solved a lot of problems for SL creators, including this one.
This cartoon kitteh in Second Life is a mesh-based avatar that would be cute and cool as it is, but it gets even cooler when you look at it from the back. Trust me on this, and let Emily Orr explain.
Iris Ophelia's ongoing review of gaming and virtual world style
The long-awaited Project Materials Viewer for Second Life has finally arrived, and many builders and designers have been clambering to take it for a spin. This viewer adds a new range of options for those creating with mesh including support for specular maps. But what exactly does that mean for you and me? Mostly it means that a lot more realistic-looking (and just plain pretty) mesh items will be coming to your inventory very soon.
Designer Damien Fate (the man behind Fatewear, Loco Pocos, and one of the team members of coldLogic) has been one of those tinkering with the new viewer, and he's made a video that definitely illuminates the difference:
Iris Ophelia's ongoing review of gaming and virtual world style
A recent graph by SL resident Kadah Coba paints a very interesting picture of the current rate of mesh adoption in Second Life. As reported by Daniel Voyager last month, mesh viewer adoption is at just over 97% now.
Surprising? Not exactly. But given how vocal many NWN readers were on the issue even one year ago, I'm curious: When did you make the switch, and why?
Iris Ophelia's ongoing review of gaming and virtual world style
Machinima-makers and hardcore avatar-customizers alike have a new toy to play with... Provided they aren't afraid to roll up their sleeves and dive into Blender to use it. The Avastar plugin (not to be confused with the old virtual world tabloid of the same name) allows you to import a mesh model of your Second Life avatar into Blender, fully rigged and ready to experiment on.
The plugin isn't free, but there are a ton of potential applications that make it well worth the $22 asking price, like...
Courtesy a 3D modeler named Varek, this is an extended tutorial for creating and weighting mesh clothing with Zbrush and Maya. Not being a modeler myself, I'm not sure if this is the best tutorial for both platforms, but this guy's models look pretty good to me.
Iris Ophelia's ongoing review of gaming and virtual world style
Last November I wrote about a teaser video from Japanese skin designer Shirousagi Noel of Snow Rabbitadvertising an upcoming animated head for Second Life avatars. The head was due to be released in early 2013 and, true to her word, you can head to The Skin Fair (which opens today and runs until the end of the month) to pick one up at her booth right now.
I've talked about mesh heads and hybrid mesh avatars a lot lately, so what makes Shirousagi's different and, more importantly, is it for you? I've got all the info you need to decide:
Iris Ophelia's ongoing review of gaming and virtual world style
Not all of the ripped content in Second Life comes from 3D marketplaces, game files, and victimized Second Life designers. At this point it shouldn't be surprising that some "enterprising" residents with serious ethical shortcomings are using mods made by passionate members of other gaming communities to stock their SL stores with mesh goods, much like they may use the original resources from a game. One affected member of the Skyrim community is straight up quitting the scene after a frustrating ordeal trying to get his work removed from the SL Marketplace. Here's how it went down:
Iris Ophelia's ongoing review of gaming and virtual world style
If you're looking for a weekly dose of virtual gorgeousness, I've got your fix today. A couple weeks ago, the team behind popular SL brands Lelutka and Celoe launched a fantasy-inspired collaborative line named Erare Project. With that launch came a mermaid avatar named Syren, complete from hair to fins, and Second Life's ultra-talented fashionista bloggers have been using it to take some truly breathtaking digital masterpieces.
Although I'm in love with this avatar (and have a personal weakness for mermaids) I decided that at this point it would be way more worthwhile to share some of my favorite pieces by other bloggers rather than risk biting their style with a submerged snapshot of my own--so keep reading to see their absolutely amazing work!
