New World Notes

Automated Camera Follows Your Avatar in SL for Machinima & Other VR Fun

Tryptofaa Sands built an amazing SL camera device that follows you wherever you go, cutting between angles to get the best point of view, and it's a brilliant tool for SL machinima makers, because it looks like this:

As the video mentions, there are no cuts or post-production edits to this video, for what you see is what you get. It was so impressive that when I first saw this video, I assumed they had built a roving camera system to make it work.

Not so says, Tryptofaa, not so:

"[B]asically it makes use of llCastRay to find positions with an unobstructed view of your avatar and allows the user to prioritize their preferred camera angles for automatic changes and use keyboard shortcuts to switch between camera groups," Mr. Sands tells me.

llCastRay is a fancy heavy duty ninja term, so I asked Mr. Sands how exactly that worked:

Draxtor Despres Interviews Linden Lab CEO Rod Humble in the Newest Episode of The Drax Files: World Makers

Janine "Iris Ophelia" Hawkins' ongoing review of gaming and virtual world style

In the latest and maybe even greatest episode of Draxtor Despres' documentary series, The Drax Files: World Makers, Draxtor secured one hell of a special guest. The show, which combines SL machinima with RL interviews, has featured many prominent SL artists and designers and is always a pretty good source of enthusiasm and inspiration.

In many ways this series has been all about offering new perspectives on familiar names, and as usual Draxtor doesn't disappoint. He's turned his spotlight on Rod Humble, CEO of Linden Lab, to discuss privacy, community, ingenuity, and even spend a little time on Project Sunshine just in case you missed the news. It might be one of the most interesting installments in the series to date. See for yourself:

Learn All About Famed SL Animator Abramelin Wolfe in the Latest Episode of The Drax Files: World Makers

Janine "Iris Ophelia" Hawkins' ongoing review of gaming and virtual world style

Famed SL machinima artist Draxtor Despres has released a new episode of his ongoing series, The Drax Files: World Makers, which highlights the work of virtual builders, designers, and artists from Second Life. This latest episode is all about Abramelin Wolfe, a name that should sound familiar to anyone with a taste for well-crafted avatar animations... Or Blade Runner.

The sim for Abramelin's animation store, Abranimations, is one of the first locations in SL that ever made a real impression on me. It was also one of the first to use clever building and texturing tricks to simulate reflections in puddles, which contributed to a bleak and rainy feel -- accurate to its Blade Runner inspiration -- back at a time when most of SL still felt like little more than blue skies, grassy fields, mini-malls and beaches. It was an awe-inspiring experience, and an incredibly influential build.

Abranimations remains an excellent ressource for animations and animated gadgets, so this episode is an absolute must-watch.

Sunny Machinima About an SL Island Called Baja Norte

It's a cold and rainy night in right Shanghai now, so how about some lovely sun-dappled machinima about a virtual island called Baja Norte, which you can visit right now if you click right here. Shot by Erythro Asimov, whose tools, he tells me smiling, were "Firestorm, FRAPS and love."

Strange and Beautiful SL Machinima from William Weaver an Egyptian Artist

OK this is among the most excellent Second Life machinimas I've seen in quite some time, so you should darken the lights and just click play:

It's shot by an SLer named William Weaver Eslam T2 (known as TheT2Day on YouTube)... at least I think so, because the video description is in Arabic and Mr. T2 is apparently Egyptian. I've never seen any of his machinimas before, but this is someone with talent and technical skill to burn. To wit:

Watch It This Weekend: The Drax Files: World Makers Meets SL's Live Music Scene in Episode 5

Iris Ophelia's ongoing review of gaming and virtual world style

If you're looking for a little light viewing this weekend, the latest episode of talented machinima-maker Draxtor Despres' ongoing series is up and ready.  

The Drax Files: World Makers offers you a look at the faces behind the avatars that have made he virtual world of Second Life what it is today. From builders, to designers, and even bands like Engrama, the subject of newly released episode 5:

Mr. Bones' Titanic Machinima Will Make You Laugh Your Bony Ass Off

When we last saw Ole "Mr. Bones" Etzel, everyone's favorite skeleton was singing bluegrass. This time, he's stranded on the arctic sea, and Leonardo DiCaprio is nowhere near to saving him. But hang on, help is on the way, or something:

See many more Mr. Bones episodes here. "The fifth episode of Mr. Bones," Mr. Etzel tells me, tongue-in-skull, "was strongly inspired by a classic of messed up navigation:

Check Out The Latest Episode of Draxtor Despres' Mixed Reality Documentaries, The Drax Files: World Builders

Iris Ophelia's ongoing review of gaming and virtual world style

There's an all-new episode of Draxtor Despres' documentary machinima series, The Drax Files: World Builders, out today -- and you can watch it right here!

This Blender Plugin for Second Life Shapes Could Revolutionize Machinima (And Revitalize Your Avatar)

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...

Get the Inside Story On Some of Second Life's Most Beautiful Spaces With Draxtor Despres' Latest Mixed Reality Videos

Iris Ophelia's ongoing review of gaming and virtual world style

One of Second Life's most acclaimed journalists and machinima artists has a new project, and it'll give you some amazing insight into the kinds of people that not only use Second Life, but shape the virtual world around them. The Drax Files: World Builders by Draxtor Despres recently came out with its second episode, featuring the face of SL's 1920's Berlin (and NWN reader) Jo Yardley. Take a look for yourself after the jump.