New World Notes

New World Tableau: Icarus Robbiani Presents Trigger

The SL region of Trigger was one of the top five most popular for members of Koinup (an NWN partner.)  This image by Icarus Robbiani is probably one reason why.  Significantly post-processed, Robbiani says he used not Photoshop, but Paint.Net.  (A free image editor which I also happen to use, and highly recommend.)  "I have duplicated the background layer to create the frame effect," he writes, "then I used first a glow effect and after the 'Soften Portrait', finally I have applied with a new layer the texture 'Antique Texture' with blending mode 'Overlay'."  More info and credits on the display page; see more of Icarus' great and unique landscape portraits on his Koinup profile.  See the whole Tableau album here, and read on for info on submitting an entry of your own.

New World Tableau: Dark Isle, A New Roleplaying Sim

This is a look at Dark Isle, a new fantasy roleplaying sim created by Darby Dollinger and watcher Castaignede. Despite its painterly magnificence, Ms. Castaignede tells me,"The landscape shot of the sunset has very little Photoshop applied to it -- it was taken using WindLight settings and wide screen print screen direct from my monitor."  Billed as "Mythical Celtic Roleplaying", all of Dark Isle is striking, and a perfect theater for a new kind of group narrative.  See more Dark Isle imagery on her Koinup profile.

"We love role play in Second Life," Watcher tells me. With Dark Isle, they're hoping for a movie-quality experience. ""[I]n SL we can actually step into the movie, interact with its characters and eventually influence plot and narrative."  See for yourself: direct SLURL teleport to Dark Isle at this link.

New World Tableau: Connie Arida's Uncanny Self-Portrait

Connie Arida recently created this mesmerizing self-portrait of her Second Life avatar, and it easily crosses the "uncanny valley" of realism.  (For a larger version, see it on Connie's Flickr stream.) And though you might assume otherwise, most of it was created not with heavy after-image Photoshop effects, but primarily with clever use of in-world elements.

"Short story, yes, there is a lot of post [processing] work going on," she acknowledges, smiling. "But I feel it's still SL, and not impossible to do if you had the inclination..."

How did she do it, and how can you?  After the break, Ms. Arida provides a full, step-by-step explanation.

New World Tableau: YuNEO Nagy in Arizona West

YuNEO took this photo of the sun-scorched Arizona West desert sim in Second Life (direct SLURL teleport at this link), adjusting the WindLight color settings to achieve the intensely crimson hue of the sunset. See much more of Mr. Nagy's work on his Koikup profile, and the entire New World Tableau album here.  Read on for guidelines to submitting one of your own.

New World Tableau: "Violin" by Kimberly Mirabeau

Ms. Mirabeau's "Violin" came out of an art gallery challenge with "Body Parts" as a theme (and perhaps some unconscious evoking of the surrealist Man Ray), and there's such fine detail to it, you definitely want to see the large version here. "Post processing was done in Photoshop CS3 and really, the body was just liquified, and a few small touches with overlays."  The hair is actually a merging of two pieces purchased off Renderosity.  "These are premade digitally hand-painted hair styles in PSD format.  They come un-colored.  I took these 2 styles in Photoshop and warped, twisted and liqufied them into submission.  Recolored them a nice vibrant red to pop from the black background."

See much more of Ms. Mirabeau's work on her Koikup profile, and the entire New World Tableau album here.  Read on for guidelines to submitting one of your own.

New World Tableau: "After" by Turlu Tulu

Partly inspired by Cloverfield and Planet of the Apes, Turlu created this post-apocalyptic image, which is actually a composite of several SL locations.  The Statue of Liberty, of course, from SL's New York sim, and the surrounding city, from Sick. "And finally," he tells me, "snaps for the helicopters to add on the pic; I mixed the differents snaps in one pic, then edited each part, and finally used a Photoshop filter 'Flood' from Flaming Pear."

The other inspiration is the woman braving disaster: his model Keyem Little, who often dresses this way, roleplaying in SL, "looking like a huntress." 

Large version here.  Tulu also did this Tableau image; see much more in his Koinup profile.  See the entire New World Tableau album here-- and read on for guidelines to submitting one of your own.

New World Tableau: Ms. Felix Finds Desperation Andromeda

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Koinup user Liquer (Liqueur Felix in Second Life) recently toured the foreboding yet sensual corridors of the spaceship Desperation Andromeda-- above, her photographic travelogue.  The Andromeda is home to an RPG game called NeMit, which NWN's game writer Vidal Tripsa covered here.  Though Ms. Tripsa wasn't enamored with it, Liquer's pictures should convey its moody beauty.  Be forewarned, however, it's a decidedly Mature place to visit, happily skewing at times toward the hentai kinky.

See more of Liquer's great SL photos on her Koinup profile; see the entire New World Tableau album here-- and read on for guidelines to submitting one of your own.

New World Tableau: Lainy's Film Noir Test In Shadowdraft

Machinima master Lainy Voom recently sent me this film noir-ish screenshot test, shot in Second Life via Shadowdraft, Kirstenlee Cinquetti's open source version of the SL viewer that incorporates dynamic shadows.  (Ms. Cinquetti recently released an update.)  To create it, Lainy used a transparent file shaped like a venetian blind, "and I moved the light so it shone best through it onto her face, casting the outline of the blind," on her model, Sony Vegas.  In post-production, she converted the image to black and white, adding a little glow, "but the light and shadow were captured in Shadowdraft.  It worked great on solid objects but part of the hair was transparent and it didn't throw the light properly onto that, just the solid stuff."  Voila, the metaverse made into chirascuro, James Wong Howe world!

View the entire New World Tableau album here-- and read on for guidelines to submitting one of your own.

New World Tableau: Shoji Kumaki In The Open Wastes

I found this starkly evocative image on the Koinup profile of Shoji Kumaki.  (Click here to see in full.)  He took in a sim called Kronbelt in an area known as "The Open Wastes", and though you couldn't guess by the picture, there's a Road Warrior-style post-apocalyptic frontier outpost behind him.  “'Wastelands' is one of my favorite locations," he tells me, "where you can find a lot of photogenic settings and objects."

To create the photo, he continues, "I just rezzed the bus from my inventory and took the shot before it’s automatically returned, using my original advanced sky setting. Actually, the desert inspires me in many ways and I like them all."  Shoji runs a free in-world travel agency with an office located here (SLURL).  He's a travel agent with an artist's eye: consequently, his Koinup profile shows a vast and varied collection of postcards from around SL, which he explores with a backpack and a jaunty adventurer's cap.  Check them out here.

View the entire New World Tableau album here-- and read on for guidelines to submitting one of your own.

New World Tableau: Riptide In A Stone Age-Inspired Hotel

Queens of the Stone Age has a song called "Leg of Lamb" with a lyric that reads:

In a hotel on the phone/You're gonna leave me/I should've known (should've known)/And I was thinkin', it's so sad/I didn't want you to go

Inspired by this passage, Gahum Riptide created a seedy hotel room in Second Life to fit the mood it evoked, the latest in a larger series.  "I've been doing a series of images inspired by different songs I like," he tells me, "and one I had been meaning to capture is visualized in that image."  After taking the screenshot, he did some surface post-processing,  "mostly to soften the hard edges, bring out the blues in the shadows, make the highlights yellower and the midtones redder, but that's it."

See more of Gahum's work on his Flickr stream, view the entire New World Tableau album here-- and read on for guidelines to submitting one of your own.