In case you missed it, here is Ugleh Ulrik's tutorial for using the AI-driven platform Artbreeder to transform avatars. If you have questions about his tutorial, clickthrough here to ask him on YouTube.
On Second Life Friends, a large Facebook group for SLers have been using this tutorial t0 turn their avatars into "real" people. With permission, here's some of my favorite before/after pics:
Continue reading "Look: More Fun Turning Avatars Into "Real" People With Artbreeder AI" »
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Want to turn a Second Life avatar pic into the "photo" of their real life analog? Watch this Artbreeder tutorial from Ugleh Ulrik, the SL creator who first started the whole buzz around using the AI-driven platform to transform avatars.
"I do a lot of experimenting with new AI tech," Ulrik tells me, "and once I saw Artbreeder my first thought went to Pixar characters but then after that I realized making Second Life avatars more real was a possibility and I tried it out on a few close friends and it worked well."
Here's his key tips to keep in mind when using Artbreeder on an avatar:
Continue reading "Tutorial: How to Turn Second Life Avatars Into "Real" People With Artbreeder" »
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Cajsa Lilliehook covers the best in virtual world screenshot art and digital painting
The pictures by Flickr artist Tiago that I featured last week, especially the one above, sparked some discussion of whether they were taken in Second Life. or in real life. Can you guess?
Click below to find out -- and find out how Tiago creates images like this:
Continue reading "Real Life Photo or Virtual Image? Tiago's Tutorial To Make It Hard to Tell" »
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There's a new update to Black Dragon, the SL viewer with a cult following for making Second Life look like a AAA game and for giving users great features for virtual photography and machinima.
Speaking of which, here's a new Black Dragon photography tutorial from SL YouTuber and apparent Fleabag cast member Boston Blaisdale. It comes to me via NiranV, the tireless sole creator of Black Dragon who has a Patreon for developing the viewer that could seriously use more patronage for all the work he does on it. Niran recently added a $10/month Patreon level for store owners who want a link to their shop -- an extremely good deal, seeing as Black Dragon has roughly 5000 active users.
Niran gives this tutorial a thumbs-up, especially the part around 4:00 minutes in, when Blaisdale gets into using Black Dragon's highly valuable in-game poser:
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Here's the latest video by Carmen King, a top gaming YouTuber and with nearly 1 million subscribers, easily the most popular SL Youtuber by far, and it's a handy one (along with having her trademark hilarious sass): A basic tutorial for using Second Life. Ms. King has far, far more viewers than Linden Lab's official YouTube channel (less than 40,000 subscribers), so I have to think anyone at Linden Lab who watches would wince at one of her first tips:
By the way I'm using Firestorm. Do not use the [official] Second Life viewer, nobody uses it. So pick between Firestorm or Black Dragon [which is ] mainly for picture taking and machinima if you want really HD stuff. But I use Firestorm for gameplay because I feel like it's less laggy and easier to use.
Yes: One of the first tips for using Second Life is to not use the software created by the actual company which publishes Second Life. And she's basically right: A Linden Lab developer once acknowledged, 25% or less of the userbase actually uses its software.
As for why Carmen is not using the official viewer herself, her answer to me is pretty simple:
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Cajsa Lilliehook covers the best in virtual world screenshot art and digital painting
“Are We There Yet?” by Xaleria Starlight made me laugh out loud with the sempiternal question of childhood travelers. I can picture Moses hearing that question for forty years. Laura and Mary Ingalls probably asked that question hundreds of times from the Big Woods to the shores of silver Lake. Intergalactic travelers will ask that in the distant future. And of course, we have the contemporary car in a very strange place, sheltered under a giant skeleton.
The picture looks like handmade art and I was curious how Xaleria made it. She graciously uploaded her source photos and explained her method. But first, she had advice on software to use. She uses GNU Image Manipulation Program or GIMP for photo editing. “I highly recommend the G'MIC plugin for GIMP which provides tons of really fantastic predefined filters and effects. Like GIMP, it is open-source and free.”
“Another program I love to recommend is FastStone Image Viewer. It is excellent for organizing and accessing your saved images with large thumbnails. GIMP's file preview is not the greatest, but FastStone's is wonderful and you can drag and drop from it straight into GIMP. FastStone is also free.
Great tips from Xaleria to follow.
Continue reading "Tutorial: How to Make SL Screenshots Look Like Hand-Drawn Art" »
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Cajsa Lilliehook covers the best in virtual world screenshot art and digital painting
When I saw “Extraterrestrial” by Lizz Palen (above), I immediately emailed to ask her if she would share some tips for readers. I love the frenetic energy of her projects. Her entire stream is an exciting exploration of how to enhance Second Life photos with smoke and fire and imagination, but this one seemed particularly powerful. Luckily for us, she was happy to share her process.
After the cut, Lizz explains how she created Extraterrestrial and shares two videos of her editing other pictures.
Continue reading "Tutorial: How Lizz Palen Transforms SL Screenshots Into Amazing Images" »
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Cajsa Lilliehook covers the best in virtual world screenshot art and digital painting
When I saw Nova Frankenstein’s “A Glitch in the Matrix”, I just had to ask how she did. It’s such a compelling self-portrait. In the description, she wrote, “Because I'm frustrated with all of my current photo ideas, I'm uploading this photo I did as a test edit for something else.”
As she explained it, It was one of those serendipitous moments where it all comes together. “When I did that photo, I was actually dealing with some mental health stuff while also experimenting with my editing style since I felt all of my photos looked so similar. I like switching things up, you know?”
She was working in GIMP, trying different filters and she cannot remember exactly how she did it. She used a few adjustment layers, but the primary effect was the result of GIMP’s filter. This made me laugh because it reminded me of the best pumpkin stew I ever made. I was pulling a jar out of the spice rack and it tipped over, spilling out herbs from several of the jars. Rather than throw the herbs and spices away, I tossed them in the stew and it was amazing. I will never have it again. I wrote back sharing my best stew story, She laughed at the similarity.
“I've had it happen a few times during editing. I love creating and it's my favorite way to pass time since it's so relaxing. And satisfying when I get a photo to look exactly how I imagined it. That one photo, in particular, was just a happy accident though.”
Click through for more GIMP details:
Continue reading "How SLer Nova Frankenstein Created This Cool "Matrix Glitch" Look in GIMP" »
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Cajsa Lilliehook covers the best in virtual world screenshot art and digital painting
LilyKitty Sixpence creates magnificent photos that range from pure fun to dreamily romantic, but I was struck by “Ultraviolet” which is such a joyous expression of rebellion that I had to ask how she did it. Luckily for you, she explained it all.
She gave some general background on how she does most of her photos before getting into the specifics:
She uses the Black Dragon Viewer and recommends it highly. “It's got a lot of graphical options that help get the best base shot you can get. It also has a built-in model poser that is very useful, even if you are simply adjusting a store-bought pose. Unfortunately, you can only pose yourself with it for now.”
She edits in Photoshop. “Even for beginners I suggest looking at Lightroom (or the Camera Raw Filter). Just upping the clarity a bit can bring out tons of details.
If you're looking to dive into it more than that, I'd say just go for it.: LilyKitty recommends watching tutorials on YouTube and following along or applying them to your own shots. Or even just learn by doing, experimenting with the tools. “Learn about layers, masking, blending modes, and the adjustment layers. Learn to work non-destructively - so you can always go back and fix something. It's daunting to take on all at once, but by doing it and learning something each time you will begin to understand how each of these parts works and how they can help you with your ideas.”
Click for all the deets on how she created this amazing picture:
Continue reading "How This Incredible SL Image Was Created With Black Dragon & Photoshop" »
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Cajsa Lilliehook covers the best in virtual world screenshot art and digital painting
When I featured this incredible image “Strange Visage” by Razor Cure last week, I wondered how he created it. My imagination was more vivid than reality, though. I thought he shot two photos showing two avatars at different scales and putting one on the other. Or perhaps he had a gigantic avatar. But no!
Razor Cure's repy: “There are giant avatars in SL, but the face behind me is a piece of scenery. It's my avie standing on his giant hand!”
He gave me this SLURL to What’s Lost Spirits and sure enough, there are some giant sculptures there:
Continue reading "How This Amazing Second Life Image Was Made Without Post-Processing" »
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