Lauren Elder

Avatar: SONY Pixelmaid

Recreating a metaphysical space, teleporting in any location. A world Surrounded by basic prims, and the ability for objects to move be source code and scripting. Second life is not tangible for everyone, need an account an avatar, it is generally shown to others through the use of machinima. Machinima is a virtual camera in second life to record what’s around you and what you see. My avatar, SONY Pixelmaid, spends most of her time making sculptures on the DMC land.
The entire source would be taken in different clips in SL and brought into after effects, I mainly interested in shooting scenic and my finds upon travel. The .mov file will be hung on top of the ceiling and projected down on the white space, 3d object/ cylinder pedestal. The object itself will be rotating changing to position and direction of the placement of the camera. (The camera is in the similar 3d moving, xyz plane.)

here the is the architectural mock up I did of the sculpture that was presented in class.

A cylinder pedestal constructed from bendable plywood attached to a mechanical rotating device.
Applied on top was a laser cut of to planes leaning agains one another and using the same material my name SONY Pixelmaid was carved out .



Here is the video that was projected on the sculpture as a method of skinning.

Avatars and Materiality ISL

My work in Second Life dealt largely with avatar creation. This was an involved process, as I had to learn how to use Maya to model parts of my characters, how to import these into the SL Viewer, how to script, texture, and animate them. What sets SL avatars apart form other playable 3D models - at least until Mesh goes mainstream - is that characters are built using "attachments" fixed to a human figure. A custom avatar is essentially a costume. A part of me has always resented this, for the inconveniences it imposes, as well as the persistent knowledge that my avatar is just a human dressed up as something else. For example, my current avatar is not a real crocodile. I must then remind myself that even a seamless model of a crocodile - or a human - is never the real thing.

Having come to terms with handling a medium that seemed less legitimate at first (only because it did not fit the mainstream model of continuity that I was used to), I decided that it was still worthwhile to pursue avatar creation. The most important point is that any object can be brought to life if it is controlled by a person. Avatars, by mediating the gulf between the virtual and the physical, infuse the body parts they wear (however fabricated they appear) with spirit.

By recognizing that photo-realism is difficult, if not impossible, to achieve in second life, I began to notice the aesthetic potentials of the 2D space we perceive as 3D. Objects move in Second Life 3-dimensionally, but we access them through a flat screen. This, together with the computer's tendency to glitch and create artifacts, is what I think of as the material of the computer. My second video, "Claustrophobia", explores the line where 3-dimensionality disintegrates to reveal the materiality of the computer. While this was not my primary focus this semester, I can see working in the future to create more abstract avatars that distort the user's sense of space and reality.

PROPOSAL FOR INFINITY INTERNATIONAL

Snapshot as skeleton with blossom, 2010

Snapshot of hanging, 2010


The evolution of appropriation in the history of art has lead the viewer to contemplate subject matter and perspective through the guise of different and predominantly cutting edge mediums. I am interested in Second Life as a medium or platform for both art and social experimentation. Second Life embodies the self, as to explore one must be present in an avatar account, but free from any restrictions on that appearance. Fragmented from that avatar, as the human behind the avatar can view themselves while controlling them selves (ie. movement ect.). This free-ness allows an avatar to not exist in their own documentation. Making it possible to use Second Life solely as grounds for documentation of others, or of ones own sculpture, or architectural work. I am interested in including my image, and the many forms it takes.

To reinforce the importance of documentation it is worth considering that Second Life's unique scripting language 'Linden Scripting Language' or 'LSL' allows one to import 3D objects or 2D photos but any work created in SL can not be exported. This leaves documentation as the only way of exporting what happens in SL to the outside world. Which is really in sync with the effect increased internet use has had on the viewing of art and understanding of space as the composition of space in the documentation.


Afterthing, 2010

Venus Pose, 2010

Using my own avatar as subject the above image titled 'Afterthing' was posed in reference to Sherrie Levine's After Edward Weston. Levine, as with much of her work, has rephotographed one of Edward Weston's photos of his son's naked torso. Another documentation photo includes my own avatar Till Hollow and an avatar who I often collaborate with, Blossom Hydraconics, posing in the iconic Venus pose in front of an image of The Birth of Venus painting by Sandro Botticelli. The pose was a pre-set that we acquired for free. Second Life pre-set animations are interesting in their hyper-embodiment of popular culture as spelled out in categorical semiotics in the virtual realm. Or the pop-margin: art, specifically painting art, hair, bling, what is interesting or fetish worthy, death, hyper-real water and beaches. These two documentation photos represent the a world of possible permutations, a black-hole of appropriations manifested in SL, ripe for documentation, or performance beside, or real time tours of (a different form as exampled by Jon Rafman's Kool-Aid man, an ideal form --> tours as they escape art object in a very fresh way).

A third photo that I include in the post is documentation of an installation I encountered as a tourist in SL. I came across an open copy of F. Scott. Fitzgerald's The Great Gatsby, which as an iconic narrative and critique of the American dream, I was drawn to document its existence, even if its original placement was the result of a thoughtless prop res.

The Great Gatsby, 2010

The following videos that I included here represent my interest in the absurd, the occult, the superficial and the metaphoric potential latent in this incredibly open platform. These themes will likely drive my future explorations and fluid approach to documentation.

Video titles in order: Res Bling Then Put On --> Wear Til Done; Falling Potential in Second Life and Reverse Effect; Dance of Death: Water; With Leopard; Pre-set Dance on Grave

Final Project and Documentation All At Once

The pictures above are of the same build, a scaled down version of my final.
I'm still focused on Second Life as a means to an end, allowing me to create objects and spaces more easily than if I were to attempt building them physically. I'll then be able to use these objects and spaces as resources for other works. Combining images with built objects as textures or backdrops will also provide a convenient way of visualizing and experimenting. The finished model and a backdrop image from the Hubble Space Telescope seem to work better than the full-sized construction for visualization in many respects, because they can be manipulated more easily and need less virtual space. A combination of the smaller and full scaled builds should provide any kind of reference I could want, so I will probably develop this into a pattern of working in Second Life (using multiple builds at different scales) to be applied to my other work, mostly drawing.

I apologize if all of this media seems shoehorned in, but that's because it is. I wasn't especially interested or concerned with documenting the majority of my work aside from the occasional picture. I am happy with the the pictures and objects themselves, but being fairly new to video and reluctant to use it, I haven't looked forward to using Camtasia. So I ended up making just a couple brief videos of looking around at my constructions.




As my work progressed, I ended up moving away from architecture and toward science fiction, mostly because that's an aesthetic I grew up with and like. The virtual environment of Second Life is also ideal for modeling spaceships and the like because it allows complete control over the basic shapes of elements, textures, transparencies, and all without factoring in structural strength or just how everything is assembled and held together. Following the suggestion of pairing the finished spaceship model with a space-like background, I had to scale the whole thing down. It was a bit of a process since there was only so small it could be made. Taking some prims out and scaling a few pieces at a time did the trick, until I ran into an inherent limitation in small-scale construction (incidentally, nothing will go any smaller than 0.010 meters in one dimension.)

Impossible Spaces

I started out in Seecond Life most interested in doing things I can't in the physical world; my very first thought involved architecture. Second Life gives a nice bridge between drawings, plans and models because of the ability to interact with spaces through an avatar. Even better, limitations in material and form aren't a worry because there isn't the limitation of being physical.
After exploring what changes to the land could be made, I opted to excavate a space for my studio, which is really more of an exhibition space and work in itself since I ended up working off-site for a lot of my other projects. Despite not having to worry about support, I started by building a set of large beams. It's interesting to me that I still felt it a little necessary to use these elements, as well as adding scripted lights, even though they're not really necessary; personally I like the aesthetic of exposed crossbeams in the ceiling. The lights are mostly for show and learning to script objects to do things.




Floating land seems almost cliche given a virtual world, but I felt it also had to be done to take advantage of the fantastic elements. I ended up using many smaller touches to reflect the advantages and abilities of Second Life; stones to teleport between rooms and locations, single-way transparencies, and improbable materials like a solid stone roof are some of my favorites and let me explore the aesthetics without worrying about being practical or possible in the physical world.

exploring in Second life

Exploring in Second life

Now I keep Exploring in Second life for more than three months. At first, I cannot adapt the way of the exploring in virtual world. After visiting several places, I found people were enjoying their dreams in this world. I wanted to be a photographer in Second life and explore places, create own darkroom and cameras. Later I found that it’s not my avatar did, but I in real world was taking the pictures and building darkroom. The question confusing me is that I am the avatar to take pictures or the avatar itself takes the pictures. I think the limits of the way in virtual world control the communication. Although my avatar is taking camera, pressing the shutter is me in real world, and the picture is from the scene I saw from monitor, not the one from avatar’s view.

After communicating and building in second life, many problems come to me. What’s the different between the things I do in Second life and in the Facebook - like website? What makes people use this kind of visual virtual reality to communicate? The visual effects from monitor bring people what kind of experience? Why people like to use this way that taking much time and complex operation method to communicate? More and more questions are coming. At the same time, my works are also about virtual reality, and using computer graphic to create virtual environment, though different from the second life based on internet. What I want to bring viewers? Facebook - like websites and methods bring us fast and convenient way to communicate and work with high efficiency. In my opinion, the high speed developing of the society let people need this kind of environment to realize the fast information communication. But in complex environment in Second life, the methods of communication are not the main reasons that people enjoy in the virtual world. In the process of communication, the information is vision, their walking and experience are the behaviors from the avatar, the real person doesn’t move. The simulation experience is in place of the real one. This brings strange feeling. After I “walk” in virtual world for hours, and found I never leave my chair, I was afraid of this experience. This experience in virtual world really can instead of the real experience? What is the difference from the real one and the virtual one? And the future virtual experience will be more real? In future working and exploring, all these questions are important for me to think.

Memory season

memory season

- website link - more about memory season

In memory forest, listening sound from days. When?

This summer, I went back home and entered in a forest. Sound of water, lights through leaves called me. Memory became clear. It’s my memory forest. I believe that every person has own memory forest, memory grows in seasons.

Does my avatar have his own memory? I try to build a space also in second life world, though it’s a virtual world.

Memory Season

addition : texture and partical test

i try to put seasons in the space, and use partical script to simulate the snowy.

last final video

this is just a bit of a final record of experimentation before I go off for break-- the combination of growth, positioning, and synchronization.

final part 1

this is the first part of my final with my experimentation with growth through coding on Second Life. I experimented with these processes and came to the 'ability' to control the growth of objects in plantlike forms despite their instability in rooting themselves to particular objects. With that, I found myself creating orchestrations of objects that would act seemingly at the click of a button in simulating what could be considered natural disasters, mass growth of plants, or even complex organisms.

Environments on Display

I was interested in creating objects that had a different aesthetic and feel from the usual scenes Second Life offered. I have been experimenting for some time with baked lightmaps and textured and wanted to create enclosed environments that contained their own lighting and atmosphere.

I decided to present each of these scenes in their own "containers" or spaces that when put together resemble a sort of outdoor museum. Though most of the spaces shown are in the first person view, I wanted to show one of the models in second person view because the scale of the object has created an interesting relationship between viewer and environment.

I've decided to show the spaces in one video instead of several individual videos:

Below I have included a render of the original scene in maya, with objects this time:

I liked the idea of removing the objects in the Second Life version of this scene and the strange atmosphere that was created by objects that were not visible but still left their mark. I decided to put the light source in an unexpected place (rather than just emitting from the window) because of the strange shadows that resulted from the table and chairs that surrounded the light. The way the shadows spread out across the room seemed to create a different impact with missing object rather than a straight forward presentation . Like the rest of spaces, this space was created in maya, where I spent most of my time working.

DarkCity Soir_Jihoon Yoo

Video Link: http://www.jihoonyoo.com/portfolio/sl.html

When I am working with technologies, I feel myself getting more obsolete. My works are about my predictions for the future. One day, they will replace me. Nowadays, technologies can replace many parts of my life. For example, jobs can be replaced by machines, sharing time with friends can be replaced by Facebook, and hobbies are relying more on computers. They can even replace parts of a body such as an artificial heart.

When my avatar with its movement interrupts sleeping of 3-D objects, my avatar can be metaphor of nightmare. cyborgs that I made using 3-D software enact aspects of my experience such as insomnia or isolation.

I am interested in how I can present 3-D objects that I see and touch in the real world on a 2-D screen. After I graduated from a sculpture department, I discovered that there are no 2-D objects in the world. To present this thought, I started making layers in a single screen. Each layer depicts a different temporal view of space because space is changed by passing time. As accumulated layers, flat moving images or still images can become 3-D images. Currently, I am focusing more on light and shadow, because they can make 3-D and 2-D images, simultaneously. Through making these works, I can feel and express how my existence is impacted by modern high-tech society.

growth and coding

I'll admit, I'm not a fan of coding. I have trouble with it because it's not plainly laid out for me and when it is, it's difficult for me to determine what's what. For me, it's like having a math test but not knowing any of the equations, just knowing that numbers do something.

I've managed to manipulate a little bit of control from the coding that I've found and modified to fit what I'm trying to explore in this world, this realm of digital formatting recreated by our imaginations. From the exploration of evolution and a transfer from one animal characteristic to another, I have discovered that unraveling the web that is LsL coding is a much more daunting task then I had previously imagined. I had come to the idea that there would be an extensive reference bank where each variable would be explained with a bit more depth, but sadly I did not find the extensiveness I was hoping for. Because of my minor setback through coding, I chose to observe and recreate the main aspect of evolution that I was attempting to envision in Second Life.

The main aspect of evolution is a growth of some kind, whether it be physical, mental, or spiritual, but the choice I had made for my decision to recreate in Second Life. I had gone over the same code multiple times in order to find an easily changed mechanism of some kind that would allow a 'rooted' growth, where a prim would grow from a fixed position but so far, my efforts have proven somewhat fruitless.

The lack of limits in Second Life pushes me to enforce my own rules to 'problem solve', given the wide range of things to discover in this digital world. Because of that, by providing a limit for myself, I allow myself a task to complete while exploring what Second Life has to offer. While I have created 'growable' objects, my main hindrance has constantly been the ability to anchor an object by a specific end in order to give myself some form of logic in terms of growth, my limiting factor.

Despite that, I have been able to visually recreate demonstrations of growth in Second Life without the use of poses or a custom HUD and instead, by using prims all geared to a single trigger. In the video that goes along with this video is a series of clips that shows the progress that I have made in an effort to solve the problem that is anchoring an object.

Class Meetings Monday

On Monday, Dec 6, our classroom will be available (it should also be available all week) so after my Crit duties are over (around 2pm) I will be in the classroom to take your questions and offer individualized help for your projects.

Request a meeting

If you would like an inworld review of your work, please IM me (Ti Mosienko inworld) or email me at aoleks@saic.edu. I will try to arrange a meeting within 36 hours of your request: before, during or shortly after Crit Week leading up to our Dec 13 presentations. In your email or IM please suggest a time that you are available, to ease the planning of an office hours type visit (it's actually a studio visit). Additionally, you can email me questions.

Tips for a Successful Semester End

In your work I will be looking for what you have imagineered (imagined+engineered) individually. Some features that I will be looking for include:

interactivity
scripting
particle systems
animation (motion, avatars, camera)
machinima (videos)
conceptual depth
quality of documentation
visual appeal
complexity of models
overall class/project effort
quality of textures

It is not necessary to earn high marks in (or even include) every category. Since each project is very individual, I will be looking for your personal style, your SL tech smarts, problem solving skills, vision as well as completion of what you set out to do.

If you sent a large part of your time modeling in Maya, or scripting, please state so in your documentation or during your presentation.

As stated in the syllabus, you will be “graded” on your

4 writing samples
4 images
4 videos
in addition, much can be revealed in your inclass demo/presentation on December 13.
Your "final project" can and should supercede some or all of the previous assignments. I will base my opinion on the aggregate effort you have made in class, but focussing on your final presentation plus your documentation.

All final documentation will be due on the blog (or linked from the blog) by Dec 20, 2010, 4pm. For due consideration of grading, please leave your things on Second Life and ont he blog until January 1, 2011. We will have use of the land through February for those of you who want to show and tell or if you need more time to archive your projects.

The presentation is also part of your grade for participation; this is required. You should show most, if not all of your completed work. In preparing for your presentation, please practice it. Make sure your videos, images, objects and build are accessible and ready. While you are not required to do a powerpoint-like presentation, per se, it can be a helpful tool for you to organize your thoughts. At the very least, have an outline of what you are going to demonstrate. Your video documentation can be shown as part of your presentation.

Here is also a tip: please do not call attention to the things you didn;'t do, or planned to do, or didn;t have time to do. Your presentation should be about what you DID do. Even if yours is a work in progress, please spend the majority of your time talking about what we are looking at, not something else that isn't finished yet.

Good documentation of a scaled-down project can be just as rewarding as a large project, given the time, and shared resources (or lack thereof) we have at our disposal.

Caitlin shared this link from the NPIRL website:
http://npirl.blogspot.com/2009/08/grand-odalisque-sculpture-by-unknown.html

Remaining Schedule

The remaining schedule for the class is as follows:

Nov 29 - [today]
Dec 6 - Crit Week for Grads - No Class for undergrads
Dec 13 - Presentations (20 min + 10 min for questions), 30 min total
Dec 20 - by 4pm, all final work due on the blog (4 writing, 4 images, 4 videos). Class is optional if you are already finished with documentation. Instructoir will be in class to help with video editing

late post update with video

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So far my trip through second life has allowed me to make a more personal connection to my art practice through my habit of drawing animals and incorporating that into the second life realm. I have begun this practice at first by creating prim interpretations of my animals in new, freeform ways in order to give myself a better understanding of the prim controls and camera movements to better control what it is that I’m attempting to visualize for myself.

At first, I created a few animal masks with basic prim shapes in order to familiarize myself with the process of being able to attach a shape to my character in what ever form and reach and after that, proceeded to create larger forms in order to feel out the prim controls of Second Life as well as the precision of its manipulation in accordance to the size. My goal with these short processes was to create a miniature monument to my practice in the involvement of warped and oddly shaped animals as well as to create what might be something of a ‘mythology’ within Second Life as I had previously attempted to envision what might not be capable in ‘real life’ and to capture that in Second Life. My hope was to begin a ‘morphing’ from one animal to another to attempt the ‘mythological process’ that predated our current generation of animals as well as create a visual demonstration of the ‘mythological process’.

Upon this study for myself, I finally came to the idea for my final project to create a transformation, a step-by-step process that, rather than a mythological approach, would come across as a more scientific study of the connections and visualizations of one animal and its process in becoming another through the programmability of the movements and shapes of Second Life.

Clothing Files

Avatar Object Files
(.obj files for messing with clothing files in Maya)

Second Life Templates
(.psd files for making slider clothing using Photoshop)

floating/drowning

As I begin to use various methods of screen-capturing, such as Camtasia and Snaps Pro, I find that I have more of an interest in using the virtual camera as a way of depicting very specific experiences in Second Life, such as a script that moves my Avatar. I like the fact that I have the capability to disguise the interface of Second Life; I do not want to ignore the fact that this imagery was created in Second Life, but would rather like to hide these menus as a way of extending the captured imagery beyond the virtual world. I think that these videos and still images take on another quality when their origin/history is somewhat vague.

The video I have below is a clip of my avatar floating on water, using a script. I have had this specific image in mind for a while, due to the ambiguity of the action being performed. The female simultaneously appears to be floating and drowning, alive and dead. I am interested in water's dual capacity to act as a form of recreation and detriment. While this action being performed by my avatar, Nike Graycloud, is very minimal, I think it embodies the various ideas I have been working with. I want to continue with similar imagery, and figure out how I might be able to combine such scripted actions with objects built by my avatar. Machinima has been helpful in depicting my ideas, and I want to take this project further.

Claustrophobia in Second Life

I converted the "basement" of my studio into an abstract nightscape. At one point I felt the beginnings of a mild panic attack when I was having camera troubles in a particularly tight space. I don't have any strong phobias, so I wasn't worried about having serious difficulties, but the experience persuaded me to investigate feelings of claustrophobia and disorientation in the virtual environment. I filled the space with a variety of objects, editing them in ways so that they'd interfere with the camera, constrict avatar movement, or otherwise take control away from the player.

I found that the feeling is most dramatic when the avatar enters a small enclosed space and it is difficult to find an exit. Making everything the same flat colors, with few shadows, makes it difficult to understand spatial cues when moving the camera around such a space. Second Life's unique camera system, where whatever you click on becomes the pivot point, contributes its own problems, especially if you accidentally click on the outside of the enclosure so that you can't easily maneuver back inside. Discomfort increases the longer this goes on.

In the virtual environment, claustrophobia is heightened by confusion and frustration when the viewer encounters inconsistent patterns, where boundaries between objects are unclear, and navigational directions are ambiguous. This is evidence of the extent to which a human will interface with a cyber body. When the "controls" linking the human mind to the virtual representation malfunction, it often feels as though the individual is being physically constrained.

As my friend and I simultaneously explore in world, I photograph her tattoo to superimpose upon my fabricated second life character. The overlap of one’s living breathing existence with that of the computerized semi-algorithmically customized character appeals to me, especially in the case of something as intimate as a tattoo.

Taking something that is an understood copyright because it is on your body, you own it. Steeling that, digitizing it. Replicating tattoos that are more inline with the real world around me.

Nothing is permanent in regards to a second life body; the meaning of permanence is lost. Taking something that is considered permanent in the real world, and translating it into secondlife is to question this difference.

It is not really about tattoos it’s about questioning ontological values hidden in virtual worlds and considering consequences from a lack of permanency.

Experimentation

So far as my avatar, not much has changed. Although I usually like customizing (if possible) and focusing on my avatar when moving through a virtual environment, I am more interested in building an environment in maya and bringing it into Second Life. Though Second Life has many limitations in terms of realtime lighting and amount of prims that can be used, I think it would be interesting to see a light-mapped environment imported into the scene. I am currently working on a model of a house which I will light in maya, bake the lighting, and import into Second Life.

The following are images of a light-map test I made in maya(I was planning on uploading it into Second Life, but my computer broke :/). The model looks the same in realtime as it does in the final render.

I am interested in exploring environments and models that people have built in Second Life so I thought of making one myself.

For the final project I won't be using the model above. However I am planning on building a large model of a house that hopefully will be fun to explore as well as look different from the typical SL sim with mismatched objects and images.

I also want to create the feeling of a hidden narrative that will keep the viewer interested and eager to see more.

Building continue and Record test

These days I continue building the subway station, and yesterday I met a problem that the objects were full. I couldn't build more objects. Because I use too much objects in details and actually these objects are not important and useful, such as as the floor, I can use textures to simulate the floor instead of the real square of the floor. So later I deleted these objects and re-built the floors using textures. The structure of the first floor and second floor are the space like the picture below. And later I want to put some details in the space such as chairs and ticket machine.


When I try to use script to make the train move, problems come again. Although I found some scripts to make the train move, I cannot control the speed and distance of the train. So I need to find a suitable script to make it. The video is the test of record screen. I try to record the screen smoothly, but it is really hard with mouse.

Emancipated Spectator

Last year, one of my professors showed me a brochure of performance in England. The main character was Jude Law who is England actor. One of the most interesting things in the performance was that there was no stage or theater. It held on a open street market. Actors and actresses positioned on decided places and they had some dialogue. There were tiny rules in the performance.

It means that spectators were parts of the performance. Their roles are not only spectator any more. In “postdramatic theatre” (Hans-Thies Lehmann. 2008. POSTDRAMATIC THEATRE. Oxon: Routledge.), spectators were able to participate in a performance. They could hang around in front of actors or actresses and even talk to them. For these reasons, we were not able to distinguish who are actors or actresses and spectators, now. They were creating a performance together.

             For me, it seems like a movie that called “The Truman Show”. Only different thing is a fake. Because, in modern performance doesn’t have fake or we cannot perception what is fake. I think that in Second Life, has same function of modern performance. We don’t know who are performers or who are spectators. All of Avatars just tend to live in their life. Further, we are confused what is real or true in Second Life. Because, Avatars are manipulated by human's intention.

In these reasons, I am trying to change my plan of performance in SL. As I mentioned the last class, I think that if I make some stages or theater, it seems like just copying of real life or showing in different scale. I need different things while I will make performance in SL. I am not yet decided what my final is, but I am keep thinking what is performance in SL.

Mayan Magic Mushrooms Tutorial

Mayan Magic Mushroom Tutorial

Open Maya
Create a new scene
select curves tab
select drawing tool
draw the profile of a mushroom
select surfaces tab
select the rotate tool
using the attributes panel, correct (if necessary) the rotating axis
select the rendering tab
select and open (double click) the 3d Paint tool and panel
make sure your model is selected
scroll in the 3d paint panel to assign/edit textures.
click assign/edit textures
in the resulting dialog box, set the texture filetype to JPG (for SL: the resulting export file will be a JPG)
click assign/edit textures in the dialog, closing the daialog
this phantom step (there is no visible change to model) assigns a texture map to the object
choose brush and color, etc, from the 3d paint panel
paint the object/scene
SAVE the scene (this will save the maya scene). Note this is NOT an export step for SL. This Maya file is for archival purposes only

There are two output steps:
1) saving the texture in the 3D panel panel
2) exporting the model correctly as a sculpt for SL

In the 3D paint click on the Save Texture button
The resulting command output saves the texture (takes name of attribute and .JPG selected above.
The texture file is now exported to your maya folder in 3D paint
Click on the Maya to SL script button you have previously imported (should be in one of your tabs)
Output dialog will allow selection of filename and filetype
Resulting ,bmp file will be the sculpt map for SL

Open SL
Click on Inventroy Tab
upload image file for $L10
Choose .jpg texture file from Maya documents
you can preview file so it looks correct before uploading
upload image file again $L10
Choose .BMP sculpte file from Maya docs
you can preview file so it looks correct before uploading

In SL Build a new object (cube) to unite the two files.
Change property of cube to Sculpt type
Object changes to default apple sculptie
Changes panel to show scuplptmap
replace sculptmap (by drag from inventory to panel) with BMP (model file) from maya
object should rez to correct sculpt shape
rotate (if necessary) object to correct rotation
select the object again
click texture tab
replace the texture (wood) with texture from maya JPG (texture file)
adjust texture as necessary
(rotate texture 90)

You are done.

Tiffany Holmes of Art and Technologies Studies department is having an opening this week at Lake Forest College.

Details here:
http://tiffanyholmes.com/?p=218

Camtasia Example

Here is an example of a quick screen grab I did in Camtasia Studio

Lighting Effects

As a reminder of how powerful local lighting can be in SL, I've uploaded today's picture. The object near which Iam standing is illuminated, casting a pink glow on the land below and the objects nearby.

SONY Pixelmaid

Second life is a low polygon world marked between notions of reality and the possibility of anything. My goal and final project for this class is to ultimately break the barrier from the virtual to the “real world.” My main focus would be the interaction and the extraction of objects.

First I would like to import meshes into the software through 3d scanning the live object and then applying scripts and particles to those objects. The “actual” object in a way becomes more real in this virtual world, because it can automatically move, change colors or even blow up in flames. Documentation is key on seeing these functions. Using machinma and realistic camera angles to record the virtual flow and function of these objects. I’d also like wear these objects and teleport to different locations and record the conjunction between the other settings, and avatars reaction to them.
For the next half of the project I want to the low polygon shape forms and extract design to make hand created sculptures. Reflecting the geometry of the screen and continuing the image or shape in an installation. I’m also interested in the way landscaped objects are mapped out, a multiplication of 2d that are geometrically placed beside one another, in order to look 3d. This will be executed through using the laser cutter to create an outline in the acrylic and then printing the image onto a sticky piece of transparent paper and applying it to the acryclic surface.


SONY Pixelmaid

Cao Fei

"Cao Fei’s work reflects the fluidity of a world in which cultures have mixed and diverged in rapid evolution. Her video installations and new media works explore perception and reality in places as diverse as a Chinese factory and the virtual world of Second Life" (www.pbs.org/art21/artists/cao-fei/).

I remember seeing this episode of Art 21 a while ago, and thought I share Cao Fei's work with the class. I believe you can view the full episode on the Art 21 website, and Netflix.

Nike Greycloud: Update

The more time I spend on Second Life, the more my interests begin to deviate from interactions with other Avatars. I think my lack of interest in meeting other Avatars may stem from feelings of distraction when I converse on Second Life. I usually have a goal when I sign on, such as building an object, discovering a new location, taking a photograph, or writing a script.

Lately, I have enjoyed taking photographs in Second Life, the images mostly depict various landscapes. These landscapes are simulations/abstractions of reality, and I like how this abstraction is taken one step further through the screenshot. I have also been trying to build objects in Second Life, objects that can be brought into / created in this virtual world, but cannot be brought out. It is hard for me to get used to this method of object making; it is almost too simple, the interface having fewer options to manipulate a form. I am in the process of learning how to bring objects from Maya, or other programs, into SL. This process has been confusing for me, but I am determined to figure it out. Once I am successful in bringing more objects into SL, I will play around with giving these objects scripts. Although i am not extremely interested in interacting with other avatars, I would like to leave objects behind for avatars to interact with. The objects become an extension of myself, and the actions the avatars perform are voluntary, as they decide whether or not to click on the given script.

Polygonal Sculptie Tutorials

I think I've finally found some definitive rules for making sculpties (in Maya). The way it works is that you export a UV map of your 3D object using a special script (linked below), and then import the bitmap into Second Life as a sculpt object. The UV map that you import has to be perfect. In other words, it needs to look like a grid of UV points that fills the entire top-right portion of the map. When you import it, it looks like a square rainbow.

You can't create an object in Maya and then go back and make it's UV map perfect. You have to start with a perfect UV map and keep it that way. To do this:
1) Create a sphere primitive.
2) Go to Edit UVs > UV Texture Editor
3) This is how you want it to look when you export your map. Though, I'm not sure about this, but I think you may want to select the second-to-top and second-to-bottom (right before the pointed triangles) and move them onto the edge of the box, so you have a perfect grid. Otherwise the bitmap you import into SL will have some weird deformations along the edge.
4) In the Channel Box, add however many subdivisions you want to the sphere. The result is the number of vertices you must maintain while modeling to preserve the perfect UV map. If you add or delete any vertices, the object will be deformed when you import it into SL. This means no duplication or merging. So I guess you have to get used to not having perfectly symmetrical models.

USEFUL LINKS:

Basics of Creating UV Maps (Maya)
Creating UV Maps and Textures (Blender)
Modeling Sculpted Prims for Second Life in Maya (using polygons)
- also covers making perfect UV maps
Lynda Tutorials
- best tutorials for learning just about any program the school has; login through the portal for free access
Creative Crash
- lots of examples of professional 3D models and rigs, some are downloadable so you can see how they work
Summary of Animation Overrides
Second Life Tips & Tricks
- some useful scripts and info on animation overrides, cameras, etc.
Basic Animation Override Script
Gestures Wiki
Creating SL Animations with QAvimator
Download QAvimator
From Nurb to Sculpture
- text and video tutorial available
Sculpted Prims: 3D Software Guide
- info on what programs are supported and how to import models into SL; just about all searches lead back here
Pivot Level
- a script for making a lever object; you might be able to use this to change a prim's pivot point

Sculpties

Many of you have been asking how to harness the power of other 3D packages in order to make "sculpties" for Second Life.

The official FAQ is here

The specific MEL script for outputting from Maya is here. Make sure you read the FAQ first!, as there are restrictions on what type of models you can export out as viable sculptmaps.

SLURL for Studio Space

Our new studio space(s) at the Parcel SAIC Group is on the Dreaming Out Loud Estate
Direct teleport is here. Enjoy these snapshots of the build experiments.

Author @ Chicago Humanities Festival

Tom Boellstorff @ Chicago Humanities Festival - Sat Nov 6th
Free for Students!

Avatar Update

It's been very difficult for me to get used to Second Life. I've been pining for that overarching vision and artistic cohesiveness you find in other games (Well, okay, this isn't a game). So many sims have the same look and feel, jumbling together objects bought from artists of varying skill. I've found a handful of beautiful sims, but even those spaces are marred by the ubiquitous venders and advertising. And most of what I've experienced boils down to sight-seeing. Is Second Life all about looking? Looking at architecture, shops, avatars? Taking snapshots in virtual spaces?

I've realized that my interest in virtual worlds lies in authoring experiences for other players - to share with people a vision that's entirely mine. And while Second Life provides a platform and a potential audience, I feel constrained by the choices made by it's developers when they created this framework.

All the same, I suppose it's as good a starting place as any. For my final, I want to play with ideas I've had about connecting online communities to the real world, with an emphasis on environmental simulations. I want to put users in the bodies of other organisms, and to taylor the playing environment to promote awareness of certain biological and ecological issues. My home is in the Pacific Northwest, so I'm considering a focus on repairing urban salmon runs. Not entirely sure, however.

Because of this interest, I've been pushing myself to learn Maya and other programs that can import data into Second Life, to try and get the most out of the visuals. I've got the general theory behind building and animating avatars, but actually modeling and importing sculpted prims has been extremely frustrating. This past week, I tried to model a canine head in Maya (as practice for doing tutorials, and to make a new avatar). But trying to upload it as a sculpt-map failed, and I'm not sure why. It might be because I used polygons instead of nurbs. I really hope not....

On the other side of things, I plan to continue exploring Second Life. However, I want to branch out and find sims that aren't just pretty to look at. I want to try socializing with other users and seeking out sims that mimic different kinds of game-play. I need to see what's possible in that arena.

Performer in a theater

My avatar is performer and I could be a performance director in the SL. I make a stage for the media performance, and my avatar needs to change his/her costume and makeup. Sometimes it will take props on.

I’d like to make Miniature Theater using LCD monitor in the RL. It will interact video with physical lighting. Otherwise, In the SL, I would manipulate many things included time (sunrise, sunset, or midnight) and lighting. These functions are very useful for me for making a daytime or nighttime.

For the final, I want to make a performance in SL with my avatar. In the performance, there will be a dancer, but he/her will have various roles. A story of performance would be lead by either a dancer or video clips on stage and background.

"real" photographer

I continue my avatar to be a photographer. I took a view camera and visited different interesting places. Though the appearance is a photographer, I hope the camera really works. I can take pictures in avatar’s view, not me outside the second life’s world. It seems difficult to get a script to realize it. So I just try to let the avatar be a photographer appearance. I have been in SL world more than one month. Usually I think what is the difference from the SL and facebook? They all build in computer and based on internet, and the facebook is more effective than SL in communication. So what are the differences? The look? The way to control? I have no idea. It seems a complex question for me. I need to think deeply.

Furthermore, I tried to build some models to enrich my inventory. And I found a script for 3DS MAX last week. It is for uploading models from 3DS MAX. I tried several times but it didn’t work. I find that script is a powerful tool to touch the idea. I will continue to further my avatar in the way with more new powerful tools.