tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33483916446812510232024-02-08T20:28:54.527+00:00Bloodsong's Blogbloodsong occassionally muses, rants, or just plain wastes time writing about second life related stuff. or unrelated stuff. who reads this stuff anyway???
beware of acerbic posts!bloodsonghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01854700154218467993noreply@blogger.comBlogger20125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3348391644681251023.post-13668645357399745392012-01-25T01:03:00.002+00:002012-01-25T01:04:30.534+00:00Moved....did i forget to mention...?<br /><br />Bloodsong's Blog is now Bloodsong's Blog II at WordPress.com.<br /><br /><a href="http://bloodsongtermagant.wordpress.com/">Link</a>bloodsonghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01854700154218467993noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3348391644681251023.post-2699703368119109452011-07-16T14:53:00.001+00:002011-07-16T14:54:45.955+00:00Whitespace Test 2This is typed in Compose mode. This is a paragraph with five leading spaces for an indent. This is a sentence after two spaces after the period. This continues on and on for quite some time. Trigger's wife is hurt bad; Bugs loses a child.<br /> Then this paragraph comes along after hitting Enter and five spaces for a leading indent. And my word order is screwy. I've been doing that lately.<br /><br /><br /><br /><br /> Then five enters and five spaces and THIS happens. la la lal lalala....bloodsonghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01854700154218467993noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3348391644681251023.post-59656991375303126582011-07-16T14:50:00.002+00:002011-07-16T14:52:37.958+00:00Whitespace TestsThis is a paragraph with five leading spaces for an indent. This is a sentence after two spaces after a period. I seem to be in Edit html mode. I wonder if I'm supposed to be in Compose mode. Ugh.<br /> This is the second paragraph with five leading spaces for an indent. I'm not using the and-en-bee-ess-pee trick. The thing is... what will this turn out to be like?<br /><br /><br /><br /><br /> This is another paragraph with four lines skipped between it and the prior. If it doesn't indent, then this is useless. As well as the extra lines typed in. And all that other stuff.bloodsonghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01854700154218467993noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3348391644681251023.post-68895824364702084272010-12-23T00:02:00.002+00:002010-12-23T00:10:57.078+00:00Handwriting Recognition's Greatest Misses i have a serious video game injury, from playing doom for 5 hours a day, two days straight over one weekend. this was a couple years ago, i strained my elbow. yes, the tendons in that joint are important to how i play with keyboard and mouse. and type in general. it's not quite tennis elbow, it's pain in a different area.<br /> at any rate, because i love to write/type, this put a serious cramp in my style. (gawd, at one point my arm hurt so bad that i was typing in aol-ese to my friends.) so i got a nifty handwriting recognition program to use with my tablet: <a href="http://www.ritescript.com/products/ritePen.aspx">Rite Pen</a>. it is a great product; you write right across the screen, and then an app pops up so you can adjust what it thinks you wrote. all without typing anything.<br /> i used to write notes with it, and at the top i would put 'any typos are not typos, but bad handwriting.' and then i started collecting a few doozies of how the software interpreted some of my scrawls. i haven't used it lately, so here's the collection of "Handwriting Recognition's Greatest Misses"!<br /><br /><br /><br />When Detected Touch functions come along, I thought, reef, (can wax my or menu win fixtures and fwaxiiglext!<br />-or-<br />I thought, fusi lam make pry own nevis with texture and fwvtmg Init. <br /><br />(When Detected Touch functions came along, I thought, hey, I can make my own menu with textures and floating text!)<br /><br />neediest scoffin mine. <br /><br />(needless to say it's in mono.)<br /><br /><br />If it isnt halfway down the side by the time curs phallus <br /><br />(..by the time class is half over)<br /><br /><br />Iftherj Avnet narc in tine, <br />-or-<br />If thing do not bare iritis <br />-or-<br />Itll, do not bare the tire <br /><br />(If they do not have the time)<br /><br /><br /><br />Inimal.)<br />-or-<br />(Arthral.)<br /><br />((optional))<br /><br /><br />wlan<br />-or-<br />More Stipa,<br /><br />(before step 2,)<br /><br /><br />it almost touches atheists sdesbxvescrveve<br /><br />(it almost touches at least 2 sides of square.)<br /><br /><br /><br />If yon barathea compatible app,<br />-or-<br />If gon bark Photoshop' cryphtlble app, <br /><br />(If you have a PhotoShop-compatible app,)<br /><br /><br />Thy hadn't made lulu wavy bellum <br /><br />(They hadn't made him feel any better)bloodsonghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01854700154218467993noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3348391644681251023.post-89259645870605182142010-11-20T18:58:00.006+00:002010-12-22T14:38:44.064+00:00Dragon Age Cutscene Tutorial: FaceFX Studio Setup<span style="font-weight:bold;">Dragon Age Toolset<br />Cutscene Editor Tutorial<br />FaceFX Studio Setup Quickstart<br />===============================</span><br /><br /> This is the fast track to setting up and using FaceFX Studio in the Cutscene editor of the Dragon Age Toolset. (Or, basically, just what the title says! :P )<br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">Part 1: Transitioning from the Cutscene Editor</span><br />-----------------------------------------------------------<br /><br /><br /><object width="1280" height="745"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/36dbhvA7z4k?fs=1&hl=en_US&rel=0&hd=1"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/36dbhvA7z4k?fs=1&hl=en_US&rel=0&hd=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="1280" height="745"></embed></object><br /><br /><br /><blockquote> 1: Create a New Track; name it FACE (so you know you can't put anything else in this track).<br /><br /> 2: Add Action: Animate Face.<br /><br /> 3: Type in "humanmale" as the FXA Override. There's no drop-down list to select from. You're supposed to remember this.<br />Lord Metrhid says, "there are other FXA overides that you can use besides humanmale :) humanfemale, child, elfmale and elffemale are available depending on the character used."<br /><br /> 4: You must save before editing the FaceFX. If you don't, it will pop up and tell you. This generates the FFX ID number.<br /><br /> 5: Then right click the Animate Face block and Edit. This will launch the FaceFX Studio.<br /></blockquote><br /><br /><br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">Part Two: Setting Up FaceFX Studio</span><br />-------------------------------------------------------------<br /><br /><br /><object width="1280" height="745"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/t73LCr81gWQ?fs=1&hl=en_US&rel=0&hd=1"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/t73LCr81gWQ?fs=1&hl=en_US&rel=0&hd=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="1280" height="745"></embed></object><br /><br /><blockquote><br /><br /> 1: Preview: Adjust view of face (if needed).<br /><br /> 2: Create New View. Check Fixed Aspect Ratio and use the default name.<br /><br /> 3: Scroll to the Face Graph on the left. Click Node Name to alphabetize.<br /><br /> 4: Workspace Tab:<br /> Select Animate in the drop-down list. If you forget this part, you will be doing a whole lot of nothing!<br /> Turn on Slider Labels. That's the X:Y: button. This leave the labels visible on the sliders at all times, instead of only when you have the slider selected. Much easier to see what you are doing with all labels on! (More cluttered, though.)<br /> Edit. Click the pencil button to go into edit workspace mode.<br /><br /> 5: Click the viewport icon and load the new camera view you just created in the Preview tab. It's next to the load background icon, in the middle.<br /><br /> 6: Click Node Name on Right to alphabetize list. Notice how it looks a whole lot like the Preview list on the left. Because it IS!<br /><br /> 7: Fiddle with sliders on left to Preview face. Add sliders you want from Right. Just drag and throw. You can skip all that make X axis and make Y axis and click this part to drag a slider stuff. Just throw the mohonkers in there. They'll pop to a default size.<br /><br /> 8: Stop editing, save Workspace with default name.<br /><br /> Note: You can re-open the Workspace at any time to add more sliders if you find your animation needs them.</blockquote><br /><br /><br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">Part 3: Animating the Expression</span><br />------------------------------------------------------------<br /><br /><br /><object width="1280" height="745"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/lxXKA_5ArbA?fs=1&hl=en_US&rel=0&hd=1"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/lxXKA_5ArbA?fs=1&hl=en_US&rel=0&hd=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="1280" height="745"></embed></object><br /><br /><br /><blockquote><br /> 1: Start at Zero. Hit Key All. This will start your animation from a neutral expression and go into the expression you want. This prevents abrupt transitions -- remember, you can't squiggle-edit or X-fade Face Animations.<br /><br />Note: Remember to see how long you need your facial expression(s) to last. Count how many frames it should cover in the Cutscene editor, then pad it about 10 on each side.<br /><br /> 2: Go to about halfway (more or less), and animate your expression. Adjust all the sliders to where you want them.<br /> Hit the Key All, or use Auto-Key. If you turn on Auto-Key, it should create a keyframe every time and everywhere you jiggle any of the sliders. I'm not too keen on using this, as I don't think it keys zero points. That, plus I tend to jiggle sliders when I'm not exactly on the keyframe, and it makes a mess.<br /><br /> 3: Preview. Use the rewind and play buttons on the lower left.<br /> Use the Animation tab to tweak the timing. You can see an example of this in the video, where I end up with overlapping keys that zero out the eyebrows.<br /> If your expression is crossing the face too slowly, drag the first keyframes closer to zero. If it is leaping onto your character's face too fast, drag them further along the timeline. If one part of the face jumps as if it has a muscle twitch (and you didn't mean to do that :X ), adjust the keyframes and their handles to smooth out the line and values between them.<br /><br /><br /> 4: End at Zero: Go to end time minus 5 frames. Key All. <br /> Go to end time. Right click each slider to zero it out. Key All.<br />This is to zero out the facial expression at the end of the animation. If you fail to do this (at least on conversation lines), your character's face may get stuck in one expression. As fun as that sounds, it really isn't.<br /><br /> 5: Animation Tab: Flatten out expression hold time. If you keyed the (end - 5) frame first, then zeroed the last frame, the lines should be flat. If they're not, adjust the last keyframe to be on level with the previous one. (The last non-zero one, of course!)<br /><br /> 6: Post to Local. When you're satisfied (or when you want to see it live on your actor), hit the Post to Local button up top.<br /> Remember to also hit F5 back in the Toolset, to refresh the cutscene.<br /><br /> Note: You must keep the Studio open if you want to go back and edit the FaceFX again. Once you close it, your facial animation is locked in. I'm working on a tutorial that explains a workaround for this. In the meantime, get used to setting up and using the Studio as in this tutorial.</blockquote>bloodsonghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01854700154218467993noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3348391644681251023.post-6020862359278279902010-06-14T13:31:00.003+00:002010-06-14T14:22:07.485+00:00What Are The Odds? when i was little, people called me 'unique.' and i really basked in this label, i wanted to be as unique as possible! although lately, the past few years or so... it has kinda gotten to be somewhat of a drag. i mean, i just can NOT find anyone that i can really relate to.<br /> not to say that everyone else is *not* unique. i mean, NO ONE in the world has the same gene combination you do, after all -- and the experiences and thoughts and feelings (for you twins/triplets/etclets out there :P ) but there IS the realm of 'normal.' i don't want to insult anyone, but most of y'all are way more normal than i am.<br /><p><br /> first, i'm a highly sensitive person. i have well-attuned senses, and... well, a lot of things bother me that 'normal' people just don't even NOTICE. i've been reading a book about this phenomenon. there was some advice in it, but a lot of it.... well, each chapter was like a painful flashback on my life.<br /><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Highly-Sensitive-Person-Elaine-Ph-D/dp/0553062182/ref=pd_cp_b_0">("The Highly Sensitive Person" at amazon.com)</a> <br /><p><br /> highly sensitive infants and toddlers, and how their parents screw them up. highly sensitive young children and how the school system screws them up. highly sensitive teens -- and you thought YOUR high school years were bad. :X highly sensitive adults, etc etc. very good for 'normal' people trying to understand us, but very touchy. i recommend skipping a lot of the example stories, really.<br /> now it seems that highly sensitive people (if i'm recalling the numbers right) only make up 1/4 of the human population -- 25%<br /><p><br /><p><br /> next, i'm an introvert -- i know all you folks who know me online can NOT believe that, but it is true! introverts make up about 1/3 or 33% of the human population. now, introverted does NOT mean shy. i read a really excellent book, "the introvert advantage," and it helped me *immensely* in understanding myself.<br /><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Introvert-Advantage-Thrive-Extrovert-World/dp/0761123695/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1276522819&sr=8-1">("The Introvert Advantage" on amazon.com</a><br /><p><br /> the brain wiring and chemistry of an introvert is completely different from 'normal' people. the major difference is that the pathways introverts use to think are much longer than the pathways that extroverts use. this is why it takes them 'such a long time' to think. each thought gets a lot more processing time than an extrovert thought.<br /> as a quick example, let's say you ask me what i want for lunch. a simple question, right? a 'normal' person just blinks and says, "ham and cheese sandwich," and goes on with their life. what they want just pops right into their head. not so for introverts. for me, my brain is going: "what do i want for lunch? well, gee, a sandwich would be nice, but i think i'm down to my last two pieces of bread. when am i going to the grocery store next to get some more? will i want a sandwich more on one of those days before i get there? is it my day to eat yogurt because that's how i take my st johns wort? if i don't eat yogurt today, what will i put my SJW in? do i NEED to take it today? have i been un-depressed enough to skip a dose or put it off til tomorrow...?" and you wonder why i hate making decisions when i don't have to!<br /> the most amazing thing i've learned in this book is... normal people don't think. well, not what *I* consider thinking, anyway. i mean, i've always SAID normal people were abysmally stupid, but... :X ::cough:: seriously, though. the book says that 'normal' people do not have a constant inner dialogue going on. their brains are SILENT! this just totally blows me away. i honestly can't imagine that. my brain is *constantly* talking to me. sometimes, in fact, i canNOT shut it up! <br /> 'normal' people get bored alone in a room. extroverts need someone to talk to, to amuse them, to break up the tedium. introverts, on the other hand, do not like people to be around, because that interrupts their ability to think. if you guys have ever wondered where i get all my creativity and ideas... it's in all those mundane little pockets of time throughout the day, where your brain is just humming to itself and not saying anything. you know, getting up to go to the bathroom; going to make lunch; brushing your teeth; combing your hair; getting dressed; making dinner.... my brain is going a mile a minute, halfway across the galaxy and back throughout all this. i'm sorry, but these mundane tasks in a mundane life just do NOT hold my attention!<br /> the other thing i discovered is why i can't talk to people. as you all know, i can type up a storm, i'm opinionated and not afraid to insult anyone, im hella fast at trivia, quick-witted.... but THAT part of my brain doing that? that's the introvert thought-process center. writing and typing, i can directly access those thoughts. the VOCAL and AUDIO processing portion of my brain are a totally different area. and, when i'm trying to process verbal communication, the part of my brain that does my thinking actually shuts down, so the vocal part can try to work. and it don't work so hot!<br /><p><br /> last, and also 'least' in terms of population percentage -- i'm an asexual. for those who have never heard of that, that is the FOURTH human sexual orientation. there's bi-sexual (who like both genders -- btw 'normal' heterosexuals, they out-number you), heterosexual (who like the opposite gender), and homosexual(who like the same gender). and the forgotten child in this family, the asexual (who doesn't like anybody) :P yes, asexuals are NOT SEXUALLY ATTRACTED to anyone or anything. we don't WANT to be, thank you so much. we're NOT broken, diseased, mentally unsound, traumatized, etc etc.<br /><a href="http://www.asexuality.org/home/">You can find out more at AVEN</a><br /><p><br /> now, i've seen the percentage of asexuals listed as 4% of the human population. i'm going to go and say that it is more than that, because SO many asexuals don't even realize they are asexual -- or even that such a thing exists. they think they are heterosexual, but just haven't found anyone that arouses them. or fear they are homosexual. or think they need medical or psychiatric help to have a 'normal' libido. so i'm going to say maybe even up to 8% of the population is asexual.<br /> the thing is, i can't do percentage math. but 33% of 25% of 8% is really, really vanishingly SMALL. what does this mean? well, yeah, i'm 'unique.' it's pretty lonely in this category.... :/<br /><p><p><p><br /> now, my wandering brain began thinking about fae. first off, i was never into fae and faeries and suchlike. i thought pixies and brownies and bogarts were kinda stupid. little flittering bug people and their pixie dust didn't do anything for me. lately, though, i have begun to understand that 'faerie tales' aren't really exactly what the fae are like. 'real' fae (if i can even say that!) are alien, powerful, and really, REALLY nasty. okay, so sue me, i kinda like that :X<br /> but now, what if, just for a second, we contemplate the fact that the fae can be real? well, it stands to reason i might just be one. i mean, look at the specs for the alfar (fae elves, as opposed to fantasy elves, like in lord of the rings and dnd etc) -- they have sharp eyesight and hearing, right? highly attuned senses? above and beyond those of mere mortals. well, that's what highly sensitive people are. and the alfar are old and wise and all that (or at least annoyingly clever and tricksy) -- probably like introverts. they take a longer time to think and do things. (though that's mainly because they are immortal and a few years doesn't mean much to them.) and fae aren't asexual at all, near as i can tell. but then, they can't be TOO fecund, because (again, being immortal), they'd overpopulate themselves.<br /> so, i dunno. maybe there ARE fae among us. or some sorta changelings, who knows? <br /> naaah. just my restless brain putting things together, going down all kinds of crazy avenues. you know how it is. or... well, i guess you don't, but i did try to describe it. :X meanwhile, my brain would like to continue with one of its 3 1/2 epic stories it is telling me, instead of doing REAL work, like i want it to! hello? braaaaain? remember SL? remember the stuff we wanted to build? here brain, here brain! look at the stick! see stick? see stick pointing to what we are supposed to be doing---- oohhh, no, don't run off into the forest aGAIN! ::sigh::bloodsonghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01854700154218467993noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3348391644681251023.post-57753734321629414092010-03-29T13:42:00.002+00:002010-03-29T13:59:22.631+00:00misc: Bloodsong's Ponystars Fund i've recently become hooked on ponystars through... a completely random quirk of fate search on google. i really shouldn't. i really should give it up. i really OUGHT not to waste so much time playing around with imaginary ponies and lusting after expensive wardrobe enhancements for them. !!!?!<br /><br /> but i have always been fascinating with breeding and genetics. oh, ages ago i had <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/El-Fish">el-fish</a>. a truly ground-breaking concept back in its day, with simple ascii files as genotypes for fish, that would render into beautiful (or downright bizarre) 3d fish. i remember i spent hours and hours and over 150 generations trying to breed a sky blue guppy with an american flag on its back. no, really, one of my fish came out with an american flag on its back fin. i'm serious! but trying to get THAT fin with the right body and the right colour... omg!<br /><br /> then there was <a href="http://www.gamewaredevelopment.co.uk/ds/ds_index.php">creatures</a> and docking station. now these guys had genomes and artificial life. not artificial intelligence, artificial life. the first inception of this was also a ground-breaking concept. instead of trying to make the creature's brain smart, it maps stimulus-response-result chains that develop behavior. my first <a href="http://avantasia-narnia.blogspot.com/">blog</a> even charted some of my experimentive exploints in docking station. (tip, read it in chronological order; that would make more sense.)<br /><br /> alas, i didn't have time to continue running avantasia-narnia. well... i had time to RUN it (it's on my old computer), just not time to observe and talk to my creatures and see what happened and what behaviors developed and.... well, my narnians grew up so blissfully peaceful and happy in the docking station, i never had the heart to open up the portal to the main ship and all those dangers.<br /><br /> thank goodness i didn't get into scion chickens in sl. oh, *awen* did. and the appeal was there, too. i mean... okay, the chickens looked dumb. (sorry, scion). and only the tail and wings changed colour. but you could mix so may colours and see so many options that might result and you could try for.... aaaah, well.<br /><br /> anyhow, now i have two accounts on ponystars, and next to no idea what i'm doing, but i want to breed ponies and see what turns out. call me nuts. but anyway... once per day (per ip address), you can visit my accounts and i'll get 25 fairy gold (game money) to care for my ponystars. clicky clicky!<br /><br /><br /><a href="http://www.ponystars.com/index.php?a=/fiche&pseudo=13tranch">13T Ranch</a><br /><br /><a href="http://www.ponystars.com/index.php?a=/fiche&pseudo=13tstuds">13T Studs</a><br /><br /><br />but whatever you do... don't get an account and start raising your own ponystars! and like requesting breeding from my studs.... or anything :X unless you really WANT to!bloodsonghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01854700154218467993noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3348391644681251023.post-61597174994541421132010-02-15T20:08:00.003+00:002010-02-15T20:16:20.020+00:00The Making of The "I Love Awen" Show     Actually, making this video wasn't hard at all. Probably because I tend to plan everything to death before starting! I also have to give huge props to my leading lady, Awenbunny. She's a fabulous actress, she takes direction very well, and has her own input to improve shots and the film in general.<br /><br />     You can get a short version note of this info in-world, including goodies like the photoshoot steadycam, in the "I Love Awen" memorabilia fan pack. It is at Willow Creek Mill <a href="http://slurl.com/secondlife/Raglan%20Commons/50/76/23">(slurl)</a>, just inside the door near the other goodies under the stairs. (It looks like the movie poster.) It also includes the poster, and some props from the show. It's tip-ware, so pay even one single linden and get the pack! Or throw money at the director, however much you like :) <br /><br /><br /><br />Step One: The Idea<br />--------------------------------------------------<br /><br />     Before any filming is done, you need to know what you want to accomplish. For this, a storyboard is invaluable. (For a music video, it is even more essential!) I started by scribbling fast sketches of each shot in Photoshop, then I dropped them into WMM with the music track. Make sure you drop them in as snapshots, because then you can stretch or shrink each sketch to fit the timing of the music.<br />     The storyboards let you know what you need from the sets, props, camera, and the actors. In a music video, it will also let you shoot out of order and be able to fit clips into the final video without having to wait until you have them all done, and without messing up the timing. You may also find it helpful to share your storyboard snapshots with the actors, so they know what you are trying to accomplish. <br /><br />     Let's take the opening scene for example. I see I need a doorway set with a door that swings open. I need Ricky to come in the door and pose -- so that means I also need his costume. Later in the video, the Mertzes come in and go out the door, so that is another instance I will need the door set. That means I will need their costumes, and a vehicle that lets them run out the door. (Note: if you are in the video, don't plan on doing a lot of complex acting. It's not too hard when you're doing static shots like most of the "I Love Awen" studios use. But trying to move and keep the camera still, or trying to stay still and move the camera, AND act... will be difficult.)<br /><br />     Now put together a list of what each shot needs: the setting, the props, the animations, the sounds (if any), the actors/characters, and what costume they need. Some shots will not need a lot. For example, the closeups only need the actor and costume, and a blurry sort of vague background -- easy! On the other hand, the kitchen shots needed a lot of props and scripting: the opening oven, the burning roast, the falling and breaking plates, etc. So organize your shooting schedule so the easiest shots are done first, and those that need a lot of preparation are further along the line, giving you time to make (or buy) everything you need.<br /><br /><br /><br /><br />Step Two: Filming<br />-----------------------------------------------------<br /><br />     Before you start shooting, make sure the setting, lighting and camera view are set up properly. The "I Love Awen" Show only used flat sets. These were set up to face south, given an extra fill light, and the world set to Midday. Also remember if you are using studio lights to turn on Local Lights in your video preferences! Also crank up the detail sliders so your objects look smooth. When you are doing the filming over several weeks, it is important to write down your video settings to keep all the shots consistent. (If you're like me, you change your video prefs depending on if you are in a crowded laggy area or not.)<br /><br />     Ctrl-Shift-F1 will hide the client interface from your screen, allowing you to film without clutter on the screen. However, this will also make any text completely invisible to you. If your actors have any questions or problems, they won't be able to get your attention! (Well, I guess Voice still works, if you have that.) At any rate, I created two gestures for filming and stopping: /action and /cut. <br />     The Action gesture directs the actors to get ready, it plays a slate-marker sound (actually, a page turning), and then calls for action! I use the marker sound effect to time the starting of filming.<br />     The Cut gesture yells CUT, and plays the woh-pah! sound effect. If an actor needs to cut, the WOH-PAH gets my attention to stop filming and turn my interface back on.<br /><br />     Another camera trick is to use CTRL 8/9/0. CTRL-8 will zoom out (and widen your field of view, giving a fisheye lens effect), and CTRL-0 will zoom in. CTRL-9 resets your camera. Very handy for when you get dizzy trying to walk around with your camera zoomed in.<br /><br />     If you really, REALLY need to have one camera position for a shot that is to be done in several different sessions, there is something you can do for that. You can rig a camera position for something you sit on. For example, the set. If you sit on it, the camera will always go where the script tells it to. I didn't use that trick in this movie, but it IS handy.<br /><br /><br /><br />Tricks of the Trade<br />----------------------------------------------------<br /><br />     Here are a few tricks to make your filming (and acting) easier!<br /><br />Poseballs are Your Friend!<br />-------------------------<br /><br />     Almost every shot in The "I Love Awen" Show has the actors on poseballs. The only ones that don't are where Lucy is having a temper tantrum and crying about being in the show, and the one where the Mertzes run out the door. Oh, the shot with Lucy holding the casserole is poseballless, too. I put the casserole and oven mitts up, and Awen stood behind them. Then I just shot video while she was standing there and not realizing I was shooting. It was just a totally easy shot! Alt click and zoom in. Done!<br />     The poseball allows you to position the actors (and yourself, if you're acting) in the shot exactly where you want. Much faster than telling them, "Okay, take two steps to the right. No, your other right. Turn two degrees left. Too far. No, that's wrong..." etc!<br />     I used poseballs that had a stand animation instead of a sit animation. Then I had them listen on channel 8 for... well, anything. When the actor typed in "/8" the extra animation played. So that's how Lucy turns and holds up the shirt, how she scolds Ricky for playing maracas, and how everybody who has to "EEK" eeks. Cheating!? No -- creative problem solving!<br />     There are also shots where the actors sit (stand?) on poseballs and play a gesture or animation normally. Like the Tinymatic waving hello, like the TAO2 crouching/bending at the stove, etc.<br /><br />     Some poseballs are more complicated. The "Everybody Manbo!" poseballs turn on with the /8 command, and then they start rotating left and right in synch. If you watch the credits (and stop reading about that egomaniac Bloodsong on them all), you'll see Lucy and Ricky doing a sort of can-can turn while playing the maracas. <br />     For the opening sequence, the poseball used a walking animation, and the /8 opened the door AND moved the poseball inside. Then it stopped the walking and played the vogue pose. Scripting is your friend!<br /><br /><br />Flat Sets<br />---------<br /><br />     I searched the web for images of the "I Love Lucy" show sets. Originally, I was afraid we would have to build them. But a Lucy fan had shots from the I Love Lucy museum that didnt have obstructions. I had to erase out a coffee table and a kitchen table in Photoshop, but that was all.<br />     The photos were placed on a half cylinder background with a very shallow curve (probably would have worked the same with a flat square background). I also took a sample of the foreground rug as a tileable floor texture. The actors don't stand on the actual floor (well, they're standing on poseballs anyway, but... :X ), there's an invisible floor above the rug texture the actors stand on to appear to be "in" the set. Plus one studio light on the upper left corner.<br />     If I had through about it, I could have put a shadow under the poseballs, to anchor the actors more firmly on the floor. But I think it turned out visually convincing even so.<br /><br />     The only fully built set was the door set. Luckily some offwhite and beige-greyish rectangles made up most of it. I just copied the photo. There's no hall behind the door, just a black rectangle. The door opened or closed on the /8 command, or via click.<br /><br /><br />Tip: Selection Beams are NOT Your Friend<br />-----------------------------------------<br /><br />     If you need to activate something by clicking, you will probably get a selection beam in your shot. Ctrl-Alt-= turns off particles so you don't see those. If you need OTHER particles, you can turn the selection beam off to your viewer in the Preferences.<br /><br /><br />Tip: Camera Aim Points<br />-----------------------<br /><br />     If you need your camera to remain steady during a shoot, it might not work so well if you click and frame on an actor that is going to be moving. Or you might click on the background to get a good line up, but then your head looks away from the camera. An invisible prim between the actors and camera can help. You can aim at that, but it won't be visible in the shot.<br />     You can also use the scripted camera position as mentioned above. Just hit ESC to settle your camera.<br /><br /><br />Trick Shots: The Mertzes Escape<br />--------------------------------<br /><br />     I extended the side of the doorway set to shoot at an angle. The door was shifted on its hinge so it started open and then clicking made it close. And lastly, I made a vehicle so Awen could drag me around the set while I was filming. This was based off my vehicle scripts for the sleighs and all, plus the running animation. And I must say, Awen has good aim! She never crashed into the wall on the way out!<br />     We had to do two takes, because I jumped the gun and clicked to close the door before we were halfway through it :X<br /><br /><br /><br />Trick Shots: Falling & Breaking Plates<br />-------------------------------------<br /><br />     The kitchen scene was by far the most complicated one to do. Originally, we wanted the oven door to open and the roast to slide out, but we didn't have any way to contain the smoke from it. So... we made do.<br />     There are two types of plates. The first was a stack of six or so; each made of a flattened dimpled sphere. On touch, they delink and turn physical (AND temporary! Very important to remember this part). So Awen sat on her poseball and did the bend animation, and I clicked the plates to make them fall. (Funnily enough, in Havok 4 physics, if you turn a pile of plates physical, they tend to bounce off whatever they were sitting on :X ) Another odd thing was, they only fell well the second time. The first time you dropped a stack of plates, they all fell uniformly as if they were wired together. If a bunch were still lying on the floor, the second stack would fall more randomly. On top of that, they didn't fall the way I wanted, so I ended up sticking an invisible wedge on the table under them.<br />     The breakable plates are different. Each one is made up of duplicates of the same sphere, but path cut into wedges. On click, they turn physical (and temporary!), and then on collision, they delink. I just set up the camera aiming at the floor, scooted the table into the shot, put out two plates... click click, and there they fell and broke. Cool!<br /><br /><br />Trick Shot: Awen, Bloodsong, and Awen again...!?<br />-------------------------------------------------<br /><br />     So if Awen is playing both Lucy and Ethel, how does she hold up the casserole and stand in front of it eeking!? Haha, that's a cheap easy trick. I just put the casserole dish and oven mits there in the set, sized them up, and positioned the camera so the rest of "Lucy" was offscreen. But it appears as if she is standing there holding it out to them.<br /><br /><br /><br />Timing is Everything, and Rehearsal Doesn't Hurt, Either<br />-----------------------------------------------------<br /><br />     Now, despite most of the animations being triggered via poseballs... don't think it doesn't take some skill and timing to act! The hardest shot to time right was the final end-gag. I studied the laugh animation and saw a characteristic head twitch that signalled the end of it. When Awen saw that, it was time for her to activate her mackerel. It would have been easier, had I not previously been in a deformed avatar, and Awen couldn't see my head because it was off somewhere.... :X<br /><br />     Sequences of actions also take timing. Like where Lucy shakes her finger at Ricky playing the maracas, then sighs. We both needed to practice the timing for the 'Carmen Miranda' scene. Awen plays the temper tantrum from the Tinymatic, then cries. And then I sigh. I think I was a bit quick on that one, too, but it looks okay. And then I had to time eek-ing after she turns and shows the burnt-through shirt.<br /><br />     We also had trouble with her bending to get the roast, and me clicking the plates when her tail hit them. The action is just so fast, there is a reaction delay. So what I did was attach a sound effect to her animation (a cannon shot). When I heard that, I clicked REAL fast! And that way, we were able to synchronize. She couldn't click the plates herself without turning her head, which is why I had to do that.<br /><br />     It doesn't hurt to rehearse a shot before filming. That way, you can see how the actor moves, how long animations take, etc. You can also tell them faster or slower, or less head-bobbing and typing, or whatever. If you don't have to keep turning your camera and interface on and off, it goes more quickly.<br />     If you use my storyboarding tip, you can immediately take the film you just shot and drop it into your video. If you need to synch it to music, you can find out if the timing worked out that take, or if you need to adjust and re-shoot.<br /><br /><br /><br /><br />Step Three: Editing<br />-------------------------------------------------------<br /><br />     As mentioned, I set up my scribbles to synchronize with the music track. Therefore, I knew exactly how long each shot needed to last -- I just hovered over the clip and it told me how many seconds/frames. Now for the close-ups talking, or the dancing, all I had to do was drop the filmed clip in before the scribble version of the clip, and adjust the sliders to trim it down to size. Dancing was a cinch. The talking bits I had to finesse, and copy bits, clip out bits, to make the 'head bobs' try to match the words.<br />     The action sequences were more difficult. Though sometimes I lucked out. The Mertzes' hasty exit was about exactly as long as it needed to be. Also my laugh gesture was as long as Ricky's laugh on the sound track. The casserole shot was too long, so I set it to 2x speed and it was perfect.<br />     Sometimes, I had to take a short piece of a clip and repeat it to get the timing I wanted. For example, the shot of "Little Ricky." I had a clip of the blinking baby possum, but I wanted the eyes closed and then to pop open and blink. So I shrank the clip to the 12 frames or so of eyes closed, copied, and then shifted to the eye open frames. Then I alternated and stacked them until I had the timing I wanted.<br /><br />     I also had to cut middles out of some clips. In the "Carmen Miranda" outfit scene, when Awen was on her soapbox doing all those animations, we had me shaking my head during some of them. I decided to take that part out, so I clipped it out of the middle. There's a slightly noticeable jump when it cuts from one to another, but I smoothed the action as much as I could.<br />     After the soapbox ranting, I wanted Awen to use the Tinymatic tantrum and crying. It didn't work while she was on the soapbox because it kept sinking her into the rug. She had to stand up to do that part. Well, naturally after standing up, she wasn't in exactly the same spot she was before. So that's when I inserted me shaking my head from another clip. When the camera cuts back to both of us in the living room, you don't notice that she's not exactly in the same spot, so it looks like continuous action.<br /> <br />     I shot the credits scene and the end-shot on different days. And, heh, I couldn't line up the background heart with the credits shot. It looked absolutely horrid. But I rescued it with a godawful heart-shaped wipe. As the heart-shape blooms out, the jitter between the two backgrounds isn't as noticeable.<br /><br />     The worse thing about WMM is that it can't keep its timing. If you do your entire music video, synch everything, get it perfect... then add credits on the beginning of your film? OMG, it doesn't move the soundtrack back with your clips. I tried doing that once, it was a disaster. So remember, if you want an intro screen or starting credits on your movie, put them in first!<br />     Also, if you want captions, make sure you add them ON the selected clip, not before it. If you choose before, you will get a break in the flim like the old time silent movie caption screens.bloodsonghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01854700154218467993noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3348391644681251023.post-34528692760544627212010-01-14T18:37:00.002+00:002010-01-14T18:49:56.379+00:00Does Bloodsong Even HAVE a Real Life -- Depression Is Like Laughing Gas....I have been very depressed all this week. And I'm really annoyed, because I took my meds five days last week!<br /><br />As for my meds, I take St John's Wort herbal supplement. I have been trying to work out a maintenance dose of this for me. I started taking it once a week -- that didn't work, then twice a week... I'm up to Mon/Wed/Fri.<br />A lot of times, I get manic and I don't need as much dosage, but I do need it fairly regularly. Hench the 'maintenance' dose, and the boosters when I feel a mood crash coming on.<br /><br /><br />A lot of people really don't understand depression (though my mom tells me there's tons of commercials about it nowadays....!). I say I'm depressed, and people ask me what I'm depressed about. There isn't really any answer to that. Oh, I could FIND something -- anybody can! Here's an experiment... Make a list of 5 things you wish were better in your life. Or, 5 things you wish you had done (or wish you HADN'T done). See? You could be depressed about those.<br /><br />I like when people say "Why are you depressed?" Cuz that answer is easy. I tell them, "Due to a chemical imbalance in my brain." And then, they just kinda give me a quizzical, confused look.<br /><br />So let me explain.... Depression is like laughing gas. You get some nitrous oxide in your bloodstream, the chemicals get into your brain, and the reaction results in the state of mind we call hilarity. Yah, you start laughing.<br /><br />WHY are you laughing? Oh, you could think of something in your immediate surroundings or recent experiences that your brain chemicals will make you think is funny. But it isn't, really. Not... THAT funny.<br /><br />Depression is like that. I'm fine, or even having a good day or week, or something to be happy about... but my brain is telling me I should be crying. It's making me feel sad and tired. The trick, of course, is to learn to ignore these signals and just carry on as if things are normal. Whatever you do, DON'T look for reasons you feel this way -- as I said, you *will* find them. Just say, "Oh God, I'm SO depressed." Maybe sing that Marvin song. (That's always good for a laugh, too.)<br /><br />And while I was writing this, the thought just occurred to me.... how come no one's ever tried laughing gas as a 'cure' for depression? Or... have they? To the Google!bloodsonghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01854700154218467993noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3348391644681251023.post-61557210490903790952010-01-08T15:49:00.003+00:002010-01-08T17:09:58.143+00:00Does Bloodsong Even HAVE a Real Life? -- BeadingSo here's a funny story. Back a couple years ago, my friend said to me, 'Hey, my 15th anniversary is coming up, do you have any ideas for a gift I can get my wife? The traditional gift is crystal.' I said, 'Oh yeah, I have ideas! Why not get a big geode like at the Nature Company?' They have really big expensive ones, and they're very beautiful. These guys are well-to-do, they can afford the big amethyst ones.<br /><br />'Eh, I don't think so...' he says. <br /><br />'Oh, I know!' I say, 'You can get one of those crystal lamps. There's a big piece of quartz crystal and a lightbox under it, and it makes the crystal light up.'<br /><br />'Uh, I was kinda thinking, you know, like crystal glassware stuff...?'<br /><br />Okay, he wants something fancy... so I go, "Okay, you want some crystal jewelry?' And I go looking up places that sell crystals and stuff online.<br /><br />Well, in the end, he went and got something crystal (actually, he never told me what he got), and I started shopping at crystal jewelry sites. I was reading about the different gem properties, like citrine which is good for energy (lord, I needed that), and carnelian for wealth and success (boy, do I need THAT), and black tourmaline to transform negative energy into positive energy.<br /><br />So I found a place that had, I thought, reasonable prices where I picked out three crystals I wanted, a ring to hang them on, and a silver chain for a necklace. Eighty-three bucks! I said, 83 bucks!? I could go down to the crafts store, pick up a buncha beads and make my own necklace for less than that!<br /><br />And yeah, I did. <br /><br />I not only made myself a (rather large and garish) necklace with several types of gemstone, I also made my mom a necklace for Christmas, and a necklace as a gift for one of my friends. For a grand total of 32 dollars. Yeah, baby!<br /><br /><br /><br />However, this was not the budding start of a lovely new hobby. Because although I enjoyed making the jewelry a lot, I almost never wear any. I enjoy it more than making candles, and those I use! Ah, well.<br /><br />So for a year, although I had leftover beads and some gems, I didn't make any more jewelry. Then the next year I asked my mom what she wanted for Christmas, and she said she'd like another necklace. In fact, how about if I make some for her to give to two of my cousins, too? Well, hey, any excuse is good!<br /><br /><a href="http://bldsong.net/jewelry/">My Jewelry Designs Show-Off Page</a><br /><br /><br />Plus, it also occurs to me that if I make myself one necklace or bracelet, and make two that I sell for 20 bucks a pop... this hobby could pay for itself. *IF* I can sell them, that's always the stumbling block with me. (That, and paying postage :X )<br /><br />This year, I broke down and got myself some tools, and I'm learning wire-work. That's the fancy big-bucks stuff. But starting out with beading doesn't have to be a big investment. In fact, I remember when I was a clueless newbie going up and down the aisle for 2 hours trying to figure out what I needed to make the three necklaces I wanted, and I have some tips for you!<br /><br /><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Getting Started In Beading</span><br /><br /> First, don't worry about any tools. Those fancy pliers are for wire-work. (When you see necklaces where each bead is connected to the next with metal links, that's the wire-work. Those guys do that all by hand.) You can start up with beading by stringing beads, which is a whole lot simpler! If you have a toolkit at home with regular needlenose pliers, you can get by. <br /><br />The absolute cheapest and least-supply-intensive way to start beaded jewelry is to buy a pack of memory wire for bracelets. Memory wire is spring steel (aka "a slinky"<span style="font-size:78%;">(tm)</span>). It doesn't close with a clasp, you open the spirals, stick your wrist in, then let it close on your arm. If you make at least 3 loops, you won't even need any clasps.<br /><br />If you want to cut the memory wire into shorter spirals, you WILL need a serious pair of wire cutters -- spring steel is no joke. Hopefully there is one in the kit with your needlenose pliers. Do NOT buy wire cutters at the jewelry supply place, those are for *little* wires. Those will be ruined trying to cut these memory suckers. You need heavy-duty hardware grade wirecutters. Or, the bracelet packs come with pre-cut spiral sections. You don't have to cut them if you want to make braelets with a lot of loops and beads.<br /><br />Put a loop in the end of the memory wire with your needlenose pliers and start sticking beads on. When you get to the other end, put on another loop. Done! How easy is that?<br /><br /><br />There's memory wire for chokers, but if you prefer to be making regular necklaces, you want to grab some Tigertail. To make your life really easy, you can usually find a tigertail kit with all the findings to make a few necklaces (and/or bracelets). Tigertail is made up of several strands of steel, wrapped in nylon. It looks like thread, but it is very strong. You can cut it with a big pair of scissors (I tried cutting it with my jewelry-grade wire cutters, but that didn't work so well). Just use the back end of the scissors so you don't dull the paper-cutting part.<br /><br />When using tigertail, you put a crimp bead on one end, a jump ring, then thread the tail back through the crimp bead and crimp it. No, you don't need crimping pliers; they make it pretty, but your needlenoses will do fine.<br /><br />String on your beads, then do the crimp loop on the other end of the wire, this time with the clasp on. This is the hardest part, getting the necklace strand pulled tight and the end of the wire jammed down through the crimp bead and shoved back through a bead or three. This really separates the men from the boys! It takes a lot of dexterity.<br /><br /><br /><br /><span style="font-size:130%;">Beads & Accessories</span><br /><br /> Now these are up to you. I like working with gemstone beads -- I like how they look, I like how they feel. There are also glass beads which are pretty, and plastic beads which I always think look tacky. Even that Swarovski-whosit crystal. They're really pretty, but... perhaps too much so. Then there's natural beads -- wood, shell, bone, antler, etc. I wouldn't try to mix beads. Maybe glass and gems can work together, but I think if you try to put plastic in with them, it will amplify the cheapness of the plastic. <br /><br />I do use plastic spacer beads. I got a big pack of variously-sized and shaped silver beads, and I recommend this for folks starting out. These help space out the beads, make little accents and shape changes, and fill out the strands. They will also help with transitions between bead shapes and sizes, and colours.<br /><br />I also recommend picking up a pack of decorative head pins (for necklaces, not bracelets), and bead cages. The cages can help you highlight big beads with a bit of flair; break up the uniformity of the smooth beads.<br /><br />For the headpins, you can make some dangles; almost like pendants. Slip on a bead or two or three, then bend the top of the pin into a ring and string it on your tigertail. A group of three of these will give you a fancy look without having to invest in a pendant. (Those suckers can cost 10-15 bucks a pop!) Or you can use two on the sides for a framing effect, etc.<br /><br /><br />You may also want to pick up a pack of split rings. (For heavens sake, don't get spring rings like I did!) Remember, to open and close a split ring, you hold it in two pliers on either side of the split and then move the pliers perpendicular to the ring -- don't yank the ends back and forth, that will distort the ring and make it useless. In other words, picture the split ring is like a sandwich you are going to bite into, with your hands as the pliers on either side. Push one hand up and the other down, to twist your sandwich. (Not recommended for use with actual sandwiches).<br /><br />The split rings will allow you to hang things and dangle things. In my mother's first necklace, I had a caged bead centered, then dangled 3 rings in a short 'chain' from the cage and connected a single accent gem on a head pin. <br /><br /><br /><br />There is a lot of variety you can achieve with just this much. Use your creativity! Take a look at what else is in the jewelry-making aisle there, and see if any designs pop into your head. Oh, and... maybe plan to spend an hour or two shopping! :Xbloodsonghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01854700154218467993noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3348391644681251023.post-10045145553777857312009-06-28T01:33:00.003+00:002009-07-12T22:11:44.153+00:00The Gospel According to Bloodsong: Combat Meters(all typos in the following post are NOT typos, but bad handwriting. and sometimes dicey interpretation of my scribble by Rite Pen. i swear, one sentance it translated into some elven word...!)<br /><br />Combat Meters: What Does & Doesn't Belong on One<br /><br /> I am a sensitive person. I admit that a lot of things offend my sensibilities; things that ordinary people do not even notice. Even things ordinary people actually enjoy! Like full-nuclear-meltdown glow on all their clothes. And titlers. Flashing, colour-changing paragraph long titlers. (With open listeners!)<br /><br /> Floating text annoys me, and combat meters are the worst offenders. I was at an RP event on a lovely fantasy sim, where there was a gypsy performance. Gorgeous costumes, great sets, graceful dancing, detailed props -- all drowned out in a sea of floating green text. Bright, full-strength, acid green text.<br /><br /> Not only is it ugly, and anti-conducive to enjoyable role-playing, it is also unhelpful in doing actual combat. Yes, I have dabbled in SL combat systems. I don't care much for them. (Actually, you cannot convince me they are anything more than a bunch of button-mashing. No, you cant, as Ive seen a lot of tournaments. One was won by someone spinning around in tight circles, constantly hitting the attack keys. Call that skill and strategy, cuz I don't.) I did some training with SpellFire and DCS. I will be the fist to admit I'm not the greatest combatant, but the combat meters were no help.<br /><br /> A typical combat meter will display something like this over your head:<br /><br /> >>SuperCombatSystem V. 2.24.3<<<br /> Half-Elf of Moon Realm<br /> H:100|M:100|S:100|P:100<br /><br /> Some may have shorter names, some may have a longer string of numbers. All are in full-strength bright colours. They also come with a HUD. And that is what I would like to discuss today-- not that combat meters are bad in any way, or that combat styles are good or bad, or that any stats and scripting are wrong. I dont have any say on these things, as they have been meticulously designed and rigorously tested by the creators. I have every respect for the folks that worked so hard on these things. all Im gonna rant about now is:<br /> What Should and Should Not be Displayed on Combat Meters.<br /><br /> First: the combat system name (and version number). No. This goes on the HUD. Yes, you need to have both combatants using the same system and compatible versions. But this should be set up and checked before any RP or fighting takes place. I dont expect people just run up on anyone wearing a combat meter and start hammering on them. (Though sometimes I'd like to, when folks wear them to other venues. Do you believe, I often ask people to take those off at classes or other crowded events, and they say, "Oh, I forgot I had that on."? You forgot you had it on!? People, how can you possibly miss the big, bright paragraph of text in the middle of your screen!?! *I* noticed it, and I'm way off on the side of your screen. See, it's that sensitivity thing I have.)<br /> Sorting out combat meters is an OOC thing. So when a combat problem occurs, or when the tourney ref wants to check what players are using, they click the title bar on the HUD, and it spits out: "So-and-so is using Blah blah version blah-blah." Now you know; there's no reason for it to sit on the screen all day.<br /><br /> Second: race. No. Come on, guys, this is RP. Which... despite being fantasy, strives for some sort of reality. We have customizable avatars, so you might expect to be able to recognize your garden-variety fantasy races. If you see a real short, broad guy with a beard- that's a dwarf. Willowy dude with pointy ears? Elf. Same thing, but charcoal black? Drow. Big guy with a bull head? That's a Minotaur.<br /> Okay, but what about people who all look like normal humans? Is he human, or half elf? Is he a big barbarian or a half orc? Is that guy a sickly, whimpy, pasty mage, or is he a super-strong vampire? Well, "realistically" how the dip would you know? Do fantasy characters all run around with signs over their heads, proclaiming their pedigree? Didn't you read Dragonlance, when Tanis grows a beard and covers his ears to try to pass as a human? How's that going to work when you've got the words "half elf" stuck over your head?<br /> Same thing for allegiances. How do you know someone is on your side? Well, if you don't know everyone on sight, uniforms help. People have been recognizing each other by wearing symbols or colours for thousands of years. It's not that hard to throw on a cape. Especially if it's just a quick team match. And all those RP spies will be much happier.<br /><br /> Now we get down to numbers. This is the meat of combat- the true heart of the matter. I have 100 health, if it goes to 0, I'm dead. I have 20 strength to hit you with. Etc.<br /> So what should be displayed over your head and not just on your HUD? Your strength? How is anybody supposed to know this magic number? A minotaur is stronger than a halfling. That pretty much covers how fine you can perceive that. You know your own strength - put it on the HUD.<br /> Mana? Just how DO you sense how much magic power someone has? Does he glow? His eyes spark? Does the wind start blowing his hair like in the Japanese anime? Or is it possibly some innate thing that you know nothing about until in see the size of the fireball whipping at your head? How many times does this happen in the books?<br /><br />Mage: "Do you dare question me? I could smite thee and thy castle walls to the ground!"<br />Enemy Guard: "No you can't. I can clearly see the big '2' over your head. That means you can barely smite a chipmunk."<br /><br /> And so on and so forth for the other numbers. Stamina: can you see how tired someone is? Armor: Can't you SEE if he's wearing full plate or just a leather loincloth? Health: can you see if someone is about to drop dead?<br /> Well, yeah, actually you can. You can see if someone is bruised up, scraped, bleeding all over, etc. And you can't really show that very easily with props and such in world. So how many numbers would I put on my combat meter?<br /> Ya, well -- NONE. Look, I have been in melee, and it is flippin HARD to read any text while you and your opponent are jumping around like a couple of mad monkeys. And I kinda like the NWN system. Instead of a number floating over a creature's head, NWN has a quick, 5-level health ladder, represented by colours and words:<br /><br />Green -- Uninjured.<br />Lt. Green -- Mildly injured.<br />Yellow -- Injured.<br />Lt. Red -- Seriously injured.<br />Red -- Near death.<br /><br /> Now, I'm not saying to put all these WORDS up all over my screen! But what is wrong with a little health bar made up of say, 5 dots? Okay dots are real small, how about asterisks? So I got 5 green asterisks, I'm good. I bust you down to one red one, I'm even better.<br /> Okay, you want people who can see mana? Add a row of blue asterisks. Bright blue to blue-black. Armor (can't show cuts and dents so good) -- add a line for that. Stamina without having to do huffing and puffing animations? No, hang on, this is too much.<br /> Why not ONE asterisk for each stat you NEED your opponent to see? Change it from bright to dark as it gets weaker. Honestly, I think one red star is faster and easier to grasp than "H:23."<br /><br /> Everything else belongs on the HUD. Sure, after I'm done running away from the dragon stepping on me, (or after I've killed all the battle slugs, whatever), then I can stop and take a look at: gee, do I have 25 whole health points or only 23? And that can be off on the side, out of my way until I need it. I'm a great proponent of Kai Krause's design style: where things fade out of sight until you focus on them. Although... I perhaps tend to make designs TOO subtle. But subtle is better than a sea of floating green text!bloodsonghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01854700154218467993noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3348391644681251023.post-52529807985824391162009-05-28T00:26:00.008+00:002009-06-18T20:11:18.581+00:00The Gospel According to Bloodsong: Planned Obsolesence of the Second Life AvatarSecond Life has been around for 6 years, so it's pretty old compared to all the new grids. Now, the new grids think they have the advantage- they are younger, stronger, and can learn from their predecessor. They can avoid all the mistakes Linden Labs has made. They can engineer things to improve on the original design. <br /> So sure, Second Life has some kludgy baggage. But what it really has is Presence. Presence with a capital P. Six long years of collected content. When you go to whatever grid to check out the new Utopia, its like, well... there's no custom avatars! No quads, no Furries, no Tinies. No hair, no cool clothes! There's not a huge landfill of just old, junky freebies. There's... well, not much. There's plenty if opportunity to corner markets of all types. There is PLENTY of opportunity to do things right the first time. <br /> SL has a mountain of content it is silting on, looking out like a god from Mt. Olympus. On the other hand, all that Presence could also be called "Baggage." All kinds of kludg that it just cont Shake off its boots, like the permissions system. No matter what improvements can be made there (and there are plenty that have bun suggested!) the big problem is making it compatible with this mountain of existing content. <br /><br /> One thing that needs a major overhaul is the SL avatar itself. I mean, these things are dorkier than the Poser 2 models (and Poser is up to version 8 these days). The morphs are crap - try making a nice-looking figure with the sliders. Or try this: hit "randomize" on all the parts and see how long it takes you to come up with something human-looking. While extreme variety is good, most settings really ought to fall within the realm of normalcy. What IS "pop eye" good for anyway? Does anybody use this? Honestly. If you want a big bulging eye, try using a prim one! <br /> And let's not forget the UV map. Not only of the skin, but for the clothing layers as well. It is atrocious. There is one arm, there's NO crotch. Im not saying we need the ability to paint detailed female genitalia up there, but a map where the crotch isnt halfway down one thigh would be SO useful! <br /> Okay, so brand new avatar, a nice model with good morphs and mapping. All the skin and clothing makers will have 1-3 reactions. <br /> 1: Hallelujah! Work will be so much easier and things will look a ton better without so many glitches to look out for. <br /> 2: O-M-G!! My entire line of over 1,000 outfits will become obsolete overnight! <br /> 3: (only for really evil corporate folk) Oh no, all my secret techniques I've developed over the years will also become obsolete, and everyone will start on a level playing field. <br /><br /> Users will have about one reaction: <br /> 1: AUGH!!!! After I spent thousands and thousands of lindens on skins and clothes - all my favorite outfits will be GONE forever!?! <br /><br /> Hey, I feel for you. Okay, most of my avatars don't wear clothes, and I've never bought a skin in my life. But I do have a modest collection of Bare Rose outfits that I would hate to lose. <br /> Maybe we wouldn't have to go cold turkey. Maybe, in the appearance editor, we could have another checkbox - and be able to select "old-style" avatar. Eventually, we would all evolve into the switch, just as even the Poser Luddites eventually gave Posette the back seat and embraced Victoria. (Yes, I mean me. Though I'm actually partial to Stephanie.) <br /> And, it would not be impossible to convert old-style clothing textures to the new layout. I have seen (though having never witnessed it in action I cannot speak to its effectiveness) skin converters for Poser. These are sets of Photoshop actions that slice up, move, and stretch old Poser figure skins to fit the newer meshes.<br /><br /> So all need not be lost, and all need not become obsolete. There's a brighter, better-looking Second Life coming our way, and it's about time those clunky humans got an overhaul.bloodsonghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01854700154218467993noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3348391644681251023.post-54197743395569069792009-05-24T17:19:00.002+00:002009-05-24T17:57:56.747+00:00Bloodsong Blathers... about: A Good Weekthis post brought to you by Rite Pen handwriting recognition app. there are no typos in this post, only bad handwriting. (http://ritescript.com/)<br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">A Good Week</span><br /><br /> I want to commemorate the week of May 3rd 2009. Wednesday night, I was getting into bed, and I thought, "what a good day I had." Now, I am depressive, so this NEVER happens. It was a really unique experience for me. <br /> That day, I had a class to teach in the afternoon, So I was careful not to type too much during the day. (I have a typing injury - hence the handwriting software.) So I worked on scripting first thing in the morning, and then took a break by working on an animation for 2 hours. Took a long break at lunch, to read a book and pedal my excerciser. Had a great class, a relaxing dinner, and then gave a quick mini-class at the Art Door. It was all very productive,and all went well. <br /> The whole week went like that. I was working on the IBEX project, which is an ambitious scripting project - the most complex set of scripts Ive worked on since making mini-games in NWN. I had no idea how to do it, but I've been working on it Steadily, piece by piece, and each piece keeps working out. I also enforced an early bed-time, and I have been MUCH less tired lately. <br /> It was entirely weird. I wasnt manic, which I do sometimes when creativity strikes me. I was just mildly happy. I guess I felt the way normal people feel. It was SO bizarre. <br /> There was a mild(?) drawback... I think I also started to be as intelligent as a normal person. THAT was truly scary. I mean... It wasnt real bad, but I did have a whole lotta "DUH" moments that week. <br /> Anyway, for posterity: taking breaks, and taking days off, and going to bed early really did improve my productivity and increase my energy. <br /><br /> Now, however, I am back to my normal mood. :/bloodsonghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01854700154218467993noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3348391644681251023.post-1554642759279434852009-05-02T23:53:00.002+00:002009-05-03T00:11:41.414+00:00The Gospel According to Bloodsong: No Mod Items & CopyBotNow I support your right to make your creations any perms you want. There are plenty of reasons to have no-mod items. Good reasons, like... resizing it will break the animations. Or change the physical weight of a vehicle and mess it up. Or turn your lovely work of art into a low-prim piece of trash. Or you want to sell fifty recolours of one build, rather than letting the buyer colour it however they want. Or changing the size will make the animations not fit it. Whatever!<br /> I happen to like things that are mod. Cuz... I mod them! I like to make boots fit my tiny ferret, or my 7' tall termagant. I like to make stuff lower-prim-count. I like to customize things and not have the stuff I wear look exactly like everybody else's.<br /> So this kick about making things no-mod drives me nuts. Even if you include scripts to resize things that are no-mod. *Especially* if you include scripts to mod things cuz you're making them no-mod, cuz you don't want people to copy your stuff! More scripts, more script lag, just what we DON'T need!<br /><br /> By the way, making your stuff no-mod does NOT prevent it from being copied. Oh, sure, it prevents the prim measurements and path cuts and twist information from being displayed when you edit/look at the object. Let me tell you something... by the time somebody goes in and looks at ALL the parameters for ALL the prims that make up one object, writes them down, and plugs them into prims they made themselves... you coulda made five other builds by then! That's nuts! Nobody wastes their time doing that.<br /> To be honest? Certain professional builders can just look at your object and throw together a copy by just eyeballing it, and forget the fiddly little numbers. So, really... making it no-mod isn't saving you a darned thing.<br /><br /> What you really want to watch out for is CopyBot (and its ilk). If you think making your stuff no-mod is gonna hide the prim parameters from CopyBot, I got news for you! CopyBot is a client, not a human. It doesn't need the little numbers in the edit palette. It gets all the prim parameters directly from the information streaming into your client to draw those prims on your screen. There is NO WAY to hide your prim information from a bot.<br /><br /> Okay, so if you want to make no-mod items, then make them for all the right reasons. Don't make your customer base suffer with unneccessary scripts or things they can't customize or re-fit because you are paranoid about people copying all your little prim numbers.<br /> Oh, as for people copying your sculpt maps by screen-capturing the sculpt map preview -- yeah, that was hella dumb on Linden Lab's part. Just put an alpha channel in it, so it is invisible, or that only parts that spell out your copyright notice are visible.bloodsonghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01854700154218467993noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3348391644681251023.post-49966906032809167532008-09-30T14:25:00.002+00:002008-09-30T14:59:04.319+00:00How the Garden Dress Came to Befor posterity, and those who are really curious... or anybody interested into peeking into the working methods of a manic artist.... i present this little creation story.<br /><br /> it was february or march of 2008. someone on the raglan tiny group gave a shout out looking to buy some coveralls for some garden work. "ooh," thought venal entrepreneur me, "i should make some of those!"<br /> what does this have to do with garden dresses? not a whole lot, yet. keep reading.<br /> so i pulled out my cowboy jeans i had made back in the fall. added a bib piece, and some shoulder straps (by the way, they cross in the back, and that was really HARD to do!), and voila: overalls. the start of them, anyway. it needed some garden boots, so i pulled out the beekeeper outfit i had made for awen, which had legs and boots ripped from my snowsuits... and changed the brown workboots to those garish green and yellow garden boots that i have seen a million times, but can't seem to find images of any more.<br /> then i wasn't happy with the denim texture and the cheap prim pockets. so i went to cg textures (http://www.cgtextures.com/), grabbed a couple denim, seam, and pocket images, worked them up in photoshop in light, medium, and dark variants.... checked them all out on the beta grid and kept one set that tinted well. (the light or medium, i forget which.)<br /> i ripped the cowboy shirts for plaid farmer shirts, and the basic gardener outfit was set. <br /><br /> it was during this month that my partner awenbunny, who usually does the ladies' lines, was off on vacation. so it slowly sank in that i would have to make the dresses myself!<br /> looking at the overalls, i figured the dresses ought to have some matching features. like: those shoulder straps that cross in the back (did i mention how hard those were to make?), plaid designs, and a bib and pocket on the front. i pulled out the cowboy skirts awen had made, because those had little bib-like things on the front. (now, if there's anybody's work i ripped off, it's awen's! but then, i had her permission.)<br /> the more i kept looking at the his and her garden outfits, the more i kept thinking of those kitschy american garden decorations of the farmer pair. they are just flat wood cutouts painted with a guy in coveralls and straw hat from the back, and the missus from the back, bending over in the garden with her huge goofy bloomers showing as her dress lifts up. so i decided it would be a riot to make huge goofy bloomers with little pink hearts and frilly edges under the dress. oh, and to top it all off, to have the clunky green garden boots on as well!<br /><br /> then i went nuts with details. teeny tiny clothing tags, ribbons and bows, bib pocket appliques, willow creek logos on the buttons and tiny copper clasps with those 3-curve hook things on the shoulder straps. hey, the shoulder straps crossing in the back, too! the kitschy farmer guy garden stand-up usually had a red hanky in his pocket, so i put that in. and seed packets; i located a few old time seed packet and almanac images with expired copyright dates, plus i photoshopped a seed catalogue image to make a new one. and the tools, and the garden gloves, and the flower pots. oh, and the watering can that waters when you click it!<br /><br /><br /> now, i have been accused (albeit indirectly) of copying or stealing someone's idea for this garden dress. to be honest, i had no idea this someone had a garden dress, nor did i see it or a picture of it until after this dust-up over it. and to make it perfectly clear:<br /><br />1: this someone does not OWN the idea of a garden dress. any more than i 'own' the idea of snowmobiles.<br /><br />2: i got the idea for a garden dress the same place this someone did -- out in the wide world, where garden dresses have existed for... i don't know, as long as there have been gardens and dresses?<br /> <br /> if i 'stole' it from anyone, i've listed them in this article:<br />1: the person who asked for coveralls <br />2: awenbunny lisle<br />3: american kitsch<br /><br /><br /> and there you have it!bloodsonghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01854700154218467993noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3348391644681251023.post-63532677282417489452007-11-05T14:42:00.000+00:002007-11-05T14:53:39.327+00:00November Plans & Mysterythings have been going well in-world. i worked hard a couple of weeks to push some new products out, and spent a few nights haunting the rendervisions isle halloween maze.<br /> for november, i have decided to take somewhat of a break. i will still be working on second life stuff, and teaching a new cycle of classes. but i will not be focussing on new products.<br /> instead, i will be working in poser to do some animations. look for a big annoucement about that... whenever i finish! i will be working in lightwave to try to teach this thing to spit out proper sculpty maps. and, lastly, i will take some time to tinker with a few personal projects. some avatar customization i want to do. oh, and that blasted 'walker' vehicle script. and i'm developing a new game....<br /> anyway, just because i say i'm taking a break and not working on any products, don't think that means you won't see stuff coming out!bloodsonghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01854700154218467993noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3348391644681251023.post-64058672788125722782007-09-21T16:54:00.000+00:002007-09-21T16:57:47.025+00:00Tendinitis SucksMy classes have been reduced to one per week (currently on a Friday schedule; don't worry, I'll start a new sequence on another day/time when I get through these). I'd like to write some blog info stuff, but... typing makes me hurt. Building and scripting make me hurt, but I get paid from those more often. :X<br /><br /> I have a couple new freebies I don't have in my OmniOrb yet. A new tiny lock pose and HUD, and an aviator scarf and cap for Birdworx birds. If you're dying to have one, IM me; that will motivate me to put them out.bloodsonghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01854700154218467993noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3348391644681251023.post-10163821994699387562007-07-18T15:19:00.000+00:002007-07-18T15:43:34.908+00:00My Island Dreams....   Last night I dreamt that I got my island in Second Life: Mythical Forest. It was like getting my first plot of land, exciting, but fraught with worries like: did I spend too much? can I afford this? what do I do with it NOW!? And, will I lose it? Have to bail out, to sell it?<br />   Then my family moved in and I was glad to have them visit and all, but then I thought... omg, where am i going to put the plots to rent out to people for money?<br /><br />   But the fact of the matter is, I've already BUILT an island. A bigger island than those in Second Life. Yes, I've built my own island server for Neverwinter Nights: ZABEA. (That stands for 'Zeph and Blood's Excellent Adventure.') Zephyra built her home and her inn, and her little grove, but by and large, I built the whole island.<br /><a href="http://bloodsong.warped.com/nwn/zabea/index.htm">My Zabea Info Page</a><br /><br />   The island consists of a town and outskirts area, with of course sewers, secret sewers, and the hack'n'slash crypt. The crypt has a lot of secret hidden places (some unfinished :X ). Then there's the 25 areas that make up the Mythical Forest and another dozen or so that make up the Mythical Mountains.<br />   The Mythical Forest is my creation from long, long ago, on QLink. When everyone else was making taverns and inns, I made a magical wilderness area. It lives again in Zabea, but not yet Second Life, except the tiny slice I dubbed the Mythical Grove. Well, it's a start.<br /><br />   Lately, I've been missing Zabea. I did a lot of good work on that. Lots of custom scripting. There's my hidden lair... secret passages -- oh, the beach, can't forget the beach. And fishing. There's the nearly unsolvable riddle in the Hedgemaze, leading to the Penguin Pit. That's a riot. And, best of all, the Rabbit Hole.<br />   The Rabbit Hole is the surreal gaming area. I built a few minigames for it. There's the Duchess and her baby who's turned into a pig. Escher's Maze. And, of course, croquet -- a crown jewel of my achievements. You use a penguin for a mallet and get a badger (or wolverine) for a ball. And a fish. The fish is important for controlling your penguin. Then, of course, there's the cheating. There's probably more code for cheating than there is for playing. Well, you have to admit, croquet can get pretty dull. Even when your ball DOES attack you when it gets annoyed enough.<br /><br />   Ah, I love my island, Zabea. Sometimes I wish I could show all the people I meet in SL my NWN creations. So... hey! If you happen to have NWN (and don't mind downloading a ton of hak files), and you ever want to see some of the really cool stuff I made -- toss me an IM, I'll be happy to show you. (You can't currently check it out on your own, the server is down. :/ ) Maybe I can snag a group of people for croquet tournaments... and Demon Cards!bloodsonghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01854700154218467993noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3348391644681251023.post-64497856176992716412007-07-07T06:00:00.000+00:002007-07-09T15:28:22.909+00:00      now i have land. i really didn't plan it this way.... my first plan was to snap up as much cheap "first land" as i legally could and sell it for an obscene profit. of course, linden labs did away with the first land program shortly before i went premium. probably because of all the people making an obscene profit from first land. which -- i must point out -- was not the newbies buying it, but the scammers buying it from them for the amazing price of 2L per square meter. yes, double your money back! what a bargain!<br />      okay, so the second plan went something like this: well, i need some of my own land to have a fixed location for my shop/vendors. land to have my slboutique server object sitting on 24/7 and not have to worry about picking up the server and shlepping it to another mall booth every now and again.<br />      and land is... expensive. and how do i even know what a good price is? and if i DO find a parcel with a good price, how do i decide if it is a good one that i will like? will it be in a mature sim with lots of smut all around? surrounded by ad farms? floundering in serious lag all the time? and by the time i go look at this nicely-priced plot, and figure out the traffic, and the neighbors and all... it'll probably be two or three weeks later, and someone will have bought it all up and turned around to sell it for even more money!<br /><br />      one day, i went to a seminar on buying land. which wasn't actually given, because the speaker couldn't make it. but i got some notes, and in the notes was some tips on searching, and a really GOOD tip on reading the sim stats.<br />      so i plugged in 512 lots, max of 6k ells (i tried 5k, but no dice). sorted by cheapest, and went bopping around looking at plots, doing nothing more than window-shopping, really. nothing serious.<br />      and i ended up in some rainy, dreary, foggy place. cool for a gothic castle, i suppose. cheap because... its rainy, dreary, foggy, and rocky. mmmm... yeah. oh, and here was one i could see on the map was gonna be hell, because somebody cut up a buncha 16sm plots near it. forget that blight.<br /><br />      finally, somehow, i ended up looking at one realtor's plot in some sim or other because i was curious as to their holdings (and these mythical <6K waterfront plots). and i noticed that about 80% of the sim was owned by one group, and was taken up by a large elven forest. another slice, between the forest and the strip of plots for sale, was owned by a group dedicated to responsible land development. even better, the sim stats were sublime! no lag, few scripts... no cluttered living spaces, no giant malls... this could rock! zooming the map out, i could see some nearby sims still in auction. (and a lot of plots in nearby sims all yellow and for sale.) must be a brand new class 5, eh? <br />      the thing was, this 512 plot i was looking at was a tad more expensive than the cheapest-most i WAS looking at. plus it was on the border of this nice sim, and across the border the whole sim was full of parcels for sale. who knows WHAT would go up in there? and who knows who would buy the parcels on either side of this plot.<br />      so i decided to landmark the spot and come back next week and see.<br />      and then i thought, next week, this thing is gonna be snapped up and even more expensive.<br />      and then i thought, no no no, i am going to have land maybe six months down the road or so. right now, my speed is 50-60 ells per week at a mall.<br />      and THEN i thought... the heck with all my really really BAD snap decisions, this looks right, it feels right, i've got the ells to cover it....<br />...so i bought it.<br /><br /><br />      i was alternately appalled and totally chuffed that i had land. :) by and large, i've grown used to the idea... and i'm still happy with it.<br />      my first plan was to dig a deep hole and put my shop in a cave, after paving over the hole with some prim ground. ah, well, that plan sucked. the forest floor didn't match the surrounding rock (make no mistake, im on a rocky hillside, not very grassy), it was flat, and the cave had a lumpy floor, and was cramped, and hard to move the camera around....<br />      so now i have version 2. my shop is on a sky platform (a nifty one, if i do say so myself), and the ground has a three-tiered slope. my yin & yang grotto is there, along with a swing. a waterfall and pool for sitting around. trees and plants.<br />      and i don't want my land to be some roped-off private residence (i'd never "live" in a mature sim, anyway. besides, im in second life, im WORKING!). i wanted a place the neighbors could enjoy as an extention of their yard, and people could ride their horses across from the next sim over to the elven forest. stuff like that. (of course, the fool realtors in the next sim jacked the parcel land heights up, and the north edge that i HAD smoothly blending there is now down a short cliff. have to see what the buyers do with it.)<br /><br />      so my place is called Mythical Grove, located in Secret Smile. click the covenant stone for my land usage rules. and, of course, visit the sky shoppe. ;)bloodsonghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01854700154218467993noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3348391644681251023.post-19956675144664518252007-07-01T09:00:00.000+00:002007-07-07T13:26:27.108+00:00In the Beginning....    i came nosing around secondlife.com after reading about it in the <a href="http://www.userfriendly.org/static/">user friendly comic</a>. i thought it might be something fun to mess around with.... until it dawned on me that this was a world created for and by the users, and that you could sell your creations in-world, AND that linden funny-money turned into real US dollars.<br />    at this point in time, i had been suffering from artistic burnout, and had just begun to work on a new poser project. very slowly -- and it went pretty well, until i did some joint tests and the results were terrible. but this new "golden opportunity" refired my neurons like a shot of nitro. and off i went, dragged by my brain to do nothing but work in and on second life for 8-10 hours a day.<br />    i joined second life on January 21, 2007.<br /><br />    now, i am the most skeptical person about one's ability to make a living on this thing. especially when the person is me. i have no capital to become a huge land baron. i have absolutely NO interest in fashion or hairstyles or human skins. i have no talent for architecture. the stuff i have interest in is very low on the income totem pole: animals, pets, weird avatars and such. (other people don't share my opinion on my chances, but in any case, it would take a couple of years to get up to speed.)<br />    and so, i joined up on this thing as a new free account. the lowest of the low. the trailer trash -- heck not even up to trailer trash, because i couldn't own land. as a matter of fact, i started out FLAT broke. oh, i wanted the 250 starter ells, but it wouldn't let me enter my payment information, and so i had absolutely ZERO.<br />    and from this, i worked my way up to 20 thousand ells. oh, i camped ten whole minutes to earn my first two ells. i went to every free trivia and building game, contest, or show & tell i could find. i built stuff. i got a vendor. i got free mall space at NCI.<br />    now i was coming up on turning 120 days old (the cutoff for free NCI mall space), and i had to figure out if i was going to put more effort into this second life thing, or if i should quit and go to poser. (well, my brain knew what IT was going to do, but me....) so i figured out that 72 dollars was about 19K in ells. so if i earned 20K by the time i was 120, i could get a 1-year membership paid from the work i had done. to do this, i had to earn 2,000 ells per week for about four weeks.<br />    and, i did. rather easily, actually. (especially since i started teaching -- free classes, but oh the tips!)<br /><br />    so here i am, for another year at least. and we will see what that will bring.bloodsonghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01854700154218467993noreply@blogger.com0