On Second Life, nothing is easy. I spent last night creating a template for bakes on mesh T-shirts that cling to the avatar’s skin. The problem is that if you just use the template provided by Linden Labs for System avatars, they come out crooked in the most fantastical ways. People typically opt in to create just color and texture, not detail to the shirt, although on the odd occasion, you see a decent one here and there. It takes effort.
I decided not to chase up an existing template even though they exist, especially as the system avatar-days are long gone; I made a new… I’m still in the process of creating a template for Maitreya LaraX Petite (a mesh body created by a third party) as a priority. I found Lara Petite has an interesting seam where the “petite” add-on has been glued in by the creator to make it a full-body Petite, so I decided to skip that version of the avi and focus on LaraX. And if Maitreya hasn’t noticed, truly not many people do much with BoM; that’s for sure, but since I’m not yet very good with Blender and mesh clothes, I have to start with something that makes sense to me and provides quick-ish results. That said, I’m going to go experimenting in the mesh end of things very soon; I’m waiting for a stupid snag with PayPal to clear so I can buy the new Avastar plugin (a plugin made especially for SL creators) for Blender (world leader in 3D editing). That’ll help in both animations and rigging clothes… And jewellery. I don’t know what I’ll be making, but I’ll be making.
Once I get this T-shirt templating thing on track, I can exhaust my sass onto T-shirt prints. But it’s such a different mindset from creating the graphics needed, that whenever I get to that and try to think of even the first witty thing to print on a T for a test, I run on empty.
My Virtual Art Gallery
I got back onto Second Life a few days ago to put my Easy Poser stuff and photographs on display on my land in Zindra. I ended up creating the whole art gallery, and dug up some old stuff into it. You are very welcome to visit, although I can’t really call it ready, either. They say you should never show unfinished work, but fuck, I don’t care. I’m a bit bipolar; if I wait for shit to get finished, nobody will ever see it.
I haven’t marked the parcel as an art gallery just yet because it is very unfinished, but if you happen across this, go have a peek. Observe the ceiling lamp – that’s one of my first-ever creations on SL. Well, this time around. There’s a vintage skybox I’m disproportionately proud of, dating back to 2007.
History & Nostalgia
The skybox is technically created by my old avatar, but I claim it. 😀 She’s… Very nostalgic to me, so I don’t want to mess with her and her inventory too much, even though she’s got modern body updates and a new wardrobe, just not the size as my main avi. She’s in the photo, as at the time, I shaved my head in real life, too.
I left Second Life the last time (before my return) having artistic differences with the Second Life creators. They keep ignoring scale as if it were an artistic decision, and I cannot. I remember feeling super frustrated at the idiocy: “HOW BIG AM I SUPPOSED TO BE to be as big as everyone else here?!” I thought and cranked my avi to maximum. I still wasn’t as big as others, and I just logged out and left it at that. I think the sizes have come down a lot since then, BUT ppl are still happy at 2 meters, even if in real life they’re like 1.60.
Scripting
I’ve also created a couple of small scripts that I’m rather happy about in the last few days. One helps you sort your animations by their priority, and another helps you move items IN FOLDERS from one avatar to another. I guess it could be used to help you sort out an inventory, too, but it’s somewhat a visual help rather than of any real help.
These are my last two things, even though freaking hell, my scripting is a form of art in itself. XD I get ideas and solve problems that were supposed to be impossible with just a little help from AI. (OK, a lot of help. :D) I have a good working knowledge of LSL (Linden Scripting Language), so I can suggest things to AI in a way it understands, and I can perform miracles in very short time spans.
Oh, and how could I forget! I also created this measuring tool mainly for people who use imperial units. It automatically calculates your dimensions and resizes the measuring tool to that size for you. I think I MAY put the whole lot into a gift box for Shop & Hop if I’m allowed in. Maybe I’ll add the measuring box as a heavily discounted launch offer.
I called it [SEBASTYNE] Real Ruler, with its more advanced ruler that (will) contain a library of presets and rezzable sample objects, [SEBASTYNE] Real Ruler Neurosis, for those who are obsessed. Oh, and to go with that, I made a vendor that deducts the price of the basic version if you already own it when buying Neurosis. 😀 I don’t know if Casper does that; it might. I’ve seen Teegle Pets do that before, but their vendor might be custom, too. I should check because ppl will probably prefer having their shopping in one place.
My silence has been productive, I’m saying.
Virtually productive, at least.
The T-shirt template is pretty good, but the sleeve parts don’t match graphically yet. Bodice is pretty good. Anyway. Back to it.
A quick update
I figured I’d try to update the old skybox. I took it down from 40 prims to 20 by making all parts convex hulls instead of a prim, and added new PBR materials on top. Nice? It still doesn’t have a realistic way to move between floors – doors work – but a teleporter is the SL way, innit?
Modern furniture might do wonders, too. Maybe I should move back in? 😀 (I won’t. I like my current pad – not my own junk, but someone else’s creation.)
