The new SL homepage machinima? What do you think?

[Chic Aeon]

I haven't seen any posts on this and since I rarely log into my backend web account these days the new web video may not be that new. 

What I did notice is that I couldn't really RELATE at all -- "at all" should be in caps I think.   This was not my SL or even close to what I think of as SL. And most of the avatars didn't look all that great. There was one impressive clip of a horse being turned around in a circle but aside from that I was not enthralled (maybe 100 machinimas in all under my belt but I am really speaking simply as a "citizen").  

 

I am just wondering what other folks think.    There WERE some outstanding entry videos made for Sansar so I know The Lab  does understand something about all this :D.

 

https://secondlife.com/

 

[colleen Criss]

Keep in mind LL'S trying to attract new and dare I say younger residents. So I guess showing diversity of things you can role play in SL. The Video was poorly done IMHO. BUT I am 15 yrs old in SL so like;y looking thru jaded glasses.

 

 

[shireena1]

The cute furry at the start of the vid made me lol, but yeah, that's basically what you can do in SL, plus more!

[bigmoe Whitfield]

My avatar is a bit dated, but it's me, so I'm not their target to bring others over lol.

[Caeruleiae]

I can speak as both a kind of newer resident and a young person and someone who has read a lot on these forums along with other places about sl-including at least some of the stuff in that video.

I don't relate to most of it either and no it does not attract younger residents-at least not as presented. It's more likely to attract people who want to be furries or play an avatar that isn't human I think. That beginning part did look better than most of the others. 

That beginning part was also an area featured in their mobile viewer video thing-they're likely trying to tie the two together. I think they're expecting a lot more out of the machines people use for sl than most are likely capable of with it. Few people will see that kind of scene anything like that. It's an almost guarantee that for most who join expecting to be able to find that place or most of the promo video and have it look that way-it will be a let down. Ll isn't very good at being realistic with what people can do and what they think people can do. They're not very realistic at presenting the reality of what sl looks like or behaves like for most.

I know this is an industry standard practice-even in my own company they do this with promo videos. I just think it's a stupid practice and I always will. It's not as successful as people think. It might draw people in with the wow factor but it's as likely to push them back out with the wtf factor when it doesn't pan out that way. 

I would have included various other clubs of differing genres that are open all year round because that better represents that scene and its a really big scene in sl. I'm not real clear on why they included smokefest in the promo since it was over in January. 

[Ayashe Ninetails]

Seems cute, but I'm not much into horses at all, so that wouldn't really appeal to me.

The locations in the original videos used to build that splash page look a lot more colorful and vibrant. The site version makes all of the colors and environments look a bit bleh.

[Annie Evergreen]

A lot of muted tones. It gives me the feeling of wistful sadness. Like a longing for something that's passed, that you can't touch.

Edit to add: Just because it gives me those feelings doesn't mean I don't like it. I liked those old telephone commercials that made me cry, too.

Edited April 21, 2023 by Annie McGregor
add info

[Persephone Emerald]

I thought it was fine. I don't why some people on this forum have to be so picky.

[Alwin Alcott]

I had to try the "old"way to log in to see it, normally i don't use the entrance page but put the link to the actual login in my shortuts, but It looks for me better as the blue "avatar/Avatars" we had somewhere before .. these are actual situations and experiences a lot closer to what you could really find inworld.
Realistic? nah not real, but that's something every company does, our cars are also always a little different as the experience they show on promotions...

[Love Zhaoying]

Are we talking about what I see "auto-playing" in the background of the site on my phone? The horse after it's turn:

 

[Ceka Cianci]

The quality in the video was terrible. it made it look like the whole thing was taken with FOV jacked up.. That or taken with a really low resolution and then playing at a higher resolution. when really it should be taken at a higher resolution than what they are going to play it at if they want better quality.

plus, they really need to find a club where people are using more modern dances.. The 2006-09 stand and sway side to side one is in just about every video where they show people dancing.. hehehe

As far as the actual content, it didn't seem too bad.. It came off as trying to draw people into furry more than anything..

The quality of the video really was all I paid attention to.. I mean they really should be trying to show a more crisp quality of what you can get in there, instead of  a really blurry hazy cloggy feel to the world.. FOV is fun for stills, but not too good for big open shots.

[Caeruleiae]

6 hours ago, Persephone Emerald said:

I thought it was fine. I don't why some people on this forum have to be so picky.

I'm picky because it's my general nature to critique things like this. I do it to our marketing department too who also think they know what appeals to people-are almost always way off base and need to be brought back down to reality. Sl needs new blood and promo videos can actually help with that. The problem is that whoever puts them together doesn't pay much attention to what's actually going on in sl-what people are doing and how they are doing it or what people really want. They showcase things that just aren't possible for most people in sl-the same way lots of companies do promo videos. People may be used to the practice but that doesn't mean it's a good one just because they always do it. I think it's good for ll to see what people like or don't like about their marketing-and skills in that area. They'll never improve if people don't tell them they should. Not that I think they intend to improve them anyway-they're really out of touch when it comes to marketing.

5 hours ago, Ceka Cianci said:

plus, they really need to find a club where people are using more modern dances.. The 2006-09 stand and sway side to side one is in just about every video where they show people dancing.

That was the smokefest part and they definitely should not have put that in there. That was a complete lagfest and ll hyped it up way more than they should have. People enjoyed themselves-which was the point really-but bad choice for promoting on ll's part. It's nothing like any actual club experience in sl-I don't think ll employees actually go to clubs and spend time in any of them. I've seen a couple stop in but they don't stay. They really should as it's a big scene in sl and could potentially draw more people with the right kind of promotion-assuming it was well balanced promotion. 

5 hours ago, Ceka Cianci said:

The quality of the video really was all I paid attention to.. I mean they really should be trying to show a more crisp quality of what you can get in there, instead of  a really blurry hazy cloggy feel to the world.. FOV is fun for stills, but not too good for big open shots.

The fov thing always bothers me in videos because it's so unrealistic-but it's a very common practice in just about every marketing department that handles promo videos. I will never understand why it became so common when it doesn't actually showcase anything about the product just the videographer or editor's ability to manipulate video settings. It's a stupid practice but I don't see it going away anytime soon. 

Edited April 21, 2023 by Caeruleiae

[Sid Nagy]

For the first time I see SL shown as it is. That is a big win. What you see in the ad on the homepage is inside the box as well.
A mixture of mediocre, outdated and up to par content. That is what SL is in reality.
I think that is great.

The horse jumping animation must be from 1963 or a bit earlier. That one annoys me a bit.
But for the rest: Well done.  12 points here (It is almost Eurovision Song Contest time  ).

Edited April 21, 2023 by Sid Nagy
Oops, I thought it was Saturday already: my edit the text hobby day.

[Love Zhaoying]

The panned close-ups, and shots from behind on some avatars (the furries in particular) was odd, it doesn't give you a chance to really see them. 

Of course, the benefit to doing this is, you have to use your imagination.  For example, of course I assumed 1 or 2 of the furries were Lions based on their general look. But, the way the camera panned it wasn't really possible to tell.

I finally checked out the site on my PC.

..Still assuming what "auto-plays" on the site is what we are talking about?  I do not see a "video" to play.

(It seems more like almost, "flash" content but we all know "flash" no longer exists.)

 

[Ayashe Ninetails]

5 hours ago, Ceka Cianci said:

The quality in the video was terrible. it made it look like the whole thing was taken with FOV jacked up.. That or taken with a really low resolution and then playing at a higher resolution. when really it should be taken at a higher resolution than what they are going to play it at if they want better quality.

The original videos look so much better IMO (they're on Second Life's YouTube channel), and that butterfly park is super pretty and now I want to go!

 

[Gwin LeShelle]

I'm neither a fan of furries nor horses but at least they used actual SL footage this time and not some blu- cyborg-whateverness.

They need to keep that up, there are many people making really fantastic videos and pictures within SL, they can utilize that. No need to take fake pictures XD 

Now @Strawberry Lindenjust needs to finally start to take non English titled pictured for pics of the day. Many Spanish, Korean, Japanese and more artist out there. But since she overtook such pictures never get considered as it seems, only pictures with English titels... diversity is what makes SL a special place

Edited April 21, 2023 by Gwin LeShelle

[Love Zhaoying]

24 minutes ago, Ayashe Ninetails said:

The original videos look so much better IMO (they're on Second Life's YouTube channel), and that butterfly park is super pretty and now I want to go!

 

Interesting to me, that in the still of the video, her (assumed gender) big dewey eyes APPEAR to reflect something - but we know that's not a real thing yet.

[Istelathis]

If I were not familiar with SL, and saw the front page, it would have been enough to draw me in to try it.  

Compared to the others landing pages I see, it is the best one in my opinion.

https://secure.imvu.com/welcome/ftux/

https://hello.vrchat.com/

https://www.roblox.com/create

https://worldofwarcraft.blizzard.com/en-us/

https://na.finalfantasyxiv.com/  (scroll down)

https://play.runescape.com/runescape (scroll down)

 

--

I think they may be using the newer viewer, as the club scene might have some reflections in it.  

[Hymn Celestia]

I think the video does a terrific job of capturing fantasy AND reality AND capability AND potential for future capability; the horses weren't the main feature for me as I was more immediately struck by the "nature" elements.  The landscape; the water in the background; the ability to visit lush green areas i.e. where the avatar is meditating.  It's a fairly good attempt in my opinion to throw together a dozen different "pulls" into the world of Second Life -- some come for the animals, some for the peace and quiet, some for the adventure, some for the music, some for the fashion, some for the trying-on different personas and different avatars.  I haven't paid much attention to past iterations of the login screen machinima but this one, coincidentally to your thread about it, actually impressed me.  

To summarize, though I haven't been moved to comment on previous login screen video, this time I think this one is well done.

[Love Zhaoying]

3 minutes ago, Istelathis said:

I think they may be using the newer viewer, as the club scene might have some reflections in it.  

That's something I wondered about the furry characters huge dewey eyes, although I assumed they were just designed that way. Looked like a figure was in them, almost.

[Ayashe Ninetails]

15 minutes ago, Love Zhaoying said:

That's something I wondered about the furry characters huge dewey eyes, although I assumed they were just designed that way. Looked like a figure was in them, almost.

Most (all?) eyes are designed that way.

Random example - these have a whole outdoor scene reflected in them. Many I've seen use windows, figures, etc.

[Love Zhaoying]

9 minutes ago, Ayashe Ninetails said:

Most (all?) eyes are designed that way.

Random example - these have a whole outdoor scene reflected in them. Many I've seen use windows, figures, etc.

Since the images are "static", it reminds me of the old myth that "the last thing you see before you die" is captured in your eyes, popularized in the movie, "Wild Wild West".

[Ceka Cianci]

40 minutes ago, Love Zhaoying said:

Interesting to me, that in the still of the video, her (assumed gender) big dewey eyes APPEAR to reflect something - but we know that's not a real thing yet.

The reflection looks like it would be them looking at their forearm and hand, or maybe whatever the hand is holding..something like adjusting a light.. if you look at the really white part, it could be a fluorescent bulb they are messing with.. hehehe

[Love Zhaoying]

12 minutes ago, Ceka Cianci said:

The reflection looks like it would be them looking at their forearm and hand, or maybe whatever the hand is holding..something like adjusting a light.. if you look at the really white part, it could be a fluorescent bulb they are messing with.. hehehe

Need selfie-stick eye reflections!

[EliseAnne85]

I was glad it showed furries but wished it had showed some Dinkies, too!  However, the newer lighting is making some avi's look more and more like plastic to me or like toys.  The lighting used to have a more "diffused" nature to it.  In certain lighting, since EEP, my Dinkie does that too...looks like plastic and it's awful.  I'm still fiddling around with lighting since EEP.  I got the Firestorm Windlights and use one of the Ana Lu's now which is a bit better but does still go kind of bright but it's better than looking "plastic".  

As far as the video overall, it's okay, although I don't care to own any riding things like horses nor anything else.  It's not my thing.  The balloon scene looks a little washed out and some other parts looks too low resolution or something.  But, I'd give it 3-stars.  We all could probably make a machinema that is specific to our SL's.  This one looks like it's specific to someone else's SL, just like the walking in Winter one before it.  The walking in Winter one before this one was geered towards SL romance which some of us are not here for at all.