Be a Mesh Mentor - it's very satisfying!

[Nacy Nightfire]

Not everyone is comfortable making training videos for public consumption, or even contributing actively to the mesh forum, but I would recommend the satisfying experience of joining up with another individual who needs a boost to get current with 3d modeling and mesh in SL.  Like any partnership of friends there has to be compatibility and each partner has to contribute something, but if you find the right match you are benefiting one person, yourself and the whole SL community.

Working in mesh means a lot of time spent alone and off-line from SL, and having one friend to knock heads together with and jointly share ideas and knowledge is very satisfying.  The forums are fantastic, but often an one-on-one communication is more efficient and effective for learning. 

I have formed such a friendship with an extremely talented designer/merchant whose design talents exceed mine by a huge margin, but I, on the other hand, was a bit ahead of her on the curve of 3d.  It's a  been a real pleasure being part of her growth in the 3D arena and I've benefitted from both the friendship and what she's taught me in areas of design where my knowledge is weak.  I'm looking forward to the time where my friend "leaves me in the dust" as far as mesh is concerned.  She has already taught me things about mesh that I didn't know based on her own individual research, problem solving skills and forum queries.  

Anyone who had it together to successfully create and conduct business in SL has the ability to conquer mesh, but they may benefit from some individual "hand-holding" and having a friend to brainstorm with. 

You can easily  search for such a partner by privately IMing folks on the forums who contribute by answering or asking intelligent questions on the mesh forum and who seems to be a compatible match.  Don't be put off if the person you contact doesn't have the time or the interest or is otherwise engaged mentoring another person.  Keep searching to find the right mesh "buddy".  It's time well spent.

[JeanneAnne]

When i use the firestorm beta version 2.something my fps is ~20. When i use the mesh enabled v4 fps drops to ~7. At that rate it looks like avatars are dancing under a strobe lite. Doesn't matter if im wearing mesh or not. Also, i can run sl twice & have my alt inworld w/ the beta, but not w/ the mesh enabled viewer. Prolly its cuz my computer is old but id rather see ovals on ppl than see mesh properly & have everything so slow.

Jeanne

[Maeve Balfour]

Nacy: Yah, it's a very rewarding feeling, isn't it? :matte-motes-smile:

Although my time inside of SL is very limited for the most part, I've had great joy in teaching a close friend the art of mesh creation. She's amazed me in how far she's come, especially considering she had never even opened a mesh modeling program prior to me starting to mentor her. Nowadays, she would be pretty much my equal in regards to skills - and she has specialised in areas I haven't had a chance to properly explore yet - rigging especially - so later I will benefit from her expertise there. A win-win!

I think the most important thing from me, as far as I can tell, is just passing on my general mesh knowledge as an overview - the broader picture of the procedures - and letting her work from there in her chosen program (Blender). Just knowing WHAT she needed to learn, step by step, is what helped her get to where she is in such a short space of time. The fact that she is also a very focussed and determined person no doubt contributed to her achievements - for the large part, my guidance has been merely pointing her in the right directions, and explaining general 3D concepts - and letting her work from there.

Although unable to take on the role of an active mentor (severe lack of time in SL), I am always quite happy to share my relevant knowledge here on the forums - it's the next best thing. Sharing of knowledge means we all benefit, in the longer term - enhancing each other's creativity.

:matte-motes-smile:

[Karl Reisman]

I am doing this for a couple of folks. it does help, the two are of different levels of skkill with mesh, but both are talented in their other work that it's just a case of giving advice. So find someone with skill, and curiosity and jump in.  It helps if you both have Drop Box to trade files with, and also the same or at least compatible 3D programs so you can advise. Also a chat program or Skype works well too.

--Karl

[Pamela Galli]

I am the person Nacy has mentored -- but it has been more than that. As I learned, it has been a true partnership in all aspects of design and creation, because we have such similar tastes and complementary skills and workflow preferences. (Plus we just have an astonishing amount of other interests in common, and even the same Meyers-Briggs type.)

In my case it was not just giving my skills a boost. Learning Blender on my own with just tutorials and forums would have been like learning trigonometry on my own, when I barely passed algebra. I just could not have done it, even if I did have tons of spare time, which I don't. I will not be leaving Nacy in the dust with my mesh skills in this lifetime. :-)

I would like to thank Maeve, too, as she has been especially helpful in the forums -- also Gaia and Asha and several others, who are so generous with their time.

[Charlotte Bartlett]

I think this is a great idea.  How did you find each other, friendship already?

I would love to hook up with somebody on the fashion side and share the same sort of relationship.  It's great to be able to also bounce ideas of people and the very specific SL quirks that come with mesh in the way it's been adopted.

[Medhue Simoni]

Great!!! I have to say that from the very beginning of open beta, I've met more creators and had more conversations with other creators than In my whole SL career. We all kind of do different things but we all enjoy and appreciate the work that others do. Maybe, all this has something to do with the complexity of mesh, lol.

[Ashasekayi Ra]

Thanks for taking the time to make this great post Nacy. You've always been such a positive personality on this forum and inworld. It's truly motivating. And, I totally agree that one of the great things about mesh coming to the grid has been meeting cool people that  I have helped and been helped by on this crazy SL Mesh journey.

 

And, thanks Pamela I really can't wait to see the amazing mesh house you will make some day.

[Masami Kuramoto]

---

Nacy Nightfire wrote:

You can easily  search for such a partner by privately IMing folks on the forums who contribute by answering or asking intelligent questions on the mesh forum and who seems to be a compatible match.  Don't be put off if the person you contact doesn't have the time or the interest or is otherwise engaged mentoring another person.  Keep searching to find the right mesh "buddy".  It's time well spent.

---

What is this? An invitation to spam?

The fact that people are willing to share their knowledge in public spaces like forums and blogs does not mean that they are keen to give private lessons for free. A forum thread or blog post benefits many people for an extended period of time; a private lesson benefits no one except its recipient. It is the most inefficient method of knowledge transfer and the most time-consuming for the person sharing the knowledge.

I strongly advise against asking people for help via IM unless the person you ask has already been your friend for a while or you are willing to pay the person a reasonable fee for the lesson. Asking strangers for a favor like this is impolite and rude and smells of entitlement. Especially in a place like Second Life where the recipient of the free training is very likely to monetize it and claim exclusive ownership of the result.

Knowledge is intellectual property too. We should start treating it with the same respect as the tangible products that emerge from it.

[Nacy Nightfire]

Masami, you have made some excellent points, but this was not an invitation to spam . I guess all good ideas can be taken in a nefarious direction.  The internet itself is such a thing.

SL and it's forums is a social environment.  The forums include private IM's for this reason.  Anyone who wants to spam can do so without my invitation.  I've never been spammed thru them and rarely do I get an IM.

Everyone is free to decline a request for help.  People come up to me often in sandboxes and ask for help.  If I'm not interested or don't have the time, I tell them.  They go away.

What I'm speaking to here is the advantages to the teacher.  And no one has to be one.  But I've been involved in such a mentoring situation and I've benefited enormously from the friendship and the ideas created by two people bashing their heads together.  And it's a lot less lonely when you are up until 3 in the morning thrashing around trying to solve a problem, when you have someone you have a friendship with who understands your obsession and is as passionate about it as you are.

Please also don't read this suggestion on my part as a statement that forming and creating a learning partnership is preferable or replaces  any other form of sharing knowledge.  Videos and the forum directed to the general public are vital to learning and its because of such good and talented people I respect who contribute in this manner (And there are so many ! I'll mention in particular I've learned so much from Asha, Gaia, Drongle and Maeve here.  Anyone else I'm missing I apologize and you can blame it on my age. You know how much I appreciate your input from my kudo/hugs.)

I'm recommending and encouraging this type of learning as another manner of learning and sharing the quest for knowledge in a social manner which I, personally, have enjoyed immensely.

And specifically you wrote:

"I strongly advise against asking people for help via IM unless the person you ask has already been your friend for a while or you are willing to pay the person a reasonable fee for the lesson. Asking strangers for a favor like this is impolite and rude and smells of entitlement. Especially in a place like Second Life where the recipient of the free training is very likely to monetize it and claim exclusive ownership of the result."

I have to think by your stating this, you've had some bad experiences with such a thing in SL.  But I'm not suggesting anyone go blindly into such a relationship.  Just like any other friendship, you have to take a risk in sharing what is personal, but one should never do this without first establishing a comfort level with the other person.  You never know for certain about anything.  But if you communicate and share what you've done here in sl you can get a good sense about the other person's integrity.  And you have your own work to do which will determine what, if any, spare time you have for such a thing.

In my case Pamela has credited me excessively and without any request she do so on my part.  She has attempted over and over to compensate me and has given me a place on her land to park myself and provided me with a charming house.  People this good DO exist and its worth getting burned a few times to get to a place where you meet such a person and befriend them.

For me it's not about what the student is getting out of it, it's about how I'M benefiting.  But your experiences are valid as well.

[Ashasekayi Ra]

What Nacy described in her first post was not a typical student/teacher dynamic. It is a relationship in which both parties learn from each other and benefit. As for teaching being a skill worthy of payment, I agree. However, it is up to the individual teacher (or creator) when they feel someone should pay and when they will donate their time for free. I get daily IMs and emails for help. It doesn't bother me. If I have time and it is a quick problem to solve, I do it freely. If it something complex that would eat into my time, I let them know my private tutoring rates. It is just as simple and straightforward as that. In all this time, I haven't had anyone be rude either way.

No one puts a gun to anyone's head and says "you must answer this email ". If someone wants to ignore an IM all together, they are free to do so. It would only be SPAM if the person kept IMing.

[Medhue Simoni]

I'd rather earn my money because people like what I'm doing, not because I'm the only 1 that knows how to do it. This brings me way more pride than protecting myself from competition. Plus, to protect the knowledge, you are creating a bubble for your market, which will most definitely burst when a few other creators figure it out.

Contrary to popular opinion, teachers should not always be paid. Being paid is a market instrument to benefit those who are good at teaching. The knowledge is free. The skill to really teach is not. And, as being paid is a market instument, people can choose to not except payment. Whether some1 does or does not charge, is irrelevant to the actual market, for those that are truely good at teaching will always have students.

[Nacy Nightfire]

Excellent points Medhue. 

Personally,  I am not a good enough instructor to make videos for general consumption or charge for my expertise which is at best that of an advanced beginner or beginning intermediate.  And, I ramble, get distracted and lose focus.   Also, I don't have a very good speaking voice. (Who'd pay to hear that?!    )  So if I can contribute on the forums a bit here and there or mentor on a one-to-one basis, that's where my personal talents lie.  I encourage others with such limitations to have an open mind to mentoring someone with potential.   I  personally want to contribute, it gives me satisfaction, so I do that the way that suits my abilities.  I recommend it.

It may be true that my more advanced knowledge was gained by personal sweat and toil, and one justifiably  might feel proprietary about this (well I don't, but some may and that's reasonable).  However, my basic knowledge was obtained for free by the efforts of other's who were kind enough to impart what they know via forums and tutorials.  It would by very rude for me to now claim it as my "intellectual property".   MY time is my  property and I can decide if I want to give it freely or charge for it, but getting talented people who will contribute to the beauty and success of SL up to speed with mesh benefits everyone.  And its fun!

[Medhue Simoni]

---

Nacy Nightfire wrote:

but getting talented people who will contribute to the beauty and success of SL up to speed with mesh benefits everyone.  And its fun!

---

Yep, and considering how complex mesh is, compared to prims and sculpts, It is truely needed. Dispite all our efforts, we'll still have a massive amount of laggy or badly done meshes. That said, for every 1 person that each of us can teach the basics to, who knows how many more people you help by teaching that 1 person. The end goal, for all of us, is a more beautiful, fun, and lag free SL.

[Maeve Balfour]

Nacy: Yah, it's purely for community spirit that I contribute my knowledge here on the forums. I'm not an "uber-expert" in mesh by any means - I've just accumulated knowledge after being a hobbyist-level mesh creator for a number of years outside of SL. As such, this general experience means I am able to offer relevant help in here for SL mesh.

Just like you, I don't feel any sense of entitlement to make others pay for my knowledge - I actually enjoy sharing it, especially when it helps others reach their creative goals. Money doesn't come into it at all for me... if it did, I would have been a merchant long ago. (One day, mayhaps I'll dip my toe in out of curiosity, but nothing serious... it's just not really a priority for me (nothing at all against merchants, though)).

It's just fun being nice, and giving something back to the community - it's a good feeling. :matte-motes-smile:

[Pamela Galli]

It seems extremely generous and kind for people to offer their time in this way --  a lot of us would be sitting staring blankly at Blender if not for this kind of help. I was a schoolteacher in a previous life and I know there simply is no reward any more fullfilling than teaching something difficult but essential to somone who cooperates with and appreciates your efforts.  Certainly the rewards far exceed those of making 3D doo-dads, and is far more difficult.

Which brings me to something that Nacy does that is so valuable, and that is to encourage me to keep trying, to keep believing I can do something when all evidence tells me otherwise. And I know what hard work it is, to encourage someone to keep trying. Nacy is pretty matter of fact about it. She doesn't cajole or gush, just states what she thinks.  Which reminds me -- her opinion on design decisions is as valuable as her advice and tutoring on mesh.

 

 

[Nacy Nightfire]

For folks that do have a business they rely on, getting up to speed with all of this takes an "Olympian" effort and a coach is really helpful, particulary for building confidence, as Pamela points out.

Maeve you wrote:

"I think the most important thing from me, as far as I can tell, is just passing on my general mesh knowledge as an overview - the broader picture of the procedures - and letting her work from there in her chosen program (Blender). Just knowing WHAT she needed to learn, step by step, is what helped her get to where she is in such a short space of time. The fact that she is also a very focussed and determined person no doubt contributed to her achievements - for the large part, my guidance has been merely pointing her in the right directions, and explaining general 3D concepts - and letting her work from there."

And that's exactly right.  We don't know what we don't know and there's alot of that in 3d.  It's hard for a beginner in 3d to even know what questions to ask.  It's not even about the person mentoring giving out well-guarded secrets and hard-won techniques (although Pamela is welcome to these if I ever learn them , it's much more about giving direction and encouragement and experiencing the joy of watching your friend blossom as a 3d artist.  And it's never a one-way street with the right mentoring partnership.  The teaching and learning go  back and forth.

 

[Masami Kuramoto]

---

Ashasekayi Ra wrote:

No one puts a gun to anyone's head and says "you must answer this email ". If someone wants to ignore an IM all together, they are free to do so.

---

 

I was banned from a forum over a support request that I ignored. Sometimes they do put a gun to your head.

Encouraging newbies to pick personal mentors without prior invitation is a bad idea. Let the mentors pick the newbies instead.

[Masami Kuramoto]

---

Medhue Simoni wrote:

Plus, to protect the knowledge, you are creating a bubble for your market, which will most definitely burst when a few other creators figure it out.

---

If your goal is to make knowledge widely available and beneficial to many, blogs and forums are the ideal media. If you want to keep it secret, obscure and accessible to few, private mentorship is preferable because it closely resembles the medieval guild system.

---

Contrary to popular opinion, teachers should not always be paid.

---

Teachers should not be expected to teach without payment either.

Of course compensation need not be monetary. That is up to the teacher. However, some sort of compensation is always involved. Second Life is a meritocracy, and some people teach to build a reputation for themselves.

---

The knowledge is free.

---

Knowledge is a product just like any other. It takes time and effort to acquire it, it is scarce, it is in demand. It is sold in the form of books, software and, more recently, training videos. Its absence is a showstopper for any creator. I find it interesting that often the same people who put copyright above everything else consider knowledge a freebie.

[Dilbert Dilweg]

Nice post Nancy,

I am currently still learning my self. As I learn, I totally enjoy passing on the knowledge to others, in any way that I can. I am also grateful to many of you who do take the time to make tutorials and share their knowledge here in the forums. Many of you have helped me figure things out and show me the way, when my way, was not the best way. That is priceless and I find it a great value to SL. I think it is important for everyone to pass on the same help they received. It is what builds a strong community and trust among their peers. As I learn and grow, I hope to continue helping others to grow ..

Thanks to everyone for your help . I am deeply grateful

[Medhue Simoni]

---

Masami Kuramoto wrote:

---

Medhue Simoni wrote:

Plus, to protect the knowledge, you are creating a bubble for your market, which will most definitely burst when a few other creators figure it out.

---

If your goal is to make knowledge widely available and beneficial to many, blogs and forums are the ideal media. If you want to keep it secret, obscure and accessible to few, private mentorship is preferable because it closely resembles the medieval guild system.

---

My point is that taking a protectionist view on knowledge is not a very good long term plan and shows the insecurities of the knowledge holder. Under the protectionist model, you will likely see a boom in profits but that boom will crash massively once your competition figures it out. To actually think that you are doing something unique can be much more destructive than being completely open about the knowledge. IMO

The knowledge is free.

---

Knowledge is a product just like any other. It takes time and effort to acquire it, it is scarce, it is in demand. It is sold in the form of books, software and, more recently, training videos. Its absence is a showstopper for any creator. I find it interesting that often the same people who put copyright above everything else consider knowledge a freebie.

---

It really depends on your state of mind. All knowledge is inately free. It is usually a result of science, which is not exclusive to any 1 person. If you did the same tests, you'd get the same results. Now, does every1 want to spend their whole life dissecting thousands of bodies to find out how the heart works? Of course not, but inately, that knowledge is free for you to acquire if you choose to do the work. Or, you could choose to goto a school or pay some1 to teach you.

Copyrights, on the other hand, is something that is unique to only you.

[Ashasekayi Ra]

---

Masami Kuramoto wrote:

---

Ashasekayi Ra wrote:

No one puts a gun to anyone's head and says "you must answer this email ". If someone wants to ignore an IM all together, they are free to do so.

---

 

I was banned from a forum over a support request that I ignored. Sometimes they do put a gun to your head.

Encouraging newbies to pick personal mentors without prior invitation is a bad idea. Let the mentors pick the newbies instead.

---

Are you saying that you were banned from LL's forum at some point in the past because you ignored a private message for help?

Exactly how would a mentor pick a newbie that they don't know exists? How would I know if someone needed help if they didn't ask me for it?

[Nacy Nightfire]

You wrote:

"If your goal is to make knowledge widely available and beneficial to many, blogs and forums are the ideal media. If you want to keep it secret, obscure and accessible to few, private mentorship is preferable because it closely resembles the medieval guild system."

Sorry Masami, you can't argue your point in two different directions.  On one hand you have said your knowledge is your intellectual property, a commodity and worthy of compensation.  On the other you are saying it's wrong for an individual to control how he/she disseminates his/her knowledge and one should make one's knowledge publically available to everyone here on the forum for efficiency sake (and also for free  - which you claim to deplore).  Wha? 

When Pamela is proficent enough to get beyond an advanced beginner stage, she will be self-directed and will continue to  learn on her own as she takes on greater modeling and texturing challenges.   And she and I will still be friends and discussing the new techniques we discover in Blender in our private conversations.  She and I will each continue to participate in the mesh forum as we have been all along, for our own benefit  and that of the general SL creative public. (I shouldn't speak for Pamela here, but its a pretty reasonable guess she will continue to follow the forums as time permits).    I think that's pretty much how these things go with "collaborating friendships" and "mentoring partnerships"

The concept of "Mentoring" is primarily to provide encouragement, guidance, to offer instructive critiques on projects, offer reassurance when the learning gets challenging and to point the "student" to the right materials and best approach to learning.  And it's all beginner stuff that everyone can learn on their own for free (I did!) if they have the time via free tutorials on the web.  It's just more fun and rewarding to learn with a new friend

[Masami Kuramoto]

---

Ashasekayi Ra wrote:

Are you saying that you were banned from LL's forum at some point in the past because you ignored a private message for help?

---

No, it was another forum. The person whose request I ignored started trolling every discussion I participated in, posted libelous statements about me, and finally convinced the forum admin to ban me. It took me quite a while to get my name cleared from all the libelous accusations.

Nacy's suggestion to ask for support via IM and not to give up if the requests get rejected or ignored is sending out the wrong message. The result will be that this forum's most proficient helpers will be swamped with IMs by different people asking the same questions over and over again. It is important to understand that most people, by default, do not welcome unsolicited IMs and emails. Those who do should advertise their availability. Even if you enjoy person-to-person mentoring, there is a limit to the number of trainees you can handle at the same time. For some people that limit is zero, and we should respect that. What worked for Nacy doesn't work for everyone.

---

Exactly how would a mentor pick a newbie that they don't know exists? How would I know if someone needed help if they didn't ask me for it?

---

Newbies ask for help here and in support-related open chat groups such as "Blender Users" all the time. They are not hard to find at all.

[Masami Kuramoto]

---

Nacy Nightfire wrote:

Sorry Masami, you can't argue your point in two different directions.  On one hand you have said your knowledge is your intellectual property, a commodity and worthy of compensation.  On the other you are saying it's wrong for an individual to control how he/she disseminates his/her knowledge and one should make one's knowledge publically available to everyone here on the forum for efficiency sake (and also for free  - which you claim to deplore).  Wha?

---

I am arguing two points which are entirely unrelated to each other. The first is that publishing is a more efficient knowledge transfer method than private mentorship because what you publish will reach more people. This explains why Amanda Levitsky's sculpted prim tutorial, published many years ago, still appears near the top of Google's search results. On the other hand, what you taught Pamela is unlikely to reach a wider audience.

The other point is that we should not expect teachers to share their knowledge without some kind of reward. I never said your model of mentorship is "wrong", and obviously you found it very rewarding. I just said it's wrong to encourage newbies to approach publishers via IMs and ask them for personal training. Those who want to reach as many people as possible (see above) will find the mentorship model less satisfying than you did. That doesn't mean they are less generous to share their knowledge. People rejecting private support requests may be happy to answer the same questions in a public forum instead.