Chic Aeon

There WAS an open application last summer -- JUST like this one. I applied then too and did not get in. Edit: I also applied the year before to a smaller type holiday venue and did not get it. That was mostly venue stands and not the big mall experience. Can't remember all the details, but it was also an open application. There could possibly have been some folks "invited" as well as those that got in through the application process. I have no clue. There is something to be said about the big store, big store groups and all that jazz. I agree that those criteria seem to be part of the venue equation "sometimes". I, however have no store group and never have. I honestly hate all that stuff. I give away things to the masses (that means no group needed) and don't try and con folks to join in my "Brand" to get stuff. It just rubs me the wrong way -- even when folks ask to join my non-existent group LOL. I don't Facebook, I don't Tweet. I do put my new product releases up on Flickr now as that is required in most all events. But even though I type and type and type on these forums, I am not a NETWORKER for my store :D. I am there because I like to create. Sometimes I get invited to venues most likely (I like to think so anyway) on the quality of my work. I know of one case where I was invited and then removed later -- in my mind anyway because the venue owner found out that I didn't do the group and constant spamming. That's the way it is. AND --- I would like to point out that some Big Names That You Would Have Expected To See --- may simply not have wanted to be in the event. We don't KNOW who applied and who got chosen over others. There were plenty of big names from this summer who are not in this winter event. Maybe they simply decided it wasn't worth their effort. Each creator GETS TO CHOOSE. I am not making a fortune there but I am happy to be there and according to a quick search I have given away 920 very nice barrel chairs. So hopefully a few folks are happy with those as I had one rezzed and there was no "mystery" box gift thing going on. And another thought or three -- I am adding a few minutes later. Creators for the most part had to NOTICE the "call" for applications. Many don't ever visit the forums or the blog or whatever -- they are busy creating. The truly big names likely couldn't care less as this was a tiny event in their minds (so cross off some for that). There are a handful of "big name" folks in this event (this only by MY list of criteria :D) but not tons. It is a very good way for not in the spotlight brands to be seen and perhaps to be recognized a bit more in the future. For those already "THERE", it is likely a ho-hum event. It is also the holidays and lots of folks are taking off. My blogger boxes are down by about half this month; happily there are SO MANY gifts that I have been very busy with two posts a day on most days. So that cut out a lot of folks on vacation. Blueberry (I just TPed over to check this) never actually put out anything on sale at the Hop and Shop -- only one gift (two posters) which -- I just TPed over to the main store to check -- is a group gift for ANYONE (buy for $0 ) there. So plenty going on that we don't really know why --- but also most likely not the intent of the Lindens

OK. My bad. What I was looking at (well my alt) in the store was NOT upcoming advent presents, but holiday group gifts. There are four collars of various styles on there and the join fee is 100. There MAY of course be a collar style in the Advent Calendar :D. SORRY. Just way too much going on this month. I am scattered ^^

http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Jewelry/231/182/37 Follow the snowflakes to the tree. Today is NOT the collar day but there is a lovely necklace that goes with the earrings shown from yesterday. :D.

Well I have no more advice then Perhaps there IS someone on the forums that uses Sketchup. IF the high cost is because of the physics model then you "might" want to look at the video on house physics. But yes, Blender is complex. However it does WORK :D. You might also just put an add in the WANTED section showing what you have and get someone to make a physics model and upload for you. IF this is the only thing you plan to make. Good luck!!!!

Your physics file is WAY too complex for SL and I have no idea how you might go about making one in Sketchup that would work. The bottom line which you might have guessed by now is to abandon Sketchup and go to another 3D program. Most folks here use Blender because it is A. Free, B. Well supported, C. Free LOL and a few of us because it is open source and we like that idea. There are tons of tutorials on the web for Blender. Not all (only a few) are for things we can use in Second Life. So should you decide to learn Blender, I made some starting videos that are JUST for Second Life (and Opensim) and hopefully they will help a lot. The start at the VERY beginning and continue on into house physics. The are here: https://www.slartist.com/browse-the-tutorial-chic-videos-1-date.html They are published like a blog so the earliest starting videos are at the end but they are numbered. You want the ones with the BLENDER icon on them. The others are for prim building. And we DID all start where you are and many of use remember well the angst and hair pulling while learning (and still learning). Your screenshots were just the kind of thing we need to help here on the forums. So you got that part down. Along with starting to learn from scratch (a house is NOT the place to start LOL) I suggest just reading the posts in the MESH forums -- even if you don't understand them at all. I read them all five years ago and while they didn't help with what I was doing at the time, I did REMEMBER seeing things on problems that I encountered later --- and that helped in its own way. Also when you have a specific problem you can use the forum search to perhaps find an answer. BUT you will find almost nothing on Sketchup so time to switch software.

OK folks. I was VERY vocal this summer on this issue LOL and NOW I am a merchant. Here is my input. I honestly didn't suspect to get in. I think the only reason I got in (or perhaps a deciding factor) is that a few years ago I started a store website. It looks REALLY good and I have learned to take some pretty striking vendor photos. That isn't saying that my items aren't as good as they look -- just that PRESENTATION is important. I am not going to put in a link but any sleuths can easily find that blogspot site with minimal effort. SOME of the folks that were in the summer venue are again in this venue. However (and I don't think this is proprietary info so going to include here) most creators were chosen BEFORE a post to the Inworld Shopping Event group of the summer (not sure that is the exact name but you get the idea) received a note saying that the group was being cleared and if they wanted to apply for the winter round they could still (a couple of days left at that time I think). THAT seems pretty fair to me. I don't know how many of the folks in summer had applied and been accepted when that notice went out but there was still an opportunity to apply. The folks that were on the ball and paying attention of course already applied --- and as most any venue owner will tell you, there is a proclivity to go with the folks that did a good job last time (only fair really as they are a known commodity). I counted about a third of the folks as repeats but that is only in my head and a rough count. On joining the group I saw a fair amount of folks that I know personally, some that I blog for, some from in events I am in and some that run events I am in :D. These are all in my mind "second tier creators" (like me) meaning that they do good work but don't have a huge name. THIS IS WHAT FOLKS WERE COMPLAINING ABOUT LAST TIME; they want to see new brands --- so in my mind someone listened to those complaints. As with any activity that has to deal with choice, everyone will not be happy. This goes for art exhibits, sales venues, contests of any kind -- we each have our way of looking at things and making our choices. I have no idea what criteria was used but I did notice that a fair amount of the folks THIS TIME were older brands and avatars -- so perhaps longevity filtered in there. OR it could simply be my perception ; I have no inside intel. A creator friend joked with me the other day (not about this venue) wondering if I was a Linden in disguise :D. I said that I have said too many negative things along the way for that to be true. I also give credit where I think it is earned. This is a FREE venue for creators and anyone could throw their hat in the ring. For me personally, I was a bit disturbed over some of the gifts that were given out. I mean really? It is a free venue (rather than $2500 to $10000), the least folks could do would be to give a nice gift rather than something from a CURRENT HUNT or LOGOWEAR. That was my personal complaint, nothing to do with the Lindens (well they did get my brand name wrong on the official info but hopefully will fix eventually. LOL). The traffic this time seems way down from the crowded - can't TP in venue of the summer but I am assuming that has much to do with the holidays and the HUGE amount of gifts out there (honestly I can't even keep up with them on my blog). Still, I think most of us that were invited are thrilled to be there. I certainly am. And I can categorically state that I am NOT A LINDEN ALT LOL.

There are two answer to your question :D. Choice #1 -- they are making very C***y mesh that falls apart viewing because of very bad LODs. And possibly their mesh has no physics (can't rez inside the house, walk through walls etc. Choice#2 (MUCH BETTER) is that they actually know what they are doing. LOL. I have never used Sketchup but do know it has LOTS of problems uploading to SL (and other platforms). I suspect that your curved wall that LOOKS like a simple curved piece is ACTUALLY made up of many smaller pieces (too many) and is causing part of the land impact issue. The other thing is that you need to learn how to upload ANY model (not just sketchup) and that has to do with choosing (or making) LODs for the different distances of viewing and the settings people have chosen in their viewer. There is also a BIG physics issue and that could be the "cost" of your model. For more help you need to give us more info such as a screenshot of the uploader window with the costs of each of the areas, a screenshot showing the ACTUAL number of vertices used in your model (I am assuming there is a way to see that in Sketchup). I would guess that your model should come in between 5 and 7 land impact with good LODS and correct physics. Just looking at the picture and of course SIZE makes some difference but that looks fairly small. We are happy to help but there isn't enough info so far.

Well since I don't see any SLURLs it is difficult to judge. WERE there some along the way? Seems odd to advertise land with no landmark :D. Silly me! (yes, it is late.)

Yep, nice body but rigged VERY DIFFERENTLY than the clothes for the ones on the market. I went back to eBody for my "dusty alt". EVENTUALLY there may be some clothes for the altamura body, but pretty much not now. The new "free" ($40 group) head however is GREAT and takes Omegas like a pro! I am thinking of getting one for my beta grid alt since it is such a good deal :D. And the "Lara will fit the altamura body" may be VERY DEPENDENT on shape. I had no luck at all and my gal was pretty normally proportioned. There are lots more "lara" clothes that fit eBody classic.

That looks very pretty. Just wanted to note that Linden Lab was VERY CLEAR when Horizons came on the scene that any "waterfront" was not guaranteed to STAY waterfront and that they might add more sims onto the continent. Just for folks that weren't around then :D. Good luck with your sale!

Along with my mantra of "if you didn't make it, don't upload it" --- -- it is good to note that simply BUYING A DAE FILE does not guarantee IN ANY WAY that it will be usable inside of Second Life (even if completely legal and I really can't see how any of the download sites could give someone a primary copyright which is what they need -- in my mind anyway). Not only does the DAE file (or something you could turn into one if you knew how) need to be LOW POLY for GAME ASSET USE, the person uploading ALSO needs to know how to upload, how to at least use the LOD options to get a decent LOD at various distances without having 200 land impact models (oh my). They also need to know how to define materials and make textures withing a modeling program OR change textures provided so that they would be of use. The list goes on and on with a limit on materials per mesh, tri limit etc etc, but we often see folks trying to upload those models with no luck at all. So in many cases, buying would be a waste of time and money -- not even looking at the legalities.

A 12 days advent calendar is going to have some SEAM COVERING COLLARS it seems on its board. I (my alt) just noticed the board today. There looks like there is going to be a fancy one with pearls so even "I" will go pick that up (no neck seam for me but it is pretty). You can find the store SLURL in my blog post of today. Not sure we should post "ads" for stores even if they aren't ours :D. But my alt was VERY EXCITED to find that. The Pink Fuel collar is great but doesn't really go well with formals LOL. So a tip for everyone with a noticeable neck seam but especially for all the folks using the new free bodies and heads ^^. May our alts be lovely. I think I will even get a head for Lani my beta grid alt as she has an old Letlutka head like mine with very few choices of skins as no Omega.

I don't make clothes but it seem very likely that your mesh may be "fine" but will not accommodate your shape which has way more musculature than a typical male shape -- even a beefy one. There is only so much a mesh can do so far as stretching. My only thought would be to add more topography in the area that are problematic and see if that helps. A quick test to see if it is your mesh would be to try it on some of the default avatars in the LIBRARY of your viewer. Good luck!

Working on the "welcome" Orientation and Help building for MOSP (Machinima Open Studio Project). All going well. Anxious to get some things on LEA6.

Just a note from a not terribly efficient script person. There has been a free script going around for over a decade called "scrubber" which preforms this tasks easily --- sooooooooo, many schools and building helper places will have that script in their give aways. There are likely a few dozen on the Marketplace for free also.

Definitely mysterious.

Agreed that it is the shape of the head with some hairs. I have always had that problem -- with SOME hairs. So part of your head is too big for the way it was designed and since it is rigged hair you can't actually FIX that other than to change the shape of your head (sometimes fairly dramatically which you may not want to do. For ME with a non-Bento head, it is usually the "head stretch" that I need to change. Playing around with the sliders in the HEAD section of the shape appearance will be the key. SOME mesh heads let you alpha out the top of the head (which is usually MY problem area) but that won't help with the style shown. It isn't the way the hair was made (as in a flaw) but more how it was designed. Before rigged hair we could usually resize and reposition to fix the issue. No longer.

That's good to know. I would caution folks to see what CLOTHES they can get to fit the altamura bodies though. While I like the body, I couldn't find many clothes that would work for the FREE version -- for my alt. And that is the reason I went back to the eBody classic. That will often take Maitreya or Freya fits depending on the garment. It wasn't the alpha slots that were the issue with the altamura body, it was the rigging which seems to be VERY different than the other "popular" (hence more clothes choices) bodies available. When the clothes catch up to the body (or bodies if we make a larger circle outside the top three) THEN they will be more viable. An ongoing issue of course :D.

Actually that was the SYSTEM skin underneath the body and head LOL. She is wearing now on her mesh head one from the Advent calendar called ".::WoW Skins::. Nour Golden OMEGA Appliers using NATURAL" My trash tells me it was Day 12 and if the WoW calendar works like my calendar (same maker looks like) you might be able to get the gift from Day 12 at any time. Haven't tested that theory but folks have clicked on the "wrong day" (not wanting to wait to rez :D) on my calendar and it gives them that day's gift. :D.

Well after about a week or so of "upgrades" I think my "dusty alt" is ready for prime time. Total cost $40 for altamura group for head and $55 for Omega Relay ($5 was joining that other group by mistake). Pasting in the full list of freebies for those following along. All but the super cute collar are current Advent gifts or hunt prizes. Some of course are past the pick up time, but wanted to show what is out there and that anyone can have a really good looking avatar with some effort and a bit of crystal chasing at the Realms. WoW skin applier from the Advent Calendar. Altamura: 3B- Alpha - head/body #Firestorm LSL Bridge v2.21 *CNZ* Candy Cane Addon *CNZ* Gift Box Addon *PH* knit choker .::WoW SecretS::. Skinny Jeans MAITREYA DARK BLUE ABAR - eBOBY CLASSIC v8.5 BODY - FREE ABAR - eBOBY CLASSIC v8.5 FEET - FREE ABAR - eBOBY CLASSIC v8.5 HANDS - FREE ABAR - eBODY HUD v8.4 - FREE AKEYO_NanoAO_Rookie-Female_HUD fixed Altamura: 2- "GISELLE" Bento Head Amacci Shoes - Taryn (Slink High) CG Facelight 4.1 chin DIM choices CG Facelight HUD 4.1 ICONIC:HF:KATHERINE:TOTAL STYLER:RIGGED Mayfly - Luminous - Mesh Eye (Dark Olive, w1) L Mayfly - Luminous - Mesh Eye (Dark Olive, w1) R [JUSTICE] ABBIE PULL OVER - PHYSIQUE Altamura: Gizelle Head smaller head .::WoW Skins::. GG JULY Katty Tan 2016 Damselfly Bald Head (new) Iliana - Eyes

I so thought we'd "moved past" the "mandatory" How to make your items look better cards. And then today while unpacking an advent gift from an old time builder of many SL dog years, I was faced with one again. Now if this would have been a NEW builder or even a builder who makes really lousy LOD uploads (models or settings) it would be one thing. But -- But -- But as I cringed a bit expecting to find something really awful that would need to be deleted, I instead found a LOVEY gift with beautifully shadowed textures AND WONDERFUL LODS. And it wasn't even a "primmy" item. People just don't seem to get the other side of the teeter totter with those LOD4 settings. "I" certainly didn't for years! But the minute I turned my LOD setting down to 2 from 4 EVERYTHING worked better -- and I have a pretty hefty machine as it is. Folks that try and run SL on notebooks over wifi or older machines REALLY need to be able to set those LOD settings to 2 or less. So please, if anyone reading this is STILL packaging those notecards along with every sale. Do some research; make some tests; see the differences. Back to opening packages LOL.

OR -- you can just disable media in your preference settings and ONLY turn it on when you know you want to actually SEE something that is playing on a screen. Just saying LOL. I haven't had my media on automatic for at least five years.

The graphics card IS really the most important thing for SL (well heavily weighted anyway). Be sure to research your POWER SUPPLY for the graphics card that comes with your computer. I have gone through a few power supplies (one being a less than great company even though it was rated fine for the system and sold WITH the computer I bought; it also blew up the motherboard along the way so THAT was an expensive lesson). I gave up my notebook for SL long ago in favor of a desktop for SL and it was a very good choice for me.

Just wanted to add a couple of things. The group for the Relay discount has changed and wearing the support group tag will not let you buy for $50. You need to buy from the group which is Omega Obsession EVEN THOUGH they try and get you (and did) to join the other group. What the OP really needs is some OLDER skins from maybe a year ago when there weren't near as many folks with mesh heads. Now many maker as the OP stated are ONLY makeing appliers and no system skins. But a year ago or more they were making both appliers and systems skins and they came in the same pack -- back when there were still people with Maitreya bodies but no mesh heads (for gals obviously). So look for the "sale" section of some stores for older skins. Other than that the only choice would be to try and get a skin applier that is close to your system head skin. It WILL NOT MATCH not matter how hard you try, but you can get it close and then wear a collar or tie or manly necklace to cover up the seam (or a turtleneck of course). There IS a reason why people have gone to mesh heads, that is the only way you can get a clean fit with the skin applying on mesh and mesh --- :D. I know it is harder for guys as I have guy friends still in their system bodies because they can't find what they want.

I thought for awhile that the Giselle head had less than stellar ears (in that you want to wear hair covering them LOL way) BUT it turns out it was the 7 Deadly S[k]in applier WITH the head. So if you end up with the ear textures not aligning all that well (could be a variety of reason, I know not why, it seems like WoW skins are very good on the ears. Both have advent calenders at the moment but you need to be in the group at Deadly. Both are giving away more system skins than appliers it seems but there are quite a few days left. And I did find the freckles "off" button (of course there is no hint to what you are turning off (I get pretty scared with new huds). Friends found more outfit in the new gifty stuff so will post on that in the future. Right now I am just TIRED LOL. Thanks for all the help. I am glad so many folks are getting "meshed" this holiday season!