Skell Dagger

I've just finished watching the BBC What Artists Do All Day (UK only link) half hour programme that followed Peter Jackson through a small part of making the documentary. What I didn't know (but do now) is that he is one of the world's biggest Great War collectors and enthusiasts. He has a massive collection of uniforms, planes, vehicles, and other ephemera, all of which were used as visual aids when colourising. He has even put on his own exhibitions of those items. He devoted four years of his life, unpaid, to create this documentary, and if anyone is going to aim for as much accuracy as possible, it will be someone who has had a lifelong passion for it, to the point of collecting everything he can get his hands on with regard to it. The programme also spoke to the Director-General of the Imperial War Museum (the owners of the original archive) as well as the Director of the 14-18 NOW project. Both of them were incredibly happy with what he'd done with the footage. His pitch to the IWM was simply "I'd really like to bring the First World War alive for fifteen year-olds". "Because it's been restored so brilliantly, the faces of the people literally sing out to you. This is a human experience. It's not about grand narratives; it's a human experience. And I am used to looking at this material, but for me I had that kind of heartbeat moment where you think 'This is really extraordinary'." --Diane Lees, Director-General, Imperial War Museum

Indeed. I watched the initial ten to fifteen minutes of black and white footage with interest, but the moment that it went widescreen and full-colour was what Hollywood has dubbed the Wizard of Oz moment, when Dorothy steps out of Kansas and into the vividness of Oz. I was watching the hashtag on Twitter for some time afterward - as several hundred tweets rolled in every few minutes - and at each reload of the page, what I saw was most of them commenting not only on the subject matter itself, but also on that moment when the colour kicked in and took their breath away, slamming them into the moment. It really hit home for a lot of people.

From an historical point of view, yes there is that, but there is also the counter-argument that black and white lends distance and a form of detachment. We, who are so accustomed to seeing colour, on the whole tend to identify far more with colour images of the past than we do with black and white, and especially so when the framerates of those old films were so slow (sometimes only 10 fps) that - when shown at our modern framerates, or even slowed down - they seem jerky and unnatural. In an interview posted here earlier, one soldier from that time mentions that shooting someone and firing shells at them - both from a distance - lends an impersonalisation to the act of killing. Far different - for him at least - was the act of physically running his bayonet into the living body of a man right in front of him. Colour somehow brings home the immediacy of history, lends it something that is more familiar, more instantly shocking, and more identifiable to our eyes. If nothing else, things like this bring to a new, and possibly younger audience - some of whom might have cast a glance at jerky old b&w footage, but little more - the full horror of what went on (as well, of course, as the camaraderie and larking about that also took place). Another source that may be of interest to the thread is the Brazilian recolourist Marina Amaral. She has colourised many old photos and brought history to a modern audience. She first came to my notice with a series of colourisations of Holocaust victims' portraits that - somehow - arrested the eye far more than the distance of black and white offers. The black and white was sorrowful enough, but the colour was haunting. She now has a book published - The Colour of Time - with Dan Jones, which is well worth a read.

That was one of the things I'm glad they included in this: the soldiers talking about the Germans that they'd captured, how many of the Germans had almost instantly volunteered to help with stretcher duty, and - especially towards the end of the war - how they knew the Germans were as sick of it as they were. There was a strange kinship among the front line soldiers on both sides (with the possible exception of the Prussians, as mentioned in it). When I was very small, my Nan used to visit an old man who was - even back then - well into his eighties. I'd sometimes go with her to see 'Uncle Jimmy' as he was known to me. I've never forgotten how red, rheumy, and constantly-watering his eyes were, as I'd sit and eat a bit of cake while listening to him talking with my Nan. I knew that he'd lost his sight in one eye and had only limited vision in the other, but it was only years later after he'd died that I found out he'd been gassed as a young man in the trenches in the Great War and had carried the pain and constant reminder with him for the rest of his life.

This is the moment when the black and white gave way to the colourised footage. It's breathtaking: https://i.gyazo.com/caa0e464b1221729d303e09b5f71ec54.mp4 Definitely keep an eye out for when it's aired on US television. Peter Jackson has pulled off a masterpiece with it. The tinest details were considered. He brought in forensic lip-readers to figure out what the soldiers were saying, and then he brought in actors to overdub those words, to add extra atmosphere over and above the soundtrack of shelling and firing. He even made sure that - where regiments were identifiable - the actors came from the same location, so the accents would be accurate. This was another moment that got to me. Watch for the trembling hand: https://i.gyazo.com/e390d99f8c3dd7380154abe49e21c51a.mp4

From They Shall Not Grow Old. I wish Gyazo could capture the audio as well, but the subtitles will have to suffice. https://i.gyazo.com/bb27813e3943ac7a4de500c2bdf70ec3.mp4 https://i.gyazo.com/821dd8849937409ffe1458314ba0ad13.mp4 Warning on the last one, for distressing content. This moment, I don't mind admitting, was the one that wrought tears from me: https://i.gyazo.com/18ae88089d8621348b89e35acb75fe10.mp4

For those in the UK who missed it last night, I would strongly urge you to watch They Shall Not Grow Old on iPlayer (BBC2 section) over the next 6 days while it's still up. Several moments in that programme will live with me to the end of my days. Stunning documentary and technical work that charts the journey of WWI 'Tommies' through the war, from enlisting to demob. Colourised and digitised original footage that has been edited to remove the jerkiness of the slow framerate, the voices of those who served (interviewed back in the 1960s), and their memories of both cameraderie and carnage. Small sections of some of those interviews have been posted in this thread already. It will air on US television sometime in December. It is not easy to watch, as they shy away from nothing, but it shows the sharp end of the war: not the decisions around big tables, but the boys - some of them only 15 - on the front line. I found it very hard to sleep last night after watching that, but I'm immensely glad that I did.

Psst - right-click the video on YT and click the 'loop' option. You're welcome

'Best' is entirely subjective, and your decision should be based on a combination of things, and your answers to a couple of questions: What kind of build do you want your body to have? (Slim? Gym-goer? etc.) Do you want to build a decent wardrobe and have a lot of clothing options, or are you happy to get just three or four outfits and have done with it? Your answer to No.1 will be a little bit dependant on your answer to No.2. If you want a lot of clothing options, you need a body that a lot of creators are rigging for. Right now, those options are: Signature Gianni - Muscular 'gym-goer' body with very pronounced biceps, triceps, and deltoids. These can be reduced if you want a less-bulky look, but it'll take some slider work. Belleza Jake - Good all-round body, but has some fitting issues around the neck with many mesh heads, and if you're not using a Bento AO your fingers will often 'starfish' out, as the Jake body has no hand poses built in. Note that the Jake body is also still in beta, and has had no updates since its release. Slink Physique - 'Mr Average' body with a swimmer's torso and good shoulders which is still pretty well catered for, but losing support in favour of the 'muscle boy' bodies. Signature Geralt - The newest male body, rapidly gaining clothing support. Fairly slim and lean, but with sleek musculature. If you're not bothered by having too many clothing options, you can try other bodies as well, such as NX Nardcotix, Adam, and Ex-Machina Davide. Avoid TMP (The Mesh Project). It may be cheap right now, but it's proprietary (all customisation options run on external servers, and when those are eventually switched off you'll be left with a brick) and practically nobody is creating anything for it anymore. All the major bodies will work perfectly with the Justin head. For a good match, you'll need to find a body applier in the same skintone and by the same designer, for both your Catwa head and the brand of mesh body that you choose. Prior to 21st Feb 2017 Catwa's non-Bento head skin defaults (in the Main HUD) matched to body skins by L'Etre, but they now match to the Gen 1 skins by Clef de Peau. Those particular Clef skins can ONLY be purchased from the vendor at the Catwa store, since the main Clef skins have since been updated twice. Body skins from the Clef de Peau mainstore will not match the Justin default skins. If your head was bought before 21st February 2017 and you want to keep the skin as it is, go to the L'Etre store and try some of their body skin demos. They have been changed a few times since that date, so they won't match 100%, but they should still be close. If your head was bought before 21st February 2017 and you want to match it with the Clef de Peau Gen1 skins in the Catwa mainstore, go to one of the update terminals at the Catwa landing point, and redeliver your head. (Redeliver the original purchase and - when you open it - you'll find the update inside.) If you don't want to use the defaults, go to the male Bento heads section of the Catwa store, stand right outside and look to one side for the Skin Demo wing. Inside you'll find loads of demos to try (male skins are in one wing, female in the other).

Not today, but yesterday. This is a raw Gyazo capture of one of the amazing smoke canister props by Ana Poses, out at The Mens Dept this month.

Jeny, that's a bloody fantastic K/DA Akali pic. Kudos! Glad I wasn't the only one inspired by it. (I tried for Evelynn and struggled to find most of the gear, so I went for something more 'in the vein of...') ETA: For those wondering what the hell I'm yammering on about, watch this video.

Yes. It was released earlier this year, at Skin Fair It was such a thrill, and Catwa captured me so well that - when I first saw a gif of the 'in-progress' version without knowing it was 'my' head - I said something like "Bloody hell; it's like looking into a mirror!" Well... I dunno about celebrity or anything like that. To be fair, it's one of the perks of being a CSR for Catwa: each of us (with the current exception of our newest member) has a head named after and inspired by them. I'm so glad you qualified that statement

I wish there was a way to prevent plain, dark backgrounds in SL from streaking like this, but eh. I love how this shot came out, regardless. Credits Hotdog for The Mens Dept, Air for We ❤️ Roleplay, S0NG for Kustom9, and Vango for Men Only Monthly. Suit: Hotdog - Baxter Suit (stripe - one size only, so try a demo!) Glasses: Air - Etienne Glasses (silver) Hair: Vango - Kevin (browns) Eye appliers: S0NG - Demi Eyes (Catwa) Necklace: Katatonik - Gatekeeper Necklace (dark) Skin applier: Insol - Tyson (T1 - Catwa) Brow appliers: Identity Body Shop - Thick Eyebrows (Catwa, Omega, system) Makeup: Alaskametro - Black Magic (Catwa, Omega, Lelutka, system) Ears: L'Etre - Olympe Mesh Ears Head: Catwa - Skell* (Bento) *review copy

There is a reason why my inventory is just over 180,000, and it ain't freebies. Once again, from the Review Policy page of my blog: Would you like me to tell you how many Exile hairstyles I bought over the years, working them into outfits and posting my images in the Exile Flickr group without any thought of getting free stuff, until the designer noticed them and contacted me to ask if I'd like to blog for him? Even now, when I could - if I wanted to - take every single 'free' fatpack that I'm offered on Blogotex and do a half-arsed pic with them just so I can blag the things for nothing, I'll instead go to the event or store and pick up the demo. If I can't work a look around that demo that meets my picky standards and that I'm happy to post on Flickr and/or my blog, then I don't pick up that 'free stuff'. I don't doubt that some people get into blogging in the hopes of landing a lot of free things. Indeed, we've seen one or two posting here over the years to ask how they can start blogging and if it's worth it for getting free items. They always get the same answer from those of us who blog: do it because you love it, not because you want freebies. If you go into it expecting free stuff, you're going to be sorely disappointed. I don't pander to the stricter rules of some designers, mainly because I'm into SL fashion for the fun of it, and I'm something of a "don't give a rat's arse" maverick who skates merrily around the fringe of the blogging community. I've even been dropped by brands because I'm not posting their items frequently enough for their liking. I've purchased the vast majority of my inventory, and I credit every review copy that I'm sent. You might be surprised to see how infrequent those review copies are. Practically everything I wear is purchased, not a blogger pack. I get my mesh heads free because I'm a CSR for that brand (and I damn well earn those by working exhaustively inworld for the brand, as well as helping people out on this forum whenever they have a question about or issue with that brand's items), but the only other things I'm down to blog are for: one hair store, one small fantasy store, and one makeup store. Everything else? Purchased with my own money. However, for many bloggers - especially those with a lot of sponsors - blogging is bloody hard work. Imagine having six random things that you have to weave into a single look or two. They may be completely unrelated and non-cohesive, but you're expected (by those stricter designers) to do it anyway. Sometimes I'll look at something a blogger has put together, and I think to myself, "You really struggled to find a way of putting all of those together, and... it didn't really work too well, but kudos for trying". Hell, even for me - someone for whom blogging is still a fun pastime - it can take two to three hours to put together a cohesive look that I'm happy with, take screenshots, edit them, and post them. Longer if I write a blog post around them, too, since I'm a garrulous bastard who likes to blather on a bit about what I'm wearing. Free stuff? Yeah, we get free stuff. Do we do it only for the free stuff? Hell no.

They were, yes. In fact, that's the reason why I went Pro in the first place, back in 2008.

The level of sheer entitlement from many people in the Flickr forum about this is absolutely breathtaking. Look at this guy: He has a free account, and has uploaded 50,000 images. Flickr has been storing and hosting those 50,000 images for him, absolutely free of charge. Not only that, but he also hotlinks to those images across multiple locations, thereby pulling from Flickr's bandwidth every time any of those images are viewed on the websites he's hotlinked them to. That's what we all do when we embed inline Flickr images (or any images from another website) here: we're using that site's bandwidth. Do it on a large scale like Mr 50k and yes you damn well should be paying for the privilege. Yet, despite enjoying that free ride for all those years, he thinks Flickr are being unfair and compares them to Photobucket, who wanted $300 per year for the ability to hotlink images hosted on their site. He's far from the only person with thousands of images, hosted for free (and hotlinked elsewhere) who is complaining. Here's another, with 3,000 free-hosted and hotlinked images. This person would have been happy to pay "a small fee" to continue doing that, but baulks at paying 0.0167cents per image: JFC

/me skids around the corner with the clean-up kit Couple of questions first, Rothtan: 1. Which Catwa head do you have? If it's one of the Bento ones (Daniel, Stanley, Shaheen, Dino, Victor, or Skell) then the shape that you choose/make will affect it. If it's non-Bento (Justin, Jackson, Paul) then it won't. 2. What kind of beard are you looking for? Applier only or 3D in shape? 3D beards are mainly only for Bento heads (although they do exist for non-Bento), so if you choose one of those you need to find one that's rigged specifically for your head. The below will be written under the assumption that you have a Bento head, and that your Signature body is Gianni (and not Geralt) - With regard to shapes, the best one you can get is the one you make yourself. It will be unique to you, and it will be exactly as you want it. That said, it's always helpful to have a good base shape to begin tweaking so you can customise it to your preference. Unfortunately, most male Bento shapes these days are sold without demos, so you can only go by what the ad image looks like. That will only show you the face, and your personal results may vary wildly from that image, depending on which skin you use, and what other appliers you wear (brows, facial hair, etc). I have personally had some very disappointing results from shape and skin applier combinations from certain stores in SL. Even when wearing everything on their style card my result looks nothing like theirs, and I'm no slouch when it comes to lighting tips and tricks, so it's obvious to me that - in the case of that particular store, at least - some post-processing/Photoshop was involved. What I will suggest is to start with your own shape. There's one in your Catwa Bento head folder, so take yourself to Proportion Park (run by two of my fellow Catwa CSRs) and go through the areas there, to bring yourself into proportion. If you're wearing Signature Gianni then you're already halfway towards the 'large and strong' that you require, although I will say that 'dominant' is more a state of mind than a shape. With regard to skins, many will recommend Stray Dog. I will, too, but be careful with their most recent skins (the last two or three releases that went out at various menswear events). I've noticed some uncharacteristic (for that designer) sloppiness in the texturing around the neck on those, so look for the slightly older skins. Many of them will work well for a mid-30s age; look for ones with small furrows between the brows. Session Skins also have more mature skins, although those might be a little too furrowed for what you're seeking. Other skin stores to try: Birth, L'Etre, Not Found, Vendetta, and Aeros (although that last one is very expensive when it comes to body skin appliers: L$900 for a single skin tone the last time I checked). Facial hair, again, depends on whether you want appliers or actual 3D beards. Volkstone have a fantastic 3D Bento beard out at the current Man Cave event (ends Nov 9th, so you've got until this Friday to try it out; item screenshot here). It's rigged for Catwa Daniel, Stanley, Victor, and Skell, and also for Lelutka Andrea. I don't really keep up with the stores who sell 3D Bento beards, because they simply don't suit me. Despite trying several of them, they're just not for me, but some of the other guys on the forum wear them and may be able to tell you where you can pick up some demos. If you're after facial hair appliers, though, I do have some other names for you in addition to Volkstone. Mister Razzor (inworld only) has been coming out with some amazing beards. Also try Beusame, Body Mod, CDC Creations, and the 'Faces' section at Identity Body Shop. I'm heading out to work shortly, but I hope that helps you get started. I can answer any other questions you might have when I get home later tonight

Closeup version. Windlight - Phototools 'Thalia Light 01' plus a ton of projectors.

Well, Syd seems perfectly happy to indulge in colour, so I'll let him go wild whenever he wants to Credits From one extreme to the other ? Shorts: Katatonik - Belted Shorts (Maitreya) Boots: Insanya - D3mon1a Boots (black) Tank: Boys to the Bone - Natt Tank (black) Shoulders: CheerNo - Cowboy Mode EYewear: Kosmii - Quartz Specs (black - tinted) Necklace: Katatonik - Gatekeeper Necklace Claws: Wicca's Wardrobe - Minerva Claws Lipstick: White Queen - Neon Explosion Eyeshadow: Psycho:Byts - Tropical Eyeshadows Eyes: Madame Noir - Electric Eyes Hair: Stealthic - Like Lust Ears: L'Etre - Taper Ears Head: Catwa - Margeaux* (Bento) Body: Maitreya - Lara Add-on: Valentine Technologies - V-Tech 'Boi' Flat Chest Mod Skin applier: Lumae - Elentari Poses: Abranimations *review copy

Firestorm's Show Friends Only setting is invaluable for that. An added bonus is that it doesn't remove anything else.

Well, I've exhausted my knowledge, I'm afraid. I know Catwa heads inside out (...ew) but it's possibly time for you to contact Lelutka support.

If anyone wants a free rezzable script meter, they can just send me a PM here on the forum and - when I log in over the next hour or so - I'll send them a copy of the one that I use. Just state whether you want a one-person or two-person meter.

Also, you mention that the appearance of the lines depends on camera distance. What graphics preferences do you have set? Do you have Hardware Skinning enabled?

Do you see the lines when you route the hairbase onto the hairbase section itself, or only when you apply it without routing?