Fluffy Sharkfin

For larger models you're probably better off using seamless tiling textures in SL if you want them to have any reasonable sort of definition. Assigning multiple materials to the model to create faces on the mesh in SL then applying seamless textures to each face is fairly simple, and if you want to try something a little more advanced you can add additional polygons to cover the larger "seams" between the different faces and use a separate texture to blend between them. As for resources for textures, I recently found this site which seems pretty useful Free PBR Materials

It may still be that you're locked to your monitor refresh rate. Apparently it's not uncommon when running in full screen and there are several posts on reddit and nvidia forums about the issue (some are quite old but then so is SL). 144hz - Most Games Capped at 60 FPS in Fullscreen I only skimmed through the thread but there do seem to be some suggested fixes that have allowed people to achieve higher frame rates when running full screen.

Umm, I may be completely wrong here but are you sure your framerate isn't locked to your monitor refresh rate, it seems a little strange that you're getting exactly 59.9fps in all cases, does it ever go any higher?

The problem is that society still places too much emphasis on concepts like virility. Spectacles of rugged aggression like sportsball are still given a huge spotlight in the media and physical prowess is sometimes lauded more than intelligence and other attributes that are arguably more important and valuable in a modern society. The idea of women participating in sports was unthinkable up until relatively recent times and is still frowned upon and even prohibited in some parts of the world, and while it's becoming more accepted in some places it's still very much a male-dominated field and is a haven for chauvinism and gender related phobias. Yet still we heap riches on those who compete in these events and broadcast them to the world then sit and wonder why so many of those that watch them are obsessed by notions like virility which as Wikipedia puts it "is commonly associated with vigour, health, sturdiness, and constitution, especially in the fathering of children." There have been some advances made in gender equality over recent years and the notion that women must be delicate and graceful, etc. in order to be considered feminine is increasingly seen as archaic, but there has been comparatively little change in societies perceptions of what constitutes a "real man".

It's a long shot but after a little investigation I managed to find a store on MP called Shea Designs which appears to use the prefix ".SD." in the name of a lot of their items. https://marketplace.secondlife.com/stores/177255 Other than that the creator appears to have a discord channel listed in their profile, perhaps you could try asking there if you don't want to IM them directly?

Maybe I just have masochistic tendencies but personally I'd rather be continually annoyed by those I don't agree with than abandon any hope of coming to an understanding and having a meaningful dialogue with them. Understanding can sometimes be the key to conflict resolution and even if the conflict can't be resolved there's value in understanding opposing views to your own if only to better counter them next time you come across someone with similar views.

The thread is about peoples prefered method of communication, other than one brief reference to something somebody posted in a different thread nobody has brought up the topic of "verified voice" except you.

I have no strong preference, text-based communication does allow me more time to respond and to more precisely word those responses, but voice chat is just more convenient if you happen to be multi-tasking. I sometimes have SL running while I'm working on 3D models, in which case my second monitor is probably plastered with reference images (my primary display is a Wacom Cintiq so that's invariably used for whatever graphics app I'm working in at the time) and SL is hiding somewhere behind them, so anyone trying to hold a conversation with me in SL will probably have to put up with sporadic delays in my responses, but if we're chatting on voice then the conversation will probably be uninterrupted and flow more naturally.

I don't know, I kinda like the term "mesher" and think it should be adopted officially for anyone making 3D content for SL since I believe there is an important distinction to be made. e.g. A Modeler is someone that creates 3D models, a Mesher is someone that creates 3D models and then spends hours jumping through flaming metaphorical hoops in order to make it work well within Second Life. (similarly an Animator is someone that animates 3D models/characters, whereas an Animesher animates 3D models/characters and then spends hours contorting the default SL rig into the correct shape, retargeting bones, etc, etc.)

Oh please, the music scene has been in slow decline ever since they started banging on rocks with generic dinosaur bones, any "real musician" knows that only pterodactyl bones produce the correct timbre due to being hollow (sure some people skimp and use allosaurus bones but all the greats were pterodactyl aficionados).

Absolutely, you never know where some of these unknown artists may end up. At one point in his career Jimi Hendrix was the opening act for The Monkees (apparently the fans weren't impressed and continually chanted "We want Davey! We want Davey!" when he started playing and he quit the tour after just nine days), during their first american tour Led Zeppelin were opening for bands like Country Joe & the Fish, Vanilla Fudge and Iron Butterfly, and back in 1962 The Beatles were performing as the opening act for Brenda Lee. We all have to start somewhere, no matter how legendary we may or may not become. Fortunately my sensibilities are pretty robust, one of the benefits of having eclectic tastes and being exposed to a wide variety of musical genres is that I'm not easily shocked. I've already listened to a few of his tracks on Youtube and he's both awesome and hilarious and, yes most definitely NSFW. 😅 I look forward to introducing a few of my friends to Marcs work, I know they'll appreciate it too, although the last time I introduced them to something they hadn't heard before it became an obsession which still persists to this day, but it was worth it just for the memory of seeing a bunch of large, aging, hairy, leather clad bikers dancing and singing along to German Sparkle Party!

Yes there's a multitude of talented artists out there all creating in their own way, and most likely the one thing they all have in common is that they all started off with nothing more than a passion for creativity and the aspiration to learn, improve and share their talents with others, and that's really all it takes to be an artist, that and of course a lot of time and practice. Thanks for the recommendation by the way, I'll definitely check out Marc Rebillet, if there's one thing I always have time for it's discovering new artists and music!

Her talent never ceases to impress me, the ability to take a bunch of instruments, etc. and single-handedly create music like that is just amazing!

Yeah Kawehi is super-talented, watching the way she creates her tracks live is fascinating, I really liked her cover of NINs Closer too!

There are some really great and imaginative cover bands out there, Dread Zeppelin doing Led Zeppelin reggae covers with an Elvis impersonator on lead vocals, Hayseed Dixie doing bluegrass covers of AC/DC and other classic rock songs, Richard Cheese and his foul-mouthed lounge music renditions of popular music, among many others. Walk Off The Earth covering Gotye's Somebody That I Used To Know is a favourite of mine simply for the novelty of seeing five people all playing one guitar at the same time!

Yes, that's one of my personal favourites, along with Say Something (originally by A Great Big World and Christina Aguilera) and Meghan Trainors Like I'm Gonna Lose You. I originally discovered her while watching covers of Ed Sheerans I See Fire (because I'm a huge Tolkien nerd!) and ended up pre-ordering her debut album after watching a few of her other youtube videos.

My tastes are pretty eclectic and I'l listen to different types depending on my mood but of all the genres that I listen to I think I most enjoy ballads and acoustic music. Artists like Sarah Mclachlan, The Indigo Girls and Jasmine Thompson (who I was referring to in my previous post) are among my favourites.

I still prefer Dread Zeppelin myself! 😜 Seriously though, that's a great cover, her voice is reminiscent of Linda Perry and the overall style reminds me a little of Lamb. Some of my favourite artists are known for doing covers, one of them started her career by releasing home videos on Youtube at around the age of 12 or 13, and I can honestly say that in a lot of cases I prefer her versions to the originals, not least because the modest backdrop of a home made video and the lack of glitzy production values really puts the focus on the music and her talents as a vocalist.

I don't know anything about all this constitution/amendment stuff since I'm not a resident of the US so to me it's just another musty old scrap of paper and if history teaches us anything it's that the results of people blindly following the doctrines scribbled on musty old scraps of paper are usually not great. Out of curiosity I did skim through a transcript and noticed that the very first line, the part where they outline the reasons for it's creation says this... Perhaps it's my reluctance to take scribblings on musty old scraps of paper completely literally, but this line suggests to me that the reason you wont find any amendments to the constitution on the subject of empathy or accountability is because those concepts are enshrined in the very first line of the original document. How can you hope to "establish Justice" without embracing the concept of accountability? Furthermore I'd argue that listing things like "domestic Tranquility" and "the general Welfare" as reasons for the creation of the constitution is a clear indication of the importance that it's author placed on empathy.

As someone that's had to endure a lifetime of being told that "digital art isn't real art because you're using a computer not a paint brush!" I've learned the value of approaching the question of what is and isn't art from the perspective that art is subjective and as long as the end result is appreciated by somebody (even if it's only the artist that creates it) then it is effectively "art". You're obviously a little frustrated and upset over the idea that the definition of what constitutes an artist is too vague, but I suggest that you try to embrace the idea that everyone is allowed to define for themselves who's qualified to refer to themselves as an artist, otherwise when you encounter people who believe that cover bands aren't "real musicians" because they're just copying what someone else has done you're going to get really frustrated and upset.

If you're looking for apps that are focused purely on texturing then Substance Painter is definitely the most popular option, but other than the fact it uses layers & masks it doesn't really bear a lot of resemblance to Photoshop. Personally I'd recommend trying 3D Coat instead... It has full support for PBR texturing and a range of other features that rival Substance Painters toolset, and will be far more familiar to Photoshop users since it shares several similar features (you can even import your favourite Photoshop brushes into 3D Coat in standard .ABR format and use them there). Plus, if you find there's some things you can only do in Photoshop or you feel more comfortable working in an app you're familiar with while learning how to use 3D Coat, not only is there a handy bridge function that lets you swap seamlessly between working in 3D in 3D Coat and working in 2D in Photoshop while preserving all the individual layers that you're working on, it also allows you to export a 2D snapshot of your 3D model to Photoshop where you can paint details using all the regular Photoshop tools, then when you export those changes back to 3D Coat they're automatically projected onto the models surface as if you'd painted them directly onto the model itself. Aside from being an amazing tool for texturing 3D models, 3D Coat also has a full suite of high poly sculpting tools (very similar to those available in Zbrush), a low poly modelling room and arguably the best retopology tools currently available in any 3D app. It has an export constructor feature which allows you to automatically compile all your texture maps into the correct channels for use with SL materials. It even allows the importing and exporting of SL sculpt maps which makes texturing existing sculpted prims so much simpler as well as allowing you to easily convert them to mesh. It also has multiple licensing options including perpetual licenses and a rent to own option, just in case you'd rather own your software rather than being forced to pay for it monthly/yearly for the rest of your life. Oh and not that it's at all relevant to the functionality of the software but Pilgway, the company responsible for 3D Coat, is a Ukranian company so you also get to show your support in some small way, as the lead developer recently said on Twitter...

At no point in my post did I infer that I was talking about a specific incident or thread, you may have been speaking purely about the right to free speech on this forum (which as has already been pointed out is an illusion since we're all subject to the moderation that LL imposes, and our ability to express our opinions here is entirely at their discretion) but I was talking about the responsibility we all have as human beings to treat each other with understanding, respect and compassion. As for you perceiving the concept of an individual being held accountable for their behaviour as a threat, I really don't know what to tell you other than it was a simple statement of things that are of as much importance to me as freedom of speech seems to be to you, things like empathy and accountability. Couldn't agree more! @Solo Alpha If you really feel the need to continue this discussion then we can do so privately but I think it's best we avoid cluttering this thread with it any further.

So, you're arguing that society is built on the core principle of empathy, but at the same time saying that somebody imposing upon another person means that the person is invariably in the wrong and is trampling the rights of others? I'm not sure how you would define empathy but to me it means being able to recognize when somebody is struggling and cutting them a little slack. I would rather uphold the principle that everyone should exercise their rights responsibly and realize that just because they have the right to say anything they want, there are times when doing so is neither welcome nor constructive and if they insist on voicing opinions that they know will cause distress to others simply because they feel compelled to exercise those rights then those rights won't excuse their behaviour when the time comes to answer for it. You quoted the question I asked but didn't answer it, however as you say your stance is clear, you don't feel the need for a sub-forum, and if anyone ever requests one on your behalf I shall be sure to voice your objections, but since this sub-forum isn't being proposed in order to make you feel more welcome or accepted, how about we listen to the voices of those it is meant for?

When it comes to the whims of LL, you know about as much as any of the rest of us. But I don't think it will be cold hard numbers that spur LL into action in this instance, these forums are a fairly miniscule sliver of the SL population as a whole and even if all those who have an interest in the proposed forums creation came here to voice their support there's no guarantee LL would be swayed. I think the best chance this proposal has is through a sensible discussion on the benefits it will provide and what expectations there are for its moderation. I think at least some of that has already been covered however it may be a little hard to find amongst the heated debate which invariably orbits topics of this kind, and I think there's definitely room for further clarification in certain areas if everyone can just stay on topic and not get too sidetracked by other concerns.

I'll be honest, I wasn't genuinely curious about the "real reason" because the way in which you worded it seemed to miss the point that some people do need protection, not from any immediate danger, but to help them heal and overcome the trauma that they have experienced. I'm not going to make any assumptions or predictions about how the new sub-forum will be moderated, I've already pointed out my own concerns in regards to that, but I will say I highly doubt it will "make all LGBTQ+ people feel safer and accepted", but if it makes at least some of them feel safer and accepted then that's more than enough to justify its existence!