Cerebrogasm

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Thank you all for your answers. I managed to create a reasonable cave system above the water line and within a floating mesh island on my sim. I realized that SL objects are one sided - I believe this is due to the ordering of vertexes to generate surface normals. To address this, instead of learning Blender (which I intend to do eventually), I basically "married" sculpted and textured mesh cave surfaces to each other, facing opposite directions, thereby giving each side of a mesh a surface normal and texture. I realize this is not a perfect solution. As far as entry into the cave system within the exterior island, I used an artistic teleport - an archway the user clicks on and will be transported to the cave entry. Of course I would prefer to have the cave system truly below the water line, with some form of walkway entry, which bars the water line from visibility as the user's avatar descends downward into the cave system. I don't believe this is possible - if it is - please drop me a line and I'll re-think the placement of the caves. Much appreciated! James

Thank you Rolig and ChinRey (and of course everyone else above that contributed to this answer). Rolig: I am not sure how you actually created the hole in your photos. Did you use the external Blender mesh idea I proposed or was this done with current SL tools? Can you describe how you achieved this effect? ChinRey: I'm confused by your last statement regarding "invisiprims;" are they still an option available in SL construction in it's current (2018) release? Thanks! James

How about this: if I built a polygonal square mesh surface, in external software such as Blender, and create a "hole" in this mesh (a boolean subtraction that results in what appears to be a hole but is really the software clipping with joining lines at the vertices where they meet an "inserted cylinder"). Normals would be added later to each polygon for texturing. Can I then import that square mesh with an apparent hole in it, into SL? If that's possible, would SL "see" the apparent hole and allow an avatar, for example, to walk through? The mesh surface could then be rotated to for a kind of open door to the cave structures purchased. Seams cold be masked by texturing. Is this similar to what a professional builder does to create doors, except by using rectangular intersection objects? I guess my question could be refined to - what are "best practices" in SL to create caves that didn't require a lot of time and expense to compensate CG tricks needed due to lack of certain tools I'm used to in other software? Thanks for your thoughts - and taking the time to write - I'll try anything that sounds feasible for me at my current understanding of SL building. James

Hi all: I rent a homestead 256m x 256m (standard) and I'd like to install a network of mostly hidden caves and chambers in mountains and even from above to below sea level. I have the Fantik Cave system and a few other assembled cave models. However, I can't "insert" them in any seafloor raised island - I'm guessing there's an inpenetrable and invisible shape beneath the homestead's 4 elevation-sensitive texture maps. I also believe I can't "cut" a hole in the island-mountain to create an entrance. One designer told me to create a "U" shape island and seat the cave structure at the bottom of the U while surrounding the open, visible area with environmental props like trees and boulders. However, I was on a sim where there was an extensive cave system - that extended beneath the sea-level. When my avatar descends the stairs of that cave (which begins far above sea level), he does not intercept the sea plane - it's a very realistic effect. Also, camping below the water level, I can see the entire cave structure is seated within a molded (and textured) polygonal mesh - where are such meshes found? it appears as if we can't use the SL homestead sub-bottom mesh (which respond to the Raise command in the Build menu) to insert openings or contain structures like the caves. I may have this all wrong - it's what I have observed - any advice on how to accomplish this (caves in mountains and even the sub-sea level caves) - greatly appreciated! Thanks! James (Cerebrogasm)

Thanks, Lindal! I'll consider all you have suggested. One clarification - my time limitation on SL, is at this moment - I'm on on new production in RL (I work in the movie biz - we do something like what I am experimenting with in the pre-viz phase, which typically comes after storyboarding, and has completed for about 1/3rd of the "film" for now - we have used a product called "MovieStorm" from a software house in England in the past but SL offers more detail and character clarity). Blake Sea - I have rented a small apartment with a boat slip on the Blake Sea. I am now also experimenting with that as well: great tip. I'm very familiar with CGI - I'm a certified teacher for several software packages - (Maya, C4D, etc.) - but you probably know they are designed for photorealistic post-production (unless we are on an animated production or a series of shot inserts) - and take up far too much time to "program" for pre-viz work (we have other software we typically use for that phase), primarily due to the shot complexity and rendering times. Thank you again for your advice! James

Hello all, I'm still fairly new to land development (as well as SL - 1 year), and I need some advice. I had to leave a pre-made homestead sim I rented this week when the owner of the entire group of sims (21 or more, I believe) decided she wanted to return to RL (how dare she! haha) and sold off nearly everything, after 11 years of being an SL real estate tycoon. Upon recommendation from a few "SL old timers," I was directed to a realtor - Weesels (something) - an office where a gallery of homesteads was displayed. I choose an especially well-designed homestead from the real estate agent - and asked her repeatedly - "Is this what I get for $125 US Dollars per month?" - She said yes. However, what I got was a simple undeveloped square 256mx2656m (65K) isolated in the middle of the Linden Ocean. She asked me what texture I wanted - and I told her - "whatever is n the photo you showed me, I guess" - she also told me (after I gave her the $125) that all I get is a texture and access to their library of Inventory to use on the land - land I now realized I had to terraform - to match the gallery photo. I truly felt deceived - after she implanted a sand texture, she told me she had to go - she had new babies in RL to tend to...she is not the owner - but some other title. I would expect she would at least give me advice, knowing I was a land noobie, and after taking my money, as to what to do next. That was over a week ago and nobody from this realtor has contacted me. The last thing she said to me was that some long-gone land designer/terraformer had created the images in the gallery. So now I am terraforming my square. I have lowered many parts of the land below sea level to create water-ways through the homestead square. I have noticed I can never lower the water-ways enough to match the surrounding Linden Ocean - except - if I place black colored square prims under the water of the surface. The raised sand ignores these prims (prim size is limited in stretching, so I have to tile many of them) and now the water-ways (when on the square, from above I see the sand return) allow the water-ways to match the surrounding Linden Ocean. I realize this is a kludge - there must be a better way - if you have any suggestions or need more clarification as to what I am asking - please drop me a tip. Greatly appreciated! James (cerebrogasm resident)

Thank you very much Rolig! I actually have very little time to invest in SL work this month (I'm in video production in RL - documentary). However, I will attempt to take the class you recommended. Since I wrote that post earlier today above, a couple of SL landowners - friends - have directed me to 2 purchases I eventually made today: one is a homestead sim where I can practically do anything - except sail beyond the sim should I want to take a few friends out for an at-sea meeting (I have a writer's group where I help, as best I can, writers of any level of experience, get published). For that purpose, I have been told I need "Blake Sea" access. I rented a slip and connected apartment, beautifully designed European themed, on the Blake Sea - where I can basically roam around on any of the unused boats I have (a developer one day just gave me a massive inventory of boats through cruise ships - he must have been drunk!)... These same people are helping me terraform the homestead sim - I supply them with what they need - and provide open access for them to create something similar to what the realtor showed me in their offices. I apparently have all owner privileges - which I will do next. I will concentrate on constructing my photo studio (I have developed a technique, based on my RL job, of creating photo-realistic "digital dolls" - what we would call "av's" in SL. This involves external software used in movie production - which I teach professionally in RL for various software houses). I have the help of several people I have met inworld as well. What I am still trying to wrap my head around is the idea of "surrounds," that apparently are ok to use beyond my sim, which are technically texture maps, I've been told, that do not use the land I rented nor eat up prims. Thank you again for taking the time to write back - I will do my best to follow up on your recommendations - James

Hello, I'm new at real estate purchases, rentals, or leasing of basic undeveloped or themed, homestead or mainland, land in SL. I'm interested in renting/leasing a 256m x 265m full sim with open, vertical area for skyboxes. I need about 4,000 - 5,000 prims (at least) and sailing. However, sailing is not a requirement, but I was given a lot of boats, yachts, etc. by a developer for free. Some residents recommended I should have access to the "Blake Sea" or rent in a vast private community region with sailing privileges like those in the Fruit Islands, Eden Estates, etc., if possible. I also would like to know more about a "themed sim" where I do not have to terraform the land - I have limited time to devote to SL this month. Can you further advise me where to look - and how much per month in US dollars the rent would be (approximately)? Thank You! James (cerebrogasm resident)

I'm new at real estate purchases of basic undveveloped or themed, homestead or mainland, land in SL. I'm interested in renting/leasing a 256m x 265m full sim with open, vertical area for skyboxes. I need about 4,000 - 5,000 prims and sailing (sailing is not a requirement, but I was given a lot of boats, yachts, etc. by a developer for free - I have been told I should have access to the Blake sea or rent in a large region with sailing priv's like the Fruit Islands) if possible. I also would like to know more about a "themed sim" where I do not have to terraform the land. Can you further advise me where to look - and how much per month in US dollars the rent would be (approximately)? Thank You James (cerebrogasm resident)

Hi all, I have 2 questions I hope you can help me with: This may seem to be an obvious answer, but my avatar won't stop typing animation when I use Nearby / Local chat (not IM's). I am using the most recent Firestorm Viewer as of Nov 19, 2017. I have deselected the "Typing" animation in Firestorm's Preferences, but this has no effect - (but it worked fine before I installed a new Vista AO with their new design and animation loaded HUD for their character "Carl"). I next removed the Vista AO HUD (which has a typing animation included - and yes - I tried turning off the typing within the Vista AO HUD to no effect). Here's the weirder problem: the avatar (even after rebooting Firestorm and NOT loading any AO's) still types whenever I enter anything in the lower left dialog box marked "Nearby Chat" (I assume this is visible to those around me since the chat text is visible in a balloon bubble above the avatar's head). OK - second question: my avatar is a TMP head and body with the new Vista Bento hands - which have 2 AO HUDs to control their animation). When I joined SL, about a year ago, anytime I used the locally visible text chat - or voice - the avatar's mouth mimicked speaking. I rarely spoke in local chat but when I did I noticed the animation no longer affected the avatar's mouth. However - when I added this new Vista AO (detailed above) - the avatar now animates its mouth when speaking - in local - text or voice. I am not complaining - I like the feature since most others I have talked to in local(public) chat have their avatar's speaking animation active. My question is - could the malfunctioning typing issue have some interaction with the mouth/speaking animation? Any advice greatly appreciated! Sorry for being long-winded - I was striving to provide possibly important details, James (Cerebrogasm Resident)

Hi all, I have 2 questions I hope you can help me with: This may seem to be an obvious answer, but my avatar won't stop typing animation when I use Nearby / Local chat (not IM's). I am using the most recent Firestorm Viewer as of Nov 19, 2017. I have deselected the "Typing" animation in Firestorm's Preferences, but this has no effect - (but it worked fine before I installed a new Vista AO with their new design and animation loaded HUD for their character "Carl"). I next removed the Vista AO HUD (which has a typing animation included - and yes - I tried turning off the typing within the Vista AO HUD to no effect). Here's the weirder problem: the avatar (even after rebooting Firestorm) still types whenever I enter anything in the lower left dialog box marked "Nearby Chat" (I assume this is visible to those around me since the chat text is visible in a balloon bubble above the avatar's head. OK - second question: my avatar is a TMP head and body with the new Vista Bento hands - which have 2 AO HUDs to control their animation). When I joined SL, about a year ago, anytime I used the locally visible text chat - or voice - the avatar's mouth mimicked speaking. I rarely spoke in local chat but when I did I noticed the animation no longer affected the avatar's mouth. However - when I added this new Vista AO (detailed above) - the avatar now animates its mouth when speaking - in local - text or voice. I am not complaining - I like the feature since most others I have talked to in local(public) chat have their avatar's speaking animation active. My question is - could the malfunctioning typing issue have some bearing on the unwanted typing animation? Any advice greatly appreciated! Sorry for being long-winded - I was striving to provide possibly important details, James (Cerebrogasm Resident)

Thanks Alwin and Jewell - I would think that Linden could make more money above the Premium Membership cost by charging for more prims - I'm gussing this must be a technical limitation. Best, James

Hello all, I'm still learning SL - I have a Premium Linden Membership which comes with a house. I have used all prims provided with this initial Linden home. Is their anyway I can add prims (barring removing objects) - I'm willing to pay for the extra prims...? Thanks for any advice! James (Cerebrogasm Resident)

thank you seanabrady: I've resorted to that - and now I am putting the avatar in various lighting conditions to attempt a relatively authentic skin tone match. I'm curious why the vendor (Aeros) would add this feature to the control HUD, given we can't get the UUID. Do most SL subscribers just "eyeball" a skin match? Is there any other more accurate trick to getting a more authentic appearance with a skin match? Thanks!

Hi all, I'm sure this has been asked before, but I can't locate an exact answer, and I'm relatively new to SL. I have developed my male avatar with a mesh body and Bento attributes that were supplied by the vendor (Signature Gianni). Since his body was not complete in it's default state (missing a *****) - I purchased an Aeros Darius and completed the fittings. However, the avatar skin - which took quite a bit of adjustments to make look realistic - does not match his *****' skin. The vendor (Aeros) offers many skin textures to choose from, but they are not an exact match to the avatar's body skin tone. However, Aeros allows the end user to customize the base color by inserting a UUID (Universally Unique Identifier) numeric value into the ***** controller HUD. Question: How do I find the UUID of the body's skin to the copy it to the customization feature of the Aeros? Any other tips - greatly appreciated! Thanks!

Thank you, Ariel - going to check out the review and blogs. Much appreciated, James

Thank you Tennlea, My primary (and only) avatar is all TMP and I have asked by many men (and women that admire the shape and realism) what it it is built from (they aren't using Inspect tool, I guess). I've read comparison articles between body types and TMP nearly always rates the highest in attractiveness & realism, but also highest in frustration to use - especially in clothing fit. I understand that Maitreya will be releasing a male body - I may hold off for that since the designers did so well in the realism female of anatomy. There's another option - I disassmeble my primary TMP avatar and see how this new head looks mounted on the TMP mesh. What would be ideal is if developers would allow us access to the actual interior skeletal detals and UV maps. That way customization could be even further enhanced (I do something similar in the movie biz with photrealistic "digital dolls," which are basically avatars of movie actors used to perform risky kinematics, for example, over a very short sequence where viewers can't see the deception). Giving away the actual coding might equate with giving away the "family jewels," but external tools that do not threaten intellectual properties, might be a way future avatar customizations could evolve. Thanks again for your input!

Hi - I purchased the "Damon" (vendor: GA.EG) Bento head today. What mesh body do you recommend I buy to complete this avatar? This is my second avatar (I'm very new at SL - 3 months) - I have a TMP now on my primary avatar - but clothing is often an ordeal to fit due to texture map tearing - (even using the included alpha HUD). My goal with this new avatar is realism, realistic attractive muscularity, and a clothing shape that fits easily - (also, any advice on skins or other accessories - greatly appreciated). Thanks!

Hi - I purchased the "Damon" (vendor: GA.EG) Bento head today. What mesh body do you recommend I buy to complete this avatar? This is my second avatar (I'm very new at SL - 3 months) - I have a TMP now on my primary avatar - but clothing is often an ordeal to fit due to texture map tearing - (even using the included alpha HUD). My goal with this new avatar is realism, realistic attractive muscularity, and a clothing shape that fits easily - (also, any advice on skins or other accessories - greatly appreciated). Thanks!

Hi - I purchased the Damon Bento head today. What mesh body do you recommend I buy to complete this avatar? This is my second avatar (I'm very new at SL - 3 months) - I have a TMP now - but clothing is often an ordeal due to texture map tearing - even using the included alpha HUD. My goal with the new avatar is realism and clothing that fits easily - also, any advice on skins or other accessories - greatly appreciated. Thanks!

Thanks for the reply! I de-selected the check box. I am guessing they can't track me from reomote land parcels now. Do you know of anyway I can establish pivacy from all voyeurs using cams (on my parcel) to view my avatar in my house? They are coming through the door, which is made of glass. Thanks again, James

Hi! I have a Second Life house, as part of my subscription. I added the privacy panels over all of the windows, but the glass doors are still open to remote camera spying. It's creepy to lay on my (my avatar's) bed with a bunch of crosshairs (and user-names) hovering over my avatar. Is there any vendor that sells - or any setting I can use in the Firestorm SL browser - that will prevent cameras from sneaking in to spy? Thanks! James

Thank you for the quick response! Do you know if anyone in SL has been able to access Netflix videos (I have a real subscription, the TV recognizes my name and password and I enter my personalized home page - the problem is the actual playback - which generates the error screen)? Also, for those web-streaming sites like YouTube, which do work, do you know how to edit the TV to allow multiple viewers to be able to watch simultaneously? Thank You, Much Appreciated! James

Hi! I'm still relatively new to Second Life - (4 weeks) Please be patient! I purchased an HD TV from the Second Life MarketPlace. The TV cost only $10L but is capable of streaming Netflix among other video sources. I'm on the most recent Apple OS for the Mac with Adobe Flash also installed. Question 1: When Netflix appears on the new TV, where I had signed into my Netflix account (directly on the TV screen) and I logged into my Netflix homepage. However, if I select a movie to watch, I get a player error - "Netflix Video Player Unavailable. We are having trouble playing Netflix on your browser. Please make sure you have an official version of Chrome." I believe I have Google Chrome's most recent update on my computer as a separate application. Any idea what I should do to make Netflix work? Question 2: Other TV channels (video streaming) work fine. However - only I can see them. Of I have another viewer watching the screen, they see a white screen. However, one guest was able to access the TV and we both could watch YouTube music channels. (I don't know what she did that allowed the TV video to be visible to both of us). Any ideas on how I can adjust the TV for multiple viewers to watch? (This may be a "Permissions / Sharing" edit, I am guessing). Thank You for any help! James