Indigo Mertel

Jacki, you may want to have a look at MetaLibrary as well. The blog is dedicated to Second Life users with links to tutorials, tips and tricks on many things, and many links to tutorials for mesh modeling: http://metalibrary.posterous.com

Nicolette, you are right. I drew conclusions too fast and I dind't think about that. But there are still valid reasons to think that some outsourced company has either leaked or sold private data. I haven't checked other spam I have received, I'll keep an eye on that.

No, see the update to my post. I use a specific domain that I have registered for my SL activities. I have 5 accounts and 192 aliases under this domain. I never use my email accounts to join anything on the web, while each of the aliases is a registration to some web site. The only email address receiving spam is my main account. I have been receiving regular spam from the emaill address costacrociere@trilogypacesetter.com, and possibly more. UPDATE: have a look at the screen cap of the latest email spam I received. What is interesting to note about it is that the content is in Italian and it advertises an Italian cruising line. The links at the bottom lead to a domain that has a reference to the UK. The text in the green box says that I receive the email because I have subscribed to the Intela's newsletter. I have no idea what Intela is and as I explained before I never use my main account to subscribe or join anything. Considering that my domain is registered with an US registrar and that the nationality and address of the registrant is hidden, this means that trilogypacesetter.com not only has my email address but also my nationality.

FJ, I have started receiving spam since a month, more or less, on the email account I use for SL. I never ever use this account for anything else but SL, and only a few trusted people have it. Whenever I join some service on the web I always use an alias email address with the name of the web site or service in it, so that I can easily identify which web site or service has sold or is using the address to spam. Also, it's easy for me to block the alias. So, something is amiss here. I addition, like Nicolette, between real accounts and aliases I use literally hundreds of email addresses on a domain that I specifically registered for my activities on Second Life. Guess which one is the only one receiving spam? My main account that I never use on the web. And as Nicolette I also have 20+ years working as an IT professional.

Thank you for your comments, Daniel. Those images look great. I am not an expert in this field, so forgive me if I say things that don't make sense. However, thinking about it I am not sure adopting such a technology would be so remote. As a start, the two texturing methods would have to co-exist for compatibility with the existing content. Thus, builders would have a choice. Also, procedural texturing would be more akin to builders working with 3d tools for mesh, people who have the expertise to make it work. And, judging by videos I have seen on the use of Allegorithmic Substance in 3dMax, the use of it doesn't seem to be out of reach. For what I understand, another advantage of a product like Substance is that each material carries its own definition with itself and parameters can be edited. This is evident with the free Substance Player, where a user can tweak the material. In SL the player could be integrated into the viewer, just as Windlight is. When you consider that many builders don't create their own textures, rather they buy them from texture artists (I am one of them), I don't see why this could not work for procedural textures as well. Those with the skill create and sell them, those without buy them with the advantage of having a material that can be tweaked to their liking. Tweaking a material as it is done with the Substance Player is a rather simple process, it's just a matter of working on some sliders to change the parameters. As for performance, William Burns has a very interesting post on the Andromeda Media Group's blog on Generative Modeling Languages (GML). Quoting William: "with Generative Modeling, we’re talking about a procedural methodology that can just as easily generate more or less detail based on the hardware running it, but do so with the same information regardless". A very interesting approach. What if Linden Lab developed its own version of the technology, simplified and optimized for its needs? Or, licence the technology? Or, purchase an existing company like it did with Windlight? The advantages would be significative, both in terms of rendering quality and optimization.

Hi Nyx, what are the chances that Linden Lab may adopt a technology like Allegorithmic Substance in the future? Parametric materials with a very small size footprint. A product like Substance seems to be a perfect match for a virtual world like Second Life.

Josh, if for "data" you mean a texture, then you can import it into the Designer.

The way I understand how Substance works (and I may be wrong) is that there are 3 elements to consider. One is the server-side engine delivering the substance files, which I believe is provided by Substance Air. The license's price tag is US$40,000. Expensive but not something that would be out of reach for a company such as LL.Air has been already integrated into Unreal Engine 3, Emergent's Gamebryo, Lightspeed and Unity, with more to come. It could even be integrated into Havok one day. A second element is the client-side rendering engine for the Substance file. This is a key element as it has to be integrated into all viewers, including TPVs. So, it has to be dirty cheap, if not free. There is a free player that can be downloaded from the Allegorithmic web site. Would the company apply the same logic to the component that has to be integrated into the viewer? A third element is about the production of Substance files. Substance Designer is what is needed and it comes as a stand-alone tool or as a plug-in for 3ds Max and Maya, no Blender support. The price tag is US$990, not something most content creators are willing to pay. Perhaps Allegorithmic could work a deal with LL for a special discount, or make a Designer Lite. An alternative is to buy Substance files on online market such as Turbo Squid (and they are not cheap). However it goes, I have the feeling this is a technology that can't be ignored. This is likely the direction future online game engines will take and we may even see competing products one day.

Yes, this is also the reason why I posted here. Darian also suggests to have a meeting inworld with Sebastien Deguy. As for your comments, I agree. I raised the same matters in the FB thread. Here are some interesting comments I post here for those who don't want to access FB: ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Sebastien Deguy : I would love to chat about how to have an integration of Substance into SL. I have tried several years ago (maybe 5) but the then CTO didn't seem to want antything else than Open Source technology, so we didn't push more. Now that times have changed, I would be happy to reengage the discussion. Let me know how I could be pf help here. For instance, I am quite often in the Bay Area for business trips, maybe next time I'm there I could meet with the right people? ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ William Burns : There is a legitimate concern about the Open Source part of things, since there are OpenSource versions of the viewer and client technology along with the official stuff from Linden lab. so whatever Sebastien can offer would have to include a way for those Open Source devs to utilize the technology without paying through the nose to integrate it. They aren't making any money from volunteering their time, so I think something creative on the Allegorithmic side to accommodate and still allow them to make money from it would suffice. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Indigo Mertel : Thank you for jumping in Sebastien. Very nice of you. I would say times have definitely changed. LL is about to introduce mesh-based models import and that will be a revolution for SL. Builders will finally be able to use professional tools and create finely detailed models. With its economy, this is likely to attract 3d modellers who snubbed SL so far. Devs have mentioned that they plan to support bump maps in the future, and I can see how Substance could match these plans. Probably not as the only texturing technology, but a parallel one because of compatibility with existing builds and other factors. Also, Rod Humble, the new CEO, is a former Electronic Arts exec and a guy who shows a keen interest for users' feedback. It seems to me there are some good factors that come to play. As for open source... well, SL is based on a graphic engine which is not open source, so I don't see why that should stop improving the platform. I have a question for you: how do you see Substance fit into a system where most of the content contributors are hobbists? Substance Designer has a high license fee and it is not compatible with open source modelers such as Blender. Could you imagine a Designer Lite, maybe trimmed of features that would not be supported by SL? ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ William Burns : I think the most exciting part about Substance would be the ability to utilize materials as assets live in-world, as well as change them in real time within the viewer interface, or even via scripting (time shifting materials). Of course, that and the fact that the extremely low filesize coupled with the massive scalability of the texture output. Way better than anything we could accomplish with a PNG or TIFF. The trick here is how to accommodate Allegorithmic as well as the end-users of the technology without trying to get both sides to pay to use it. Part of the power of a virtual environment coupled with something like Allegorithmic is the user generated content side, in which thousands or maybe millions of unique materials would be generated by the community base. Maybe charge a premium in-world to save those materials from the users (dynamic textures) and split the income between Linden Lab and Allegorithmic? Normal textures cost 10L to upload, so maybe an Allegorithmic Material would cost 20L to "save" into inventory through the use of in-world editing tools. Half goes to Linden Lab for storage and the other half goes to Allegorithmic. It's not a lot up front, but the microtransaction model would add up damned quick in a place like Second Life. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Indigo Mertel You make a good point about open source, William. I didn't take into consideration the implications having to do with third party viewers. There is a need of some creative thinking to accomodate everyone needs here. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ William Burns : I propose a Town Hall style meeting in Second Life with Sebastien Deguy as the guest of honor to address the community in-world and maybe even a few Lindens who would like to show up and ask questions as well. It would be the first step to raising awareness in the Second Life community, while putting him in a bigger spotlight on both sides of the fence - both the corporate side of SL and the community side. Facebook is an excellent beginning but is also limiting to the many who do not have a FB account. Let's open this up to the community who will most benefit from it, in their own space, where it will become widely accessible for all. 

If you don't know what Allegorithmic Substance is, I recommend you visit Allegorithmic web site. Substance is a very interesting technology that allows to transform any bitmap into a seamless material with dynamic resolution, complete sets of maps (bump maps!!!) and more in a very small file size. SL could benefit a lot from this technology. Check this video to get an idea: Following a tweet copied to Facebok that I made, Darian Knight and I started a casual conversation about Substance that attracted the attention of Sebastien Deguy, the CEO of Allegorithmic. Sebastien kindly jumped in. We think LL should take into serious consideration this technology, not only for the obvious advantages coming from its rendering quality but also for the benefits coming from the very small size of Substance files: less lag, faster rendering of scenes. You are welcome to join us if you find this interesting. Warning: the conversation started casually on Facebook, choice of platform was unintentional.

Benvenuto su Second Life. Se hai bisogno di aiuto non hai che da chiedere. Ciao.

Those are quite certainly abandoned parcels set for sale to people who claimed the land with a ticket or set for sale by Guy Linden to neighbors. I think LL is reducing the backlog of old abandoned land as much as possible for the new automatic system for abandoned land announced recently.

Noelle, vorrei sapere se Linden Lab è al corrente delle "pratiche di sicurezza" di ClickAndBuy. Mi spiego: Nel mese di aprile per il consueto pagamento mensile del tier mi si è presentata l'opzione di pagare con ClickAndBuy, cosa che ho fatto. Dopo un'elaborata iscrizione al loro servizio, il pagamento è andato a buon fine. Ho poi notato nel mio dashboard che ClickAndBuy è diventata la forma di pagamento di default. Ieri mi è stato addebitato il tier per questo mese e il pagamento è andato a buon fine. Nonostante questo, oggi mi è arrivata una email di ClickAndBuy che mi avverte che il mio account è stato bloccato e mi si chiede di contattare il customer service, senza specificare i motivi. Contatto ClickAndBuy e mi viene spiegato che per motivi di sicurezza devo fornire i seguenti documenti: - copia a colori della carta d'identità - copia dell'estratto conto bancario - copia di una bolletta Assolutamente pazzesco!!! Non un documento, addirittura tre!

Take into account that our community is about 6 sims wide, so there is a lot to see. We have some nice sceneries, nice walks, an art garden, etc. There is a lot of love in what we have built and it shows

Jazen, I was pretty much in the same position as you before I started building in SL. I always had an interest in architecture, design, decoration, photography. But, I never did anything to really cultivate those interests, other than buying some books once in a while. I never considered myself a person with an artistic inclination and still don't. The only quality I really thought of having was a good eye for aesthetics and I rarely had a chance to exercise it. Today shaping the environment and building houses is one of the things I enjoy the most in Second Life. Creativity is like a muscle that you need to exercise. Creativity needs to be cultivated. Pick one or more of the interests you have in real life and start working on it. Learn by copying from real life and add your own variations to define your own style, pay attention to details, get books, read magazines, search the web for blogs and pictures. There are lots of sources of inspiration that can help you find your way. Try and try again, don't get frustrated if results are not always optimal. When I look back at the first buildings I made it makes me smile to see how plain and simple they are. I guarantee that with time your imagination and creativity will unleash, your skills will improve. This is what makes SL so special, it's a canvas where you can explore your interests and learn skils at almost no cost. It lets you find that creativity in you that you never thought you had.

You may want to check the East River Community. My signature has a link that will lead you to our blog for more information. You can also see some pictures in our Flickr stream.

You dismiss everything on Mainland as useless but Blake Sea. There are lots of great places on Mainland that you obviously are not familiar with. There are groups and communities which go through considerable efforts to maintain a high quality level and harmonious environment. These are the people who manage to make Mainland wortwhile and not useless, as you say. Mainland has a reason to exist and it makes an important contribution to the SL experience. Land price on Mainland is at its lowest, with many parcels selling in the range of 1 - 5 $ per square meters. Many land owners abandon land because they can't sell. Land is very cheap, it can't be any cheaper than that. There is no way that land price can be lowered any further. Tier is an entirely different matter. I am sure most people agree tier is very expensive and the main reason as to why many people are selling land, making a depressed land market. Occasionally I happen to read this line of reasoning that tier should be reduced for private sims. I won't argue that tier for private sims is too expensive but I will object that tier is too expensive for everyone. Private sims owners pay more for the several advantages they have, while Mainland land owners contribute to the Second Life experience in a very important way. Reducing tier for the formers while ignoring the latters is a short-sighted way of dealing with the problem.

Thank you for the update, Marianne. Exciting stuff, indeed.

Interesting... I hope the Lindens will do something about the Northern Passage as well. I made a post on our blog some months ago about this: http://bit.ly/cZaER8 It would be a great improvement to sailing on Sansara. If any Linden read this, please do take what suggested in my blog post into consideration.

Drongle, as I said, LoopTools is a good reason enough to upgrade to Blender 2.57. Have a look at this: http://metalibrary.posterous.com/vimeo-looptools-for-blender-25

To add to what Nacy said, you can find a growing selection of Blender 2.5 tutorials (and more) at MetaLibrary.

Indeed there are, Drongle. Those I have used so far send the data to a remote RL server and create a sculpt image that can be saved on the HD. Having the same thing for mesh would be a great advantage to model a complex scene that must be adapted to a location on the grid.

Wow! Cool.Thank you for sharing, Gaia. I'll add that to MetaLibrary. With mesh coming it looks as we may see a number of add-ons for Blender dedicated to SL users. Exciting times are coming.

IMO, just being able to use the new LoopTools add-on is a good enough reason to switch to 2.57.

There are two things that I'd love to have. Not directly related to Primstar, but you may want to consider these as additional poducts. One is a way to import an existing build from SL to Blender. It would be great for me to import an existing building into Blender to improve it and convert it to mesh. The other thing is to be able to import part of the landscape into Blender. This would simplify how to adapt a house to the environment. I also wish we could have the snap-to-ruler system we have in SL. There are probably other things that could be done but I need to get more familiar with the workflow before I can suggest more.