Torley Linden

'Kay, so while I can't speak in-depth about the Marketing & PR aspects of things (I'll leave that to the Linden experts in that area), we actually do advertise on YouTube and other social sites. If there's somewhere — like a specific community — you think we should target which we aren't, say so! Maybe even at a User Group, altho there isn't one for Marketing. I've amassed a metric frakton of firsthand Resident experience over the years, and I'm currently in the Editorial Division of Linden Lab's Experience Design Team (or for short, if you get the emoticon reference). We've recently added some new team members who bring a lot of aesthetic talent and fresh perspective, and while it can be herculean to enact sweeping change, we're persisting, piece by piece. I'm fond of overcoming baggage while preserving our culture. Linden Lab hasn't actively used some of the pics Penny linked to in eons, although I totally agree with the finer points of every time I see appreciation for design. Every time we read feedback like that (and we do read a lot), our heads are like those water-drinking bird toys that keep bobbing up and down. I'm an avid gamer (read: shaderholic) and I've often talked with our engineers about how we can get some more of that expected gloss and shine in SL. Eye candy to support rich social creativity. What are we actually doing to make progress? Here are some examples that we can't toot the horn enough about: A big one is, as repeatedly suggested, we've worked with some awesome creators to come up with dozens of new avatars (that post also has other social news). You can wear them right now. You may have noticed us increasingly promoting the Destination Guide over time, so PEOPLE SEE COOL THINGS FIRST. We want to put that up front so newcomers are amazed without dickering around, and although we know many SLers are on lower-end hardware, tech keeps getting better and cheaper and there's still a lot of dynamics for improvement. Brett and Gabrielle Linden have been amazing with curating the DG and responding to Resident requests, check out the FAQ to learn how it works. Oh, and if you haven't done the "see the world as noobs do" thang in awhile, login in Basic mode. What's more, here's what a couple of our recent promo vids have looked like: Make sure to view fullscreen in HD! Brett and I collaborated on these, and I can certainly reassure you that while I was filming, at the forefront of my mind was thinking about all the times I've found wonder in SL thanks to our Residents. Then what I can teach to empower you. And I'm always growing and learning along with you, as new opportunities open up and there's a new floor of "Wow! You can do that?" And, I emphasize: this sentiment is also precisely why several of us believed we should have login screens (the first thing you see before going inworld!) that show you what's around the curve of what's possible with Second Life, and I took those pictures feeling madly inspired. As you can see, these "tectonic plates" are shifting. Yet, it's true, doing great things isn't enough. They have to be spread widely where people new to SL don't have to consciously think to ask about them, they can simply enjoy and dive in. Because as Seth Godin famously said, "Ideas that spread, win." And that's where awareness, whether it's word-of-mouth or ad campaigns, comes in. Highlighting most excellent Resident content also has the dual-wielded benefit of inspiring others about what's possible. I've heard from so many people who came in thinking they couldn't build or otherwise were subconsciously limiting their creativity, and now run successful businesses, sprawling RPGs, and other prosperous aspects of our community. Experimentation is inevitable, though, and that's why we have sandboxes (both literal and figurative) on our path of growth. And re: "social/game environment", our CEO Rodvik has shared some insight in recent interviews, with more to come. But, keep persisting with these ideas — I hate seeing great stuff that's still valid in the future get forgotten, and we Lindens need to be continually reminded of what's still true. At least I feel that way. tl;dr An excuse for me to share cool stuff

Revisiting this issue and what I've learned in the years since, there's apparently still not an easy way to restore debug settings to default within the SL Viewer. Since it's a rather geeky-techy thing that delves into a lot of unsupported features, it hasn't gotten a higher priority. I recommend backing up settings.xml before you tweak a bunch of debug settings. I do this on both Mac and Windows by right-clicking the file and creating a compressed .zip archive that can easily be expanded. Or if you have an automated solution like Time Machine (I use Genie Timeline Pro on Windows but it isn't nearly as nice), you can do a backup right there — knowing you have the safety of always "bouncing back" to your earlier settings. Otherwise, if you're comfortable using a text editor, you can open settings.xml and delete custom values. I think in most cases, values only appear in there if they've been changed from the defaults, whether they're settings in Preferences or the more under-the-hood Debug Settings. But if you're not that selective, do what Cerise said.

Also, BIG news: if you're able to manage the region settings (or ask the owner to change them), WindLight region settings is in development and you're welcome to try the preview! This means not only can you make the water settings persist for you easily, it will appear the same for all your visitors, too. (Previously as in my video, it was Viewer-side only, meaning only you see the changes.)

@Freecilla I was unfulfilled after reading that thread because there are still opportunities to create better emoters, I just don't know where to find them yet. I've been having fun with my AnyPose, which does have effective "eye direction lock" without having to stare at a cube. I had forgotten about the eye texture edit you mention but it's not as flexible for when I need speed. Thanks though!

@Marianne Kletva is in the direction of what I'm looking for, tummy-wise! Thanks. @Melita I'm going to check those out, yay! @Ponder My wife suggested Pulse too, so there's a double-recommendation too. Thank you... and you are most welcome! You do realize by telling me this, you certainly aren't in the silent masses? Stay awesome.

Haha, cool. Any other recs?

I do a lot of avatar photography with a combo of HUDs, and that can get pretty clunky. I've been looking for an all-in-one facial emoter that does all the following elegantly: Closes avatar eyes (so I don't have to agonize over capturing split-second blinking). Can interpolate/blend between multiple facial animations for subtle (non-cartoonish) expressions and can freeze it that way. The default facial animations are pretty exaggerated and unappealing when played "in full". I've used the old trick of right-clicking my avatar to locally freeze myself in edit mode, but that's awkward and also disables the depth of field graphical effect. Locks avatar eyes in a given direction so I don't have to stare at an object to fix focus. Relatively compact (or minimizable), beautiful user interface. My prior experiences have included helpful threads like this. Any products you really like which do most, or even all of what I'm requesting? I think this would also help other photographers. Thanx so much. :)

I've been trying to put together some slimmer male avs. Many of the great male skins I've seen in Second Life are primed for physical fitness to idealistic, muscular degrees — there's a healthy 6-pack and well-defined pecs, abdominals, and soforth. It's been hard for me to find male skins with "no abs", representing leaner "swimmer's build"-type bodies in their 30s-40s that are still visibly masculine. (I'm familiar with femboy/androgynous looks, but that's not what I'm going for here... I've already got that type well-covered.) Even those trending towards "average" body type, altho I'm not looking for beer guts at the moment. ;) Even better if they have accompanying shapes. Any recs on stuff I should check out?

Have you seen some awesome photos and are wondering how you, too can harness the power of Second Life's advanced graphical features? Your answers are here: Lighting and shadows Depth of field Have fun and remember to show off your creations here, that's what we're for! :)

A WILLOW SMITH TRIBUTE? This I must see. Thank you, Sylvia...

Okayyy, so I've had a lot of fun with couples poses and some small groups. But I'm on a search for the biggest, most badass group poses in Second Life. By "biggest", I mean # of avatars, like some half-a-dozen-plus conglomeration of excellence. By "most badass", I'm not looking for staid, cynical, stare-at-camera-with-no-soul crap, I want lots of attitude that screams PARTY TIME! I've ferreted some out on the Marketplace, but am wondering if you have any faves I may be missing. (And yeah, I do intend to try them out firsthand with my alternate selves.) So hit me up. Kthxbai.

You guys are shaaaaaaaarp. 'Tis awesome thy art so observant, I've shared your nice words with the Experience Design team at Linden Lab who worked with the Resident creators to make these avatars possible! They come in response to requests over time for diversity — not just diversity for its own sake, but in a world like SL, so much is possible... why not show more of that off from the get-go? I think you may have noticed our CEO, Rod, dropping some clues in previous interviews that this was gonna happen. AND SO IT HAS. PROPHECY FULFILLED. Anyway, yeah, we plan to make these available in the registration flow and avatar selector so all new Resis will have the choice of being a windup robot, scampering freely on all fours, etc. These aren't all, stay tuned for more surprises...

I revisited Dream Scene this morning, I have a special fondness for enclosed areas that just surround you with a particular theme, whether it's a specially-designed skybox or an entire region in a megaprim. I think part of it's because I have a fascination with theme hotels, where each room is wildly different from the next. Thanks for starting this thread, Hippie!

I like seeing the ingenuity that's arisen in gifting: from the Marketplace's buy as gift option to inworld gift kiosks. I also see places that offer alternate permissions, so you can either buy a "no transfer" or "no copy" version. Understandably, I've heard from creators that they wish there were ways to automate this, especially if they're extremely prolific — setting so many checkboxes is a p-a-i-n. Still, there are times you may want to give a gift directly, or modify it in some personal way. I tend to prefer "no transfer" due to the above possibilities, and also because I can be such a clumsy clodhopper in my inventory, modifying an original when I should've made a backup (another thing that should be automated better). I miss when we could save copies of items as a NEW outfit instead of just links to them.

Melanie, fiddling is often necessary experimentation! I often don't have much of a clue myself when starting out, but through many processes and narrowing down what I like, I find cool stuff to share with others. And those are looking great, in particular the expression of you hugging your cat with horizontal shadows cast across makes me go awwww. What pose are you using for "say cheeeeese" with the closed eyes? That looks like a lot of fun! Also glad to see you playing with tilt-shift, I've hearted the "miniature/doll look" in the "real world" for years and attaining it in SL has made me incredibly happy.

Is there a compilation of inworld locations that demonstrate the correct proportions Penny describes? I see some examples, but a list in the original post to expand "Existing sims..." — or something others can contribute to like a wiki page — would: Help Resis who agree with these ideas to support each others' firsthand work, and Demonstrate to the curious who don't "get it" yet why it matters, hands-on. Like precedent of other cultural trends/movements that've become wider adopted over time despite initial resistance (as Seth Godin said, it's the lizard brain), it seems like there's big potential here for an advocacy & awareness group, if something like that hasn't already been established. (And I know Penny's done much previous explaining about proper scaling.)

Another cool place I recently found out about is the aptly-named Tokyo Girl with some elegant-looking modern fashions.

Some jagged edges (distinct from your avatar's polygon count) can be taken care of in advance with Antialiasing, which isn't turned on by default but should be on capable computers! As we get more advanced graphical shaders in the SL Viewer, more effects that would've previously had to be post-processed and added in are available from the outset. Such as depth of field with the new lighting and shadows, which has enabled us to get more control over focused areas. One of my fave "unglamorous" Photoshop controls is Shadows/Highlights, which has helped save many a dull-looking, too-dark, and washed-out shot when more common features like contrast won't do. Rick, your GF must feel really special. Do you have specific "looks" you're trying to recreate? Example real-life pics, even? That'd help others point you in the right direction.

Friendly greetings FrankiePalmero! I wish this defect was made more clear ahead of time (because I hate taking snapshots only to find them ruined when I browse them on disk). I've seen the same bug, or at least, similar bugs before. One thing I did that helped — while costly — was to get a bigger monitor so I could capture at a higher resolution to begin with. Then you have more freedom to crop out unsightly crap, too, not to mention seeing more of SL in general. Also, I seem to recall these seams show up due to conflicts between how several graphical things are rendered. What Marianne mentions might be because a long time ago, a tradeoff was made to have ripple water appear correctly. One thing you can try: in PREFERENCES > Graphics tab, click the Hardware button and disable Antialiasing if you have that on. Then restart the SL Viewer and test. The drawback, of course, is edges look jaggy without antialiasing, providing little or no benefit to shooting at a higher resolution. (Antialiasing used to work fine with high-res snapshots but complications in the aforementioned graphics rendering pipeline has led to where we are today.)

Many of my favorite creations combine simple features in powerful ways. This affects usability, aesthetics, and other important attributes. For example, a chair becomes easier to sit on if it's enabled for a one-click sit action. Something we obviously don't think about in the "real world", but is uniquely important in SL. And yes, interaction is paramount. There's stuff you can look at, and there's stuff you can do stuff with too — I like unexpected surprises when I click or otherwise make something happen with an object. I like to get a strong sense of the creator's personality in their art. It doesn't have to reinvent the wheel, but I like seeing objects that are the top of their form by getting so many things done right in a cohesive package. Even one that's marketed beautifully, it shows how much care was put into the product from how it's presented to the positive emotions I associate with it upon usage. As for "SL-culture specific items", look for Linden Bears and hippos. And I really like sitting on this badass throne for the above reasons, right about now.

Melanie, glad you're enjoying DoF! I'd like to see what you've done, if you'd like to share. Also, what Project Mesh Viewer version is this? It's worth noting DoF is supported in the newest stable Viewer, "Second Life 2.7.2 (233432) Jun 21 2011 17:17:16 (Second Life Release)". It even has a checkbox in PREFERENCES > Graphics tab. Newer Beta versions may contain newer improvements, but my point is we no longer need to restrict ourselves to the Project Viewers for the DoF goodness. While I haven't encountered your specific problem recently, throughout the course of testing experimental graphics features, I came across other snapshot bugs — they kept disrupting me to such a degree that nowadays, I don't even use the Viewer's built-in snapshot to disk feature (Ctrl+` or the button). Rather, I use a combination of FRAPS and hiding the UI. I automate both with a single pedal press — yes, I use a USB pedal to take snapshots, it's kinda retro but frees my hands.

Indeed, it's great to have a proliferation of tools that makes it easier to get into creating. Just a couple years ago, I didn't know it'd be possible for a webapp to record your screen (with your permission, of course). One thing I'd encourage is to download local backups whenever possible. Some of these sites have looked promising, then ran out of money or disappeared for one reason or another. Which is a huge pain if you refer to your screencasts in other places, only to have them redirect for viewers to somewhere you don't approve. For example, screenjelly.com was "suddenly" replaced by some sports site awhile ago. So, for transient, on-the-fly, quick-to-make screencasts, I mainly use Jing with screencast.com which is reputable, but if I have an eye on something being useful months from now, I upload to YouTube. More desktop apps should make it easy to upload to YouTube (or your preferred video site — Vimeo and blip.tv are also popular amongst Residents).

Giving away items in Linden sandboxes, including "buy for L$0" freebies, is fine. What's not allowed is selling up a for-profit store. And yes, if you set an object to sell as Original, the person who buys it will take ownership of the object inworld, wherever it is — they don't need to rez it from their inventory. If you made the object and want to give them unrestricted abilities to modify, make sure all permissions are checked. And if you make something in a sandbox and just want others to be able to move it around, check the Anyone: Move checkbox as shown in the screenshot. The Anyone: Copy one is a bit more tricky, since that needs to explicitly be enabled for all objects and their contents or it won't work, and there's no green light confirming when this is done. So in the past, I've had to test on an alt, and in my frustration, usually resorted to For Sale as a freebie instead.

Raul, delighted you asked. That's a great screencap with annotation — Skitch? That robot is "Sani", a sneak peak at and part of our forthcoming collection of new starter avatars which also includes the tiger on the cake. I don't have a date of release but Renn Yifu, the robotmaker Linden Lab's Experience Design Team worked with, has stylistically related, badass Marketplace goods you may wanna check out in the meantime. DOES COMPUTE.

@Chelsea No offense taken. Besides, I'm more of a Muppets fan myself. It's not easy being green and pink, you know? Another useful tip that's overlooked is to change your camera so that you see the front of your avatar as you're walking, jumping, and doing other stuff inworld so you have a better idea how others are seeing you: