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Lusus Saule

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Everything posted by Lusus Saule

  1. I don't think this is as different or as new as you think it is. There used to be an inworld TV station run for SL, and there has been a talk radio station dedicated to SL. There may be versions of both still running. A podcast is pretty much the same as the above, just packaged differently. I do wish you luck though.
  2. Did you know that 360 degree panoramic images created in Second Life can be uploaded and viewed on YouTube? All you need to do is open the image in a video editing app, extend its play for a minute or two, then export it as an MP4. Now download and use Spatial Media Metadata Injector to insert the relevant metadata into the video, so YouTube will recognise it as a 360 degree movie. Upload the video to YouTube, and you're done. Expect the video to take a while to be fully processed because once its ready it will be in 4K. The advantage of using YouTube to display 360 panoramas created in Second Life is that, unlike many online platforms its free, and the video is easy to embed on blogs or websites. Also, the panorama can be shown on this forum, whereas panoramas from elsewhere cannot. The downside is you can't add hotspots to the video as you can when uploading to other 360 panorama websites. If you'd like more info on 360 panoramas created in Second Life I've written a series of tutorials on my blog. There's also some tutorials on the SL-Inspiration YouTube channel, (excuse the shameless self promotion). Here's an example of a 360 degree panorama I uploaded to YouTube. Hit play then use your mouse to drag the image around. The video can be paused anytime, and the image still viewed in 360 degrees. If you're curious about what difference hotspots can make, here's the same image uploaded to Momento360.
  3. In previous SL-Inspiration tutorials we've covered how to use Second Life images to create desktop wallpapers, both as a gallery of images and as an animated wallpaper. Another subject we've covered in depth is how to create 360 degree panoramic images in Second Life, the hud you'll need to buy from the Marketplace, and the choice of software needed to stitch the images together. In this tutorial these two elements are brought together to create a desktop wallpaper using a 360 degree panoramic image created in Second Life. Click to view the tutorial. This video shows the 360 panorama used in the tutorial, (The video itself however is not part of the tutorial). Drag the image around as you would with any 360 panorama. When the video is paused the 360 panorama can still be viewed and moved around, although the 'next video' box will probably need to be closed.
  4. You just need to double click the icon in the unzipped Awesome Wallpaper folder, as mentioned in the blog post. It might be that you think Awesome Wallpaper didn't open, but the icon is hidden on the taskbar. Click on the up arrow [^] to the right of your taskbar, and you may see the Awesome Wallpaper icon there. If its there, right click on it and select 'Settings' to open the Awesome Wallpaper configuration window. I hope this helps.
  5. This is probably not what people have in mind for this topic, but this is a close up portrait of sorts I created some time ago now.
  6. Creating desktop wallpapers is a good way to share Second Life images, and may provide an opportunity for some people to sell their work. It can also be a unique way for store holders, club owners and any Second Life enterprise to project themselves to clients and patrons. An easy way to display Second Life desktop wallpapers as a gallery of images, or as an animated wallpaper is by using Awesome Wallpaper, which is free to download and use. Read the blog post on SL-Inspiration to find out more. This short video is an example of an animated desktop wallpaper created in Second Life.
  7. Using colour palettes to generate harmonious colour schemes is a time saving process when creating digital imagery and graphics, and is especially useful when the same set of colours need to be used on a number of projects. A basic example of this could be graphics used to brand a club or store. Once the colour scheme has been established, a palette makes it easy to add the same colours to new logos, posters and whatever else comes to mind. Click here to learn more
  8. Thank you Harmony. I saw the notices posted about the Blind Frog club, and kept them in mind. The only thing that stopped me from contacting them so far is I already have a blues set elsewhere and would like some variety. The club does seem promising though so will contact Eddie soon.
  9. I have around 5-6 years experience DJ-ing in Second Life, and I'm looking for one or two new clubs to gig at. A friendly, relaxed and fun atmosphere always makes the job more enjoyable. Small clubs are prefered because its easier to engage with people - so long as they're not mostly empty. Genres include rock/alternative/blues. My time is GMT (SLT +8) My auto DJ stream will give you a rough idea of some of the rock and alternative I play, (Ihaven't set the stream up for other genres yet), although there are a few tracks here clearly not too suitable for many clubs. Not interested in working for BDSM, Gor or escort clubs. IM or NC me (Lusus Saule) if you'd like to chat.
  10. This year's festive jigsaw puzzle from SL-Inspiration is a little different in that its a small planet scene. The image was taken at Dreamers, which offers a great Christmas scene to help immerse yourself in the atmosphere of the season. This jigsaw puzzle is available to download and keep, so you can solve it in your own time, or you can play it on the SL-Inspiration page.
  11. Sorry to tell you that Black Dragon does use up a lot of PC resources. As I have said its brilliant for taking SL pics, but in my experience the settings have to be high to do this, and thats when its likely to crash a PC with moderate specs. I'm not criticising your viewer, just stating facts. My PC has an i5 processor, 12GB RAM and an Nividia 760 card. I use this because I can't presently afford to get a better PC. If I open Black Dragon and tweak settings to take decent photos the frame rate will go down to single figures and the viewer will eventually crash. If I don't tweak the settings in order to get good pics, then there's no point in using the viewer. Reading through your response to Admin Girl, I have edited this to add that Black Dragon will crash a lot sooner than for example Firestorm. Sadly I have to tell you that I have no intention of stopping my tutorials, mainly because I think you are wrong. It seems according to your view unless someone follows your way of doing things they are wrong and their images will therefore be poor. Thats not they way things work I'm afraid. All you can expect of anyone is for them to work with what they have, try to arm themselves with as many tools as possible, and use them mindfully. As I have said before, the only thing that matters is the final image. I also won't stop writing tutorials because I try to look between the cracks and share information that others don't. For example, I was pretty much the first person to develop a reliable way to create 3D images from SL pics, and I also developed a way to focus/blur an image (before depth maps could be created in viewers). I also worked on a reliable way for people to create 3D images on Facebook. As well as this, I have created wallpaper tutorials, and shown how to create seamless, scrolling panoramas from SL images that can be viewed on the desktop and/or used as screensavers. I have also shown how using 360 degree panoramic images created in SL can be used to present a tour of a location, and embedded if needed on a website. https://poly.google.com/view/ajrGRiKpRdt This came in useful when someone I knew in SL passed away and I could create a record of their land before LL cleared it. Using the same tools I created this a few Halloweens ago, (view fullscreen): https://momento360.com/#ud/64956315192445f5bad609d8d9f63257 I've also created a series of tutorials covering different software for people who want to DJ in SL, some tutorials on using vector graphics, and I'll soon be creating tutorials on machinima and video editing software. None of this may be hugely important, but my aim is to demonstrate there are different ways to look at and do things, which in turn I hope encourages people to experiment a little. Second Life offers all sorts of possibilities and not everyone needs to follow well trodden paths. Having said all of that, this is all a side interest because my real focus is creating art both inside and outside of SL.
  12. I really can't be bothered to read all this. All I saw was that I mentioned your viewer in my oringal comment. You would have noticed then that I said Black Dragon makes a difference with improving images. In fact it has a brilliant reputation for this. I also said that it consumes a lot of PC resources, which means those that don't have a high end PC can't use it. The very fact that I mentioned Black Dragon is a good for SL photography, pretty much undermines everything you've said. I also think that the fact you took the time to needlessly piss all over my post shows quite a dregree of mean spiritedness.
  13. It surprises me to hear some people decry the use of Photoshop and similar software, since professional photographers tend to use raw image files which need to be edited. I'm just wondering if you use raw image files for your RL photgraphy? I'm sure you know better than me that Jpegs have already lost a lot of information, so its not suprising if issues arise through sharpening etc. I think some of what you say goes to the heart of the issue here. Not wanting to put words into her mouth, but I think Niran may be considering SL snapshots as images, but since I use photo manipulation software, to some extent I treat them as faux photographs. This has proved an effective approach for many SL photographers over the years, but everyone has their own methods. Its a case of whatever works for you.
  14. I've found many people who may have mental health issues in RL, see Second Life as a huge benefit. It can be a social setting that they would otherwise be unable to experience, and a way of personal expression without feeling as vulnerable. For some it can be a means of leaving behind some of the mental health issues they live with in RL. I can however think of a few people I have met in SL whose behaviour has been quite challenging.
  15. I agree completely. I come at image making from a ffine art point of view, and in the final analysis it the image that matters. I break rules and break images too lol
  16. You're right, the tutorial is about how to use the high pass filter in Gimp. Gimp offers a number of ways to sharpen images. I think its worth pointing out, no one is pointing a gun at anyone's head and saying sharpen your images. But in spite of what one naysayer here may think, it is a very useful tool when working on images.
  17. If people want to use filters they will. If you don't want to then don't .Its a free world full of choices. Rather than trying to undermine other people's hard work, why not start a blog and go to the trouble of writing a few tutorials on what you percieve to be your expertise. That is much better than infecting other people's content with your negativity. What you call visible effects of sharpening are in this example banding. That is caused by gradients in colour, as you can see in the sky. This has become visible due to editing colour. Sharpening the image doesn't really make it worse, but the effect can be softened by painting out some of the banding that might be visible in the filter layer. There are other ways of reducing banding in images too. I have already mentioned haloing, which can happen if an image is sharpened too much. It can however be dealt with easily in editing. In my opinion having as many tools as possible to work on images is a definite plus. Its up to each person to decide what they want to use and what they don't. As for getting into a fight with me, grow up.
  18. I think you'll find most SL photographers edit their images. Look at an image's Exif details on Flickr and there's a good chance Photoshop or Gimp will be mentioned. Even if they're not thats no firm indication the images haven't been edited. If however you prefer not to edit your images then keep doing that. The artifacts you've kindly ripped without persmission from the image I own are not created by sharpening the image. They're caused in this instance by enhancing the colours, which is something I will be investigating. You're right though that in some instances, haloing can be caused when images are sharpened, and I'll be dealing with that in another tutorial soon. You are definitely wrong however that sharpening an image is pointless. It can make a big difference, although as with everything it depends on the image in question and how its used. The image included here is the original before sharpening. Differences can be seen between this and the image above. They're really not that subtle, although pushing the sharpening too far would ruin the image, and that haloing would come into play. If you can't see the differences here, go to the tutorial page, scroll to the end and you'll see both versions of the images. You can enlarge each one in turn.
  19. Its always been my experience that raw snapshots taken in Second Life are not as focused as they could be. They tend to be slightly undefined. Taking snapshots with the Black Dragon viewer makes a difference, but can be very impactful on PC resources. Whichever viewer you use, knowing how to sharpen a Second Life photograph is essential, as its one of those select tools that can help make your images pop. Click here to view the tutorial
  20. This is a seamless scrolling panoramic image of Cica Ghost's installation in Second Life, called Monsters. The panorama can be viewed on your desktop and used as a screensaver with a small app called WPanorama, which can be downloaded here: http://www.wpanorama.com/wpanorama.php If you would like to use the image with WPanorama it can be downloaded from Google Drive: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1_2PL4szhIthBLzbvIp3VIUuVgPVrSIii/view?usp=sharing I hope you feel inspired to visit Cica's installation by following the Slurl: http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Zvi/28/102/24 To find out how to use WPanorama you can read my blog post: https://www.sl-inspiration.com/2020/02/create-panoramic-screen-saver-using.html The video can also be seen on YouTube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2rLla16pY80&feature=youtu.be
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