20-May 26-May
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So, you want to learn more about how materials – that’s normal maps and specularity maps in addition to the regular textures, which will now be called “diffuse,” will work when Second Life enables the new features. Well, they’re a way to add eye-popping detail, if you do it right. When the shiny part happens, it’s pretty spectacular. The tutorial from TheGameCreators.com was my original starting point for a Second Life-specific tut on how to create the extra textures using GIMP that can be used to add depth and shine to objects inworld once the new Materials Project viewer is…
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Oh, THIS is a nice tutorial for Materials – using xNormal, though I’ll probably stick with the normalmap plugin in GIMP for now. Because I have to agree, the xNormal interface is as if a million user interface designers cried out in terror, and were suddenly silenced. Or, it’s as if young Anakin Skywalker was handed a LeapPad to design his pod racer on, and then pulled it out to tweak a design on the Death Star decades later.
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UPDATE: I’ve found slightly less opaque instructions and gotten the InsaneBump plugin working for GIMP (and also the fully InsaneBump program working, but it’s really old). I’ll start a new post because I’ve since found yet another tool for quickly generating different kinds of maps for texturing, Knald. This might be worth installing the Materials Viewer to test in a SSB-enabled region. I’m usually well behind the curve on changes with Second Life updates and enhancements – see recent posts about trying to learn Blender years after sculpts (and later mesh) were introduced. But the Materials project, which I’ve been…
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It’s hard to find a nice, antique-looking blog theme, whether to use on your own self-hosted blog, or on a hosted site like WordPress.com. I’ve cobbled together a few bits over the years, but needed something better to adapt in GIMP as a text-separator. I ended up modifying one I had, and overlaying a nicer one on top of it from Old Book Illustrations. There are some wonderful antique ornaments there, and they even have a meme generator: This site is dedicated to providing our visitors with a wide range of illustrations scanned from old books. Most of these vintage…
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(cross posted from my WordPress.com blog*, creatively titled “Chameleonic Possession) Here I am, on my standalone grid Haleakaloha, which isn’t very interesting and isn’t open for visitors, and up until yesterday, it wasn’t working very well because of a texture-reloading bug. Also, I’ve been struggling with Blender again, trying to learn it and not get discouraged. Yesterday, SUCCESS, after getting some help, I installed an update that fixed my Open Sim grid. Today, SUCCESS, I made a blob. You may not think this is a big deal, and it’s a badly textured blob, but I made it, and I figured…
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First things first, if you’re in SL just to have fun, do that! Not everyone is building interactive environments for RP sims. Not everyone considers themselves a “professional” content creator, making a living selling avatar accessories on the marketplace. A lot of people just want to have fun slapping prims together and seeing what they can do. There is absolutely nothing wrong with that and don’t let anyone tell you otherwise. By all means read this post. If you learn something useful, fantastic! But don’t fret if my recommendations are outside your abilities. This is primarily aimed at content creators,…
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Here I am, on my standalone grid Haleakaloha, which isn’t very interesting and isn’t open for visitors, and up until yesterday, it wasn’t working very well because of a texture-reloading bug. Also, I’ve been struggling with Blender again, trying to learn it and not get discouraged. Yesterday, SUCCESS, after getting some help, I installed an update that fixed my Open Sim grid. Today, SUCCESS, I made a blob. You may not think this is a big deal, and it’s a badly textured blob, but I made it, and I figured out what I wasn’t doing right that made it turn…
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13-May 19-May
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It’s been a tough month or two for the typist; currently she’s on her fourth “ergonomic” office chair seeking a more comfortable balance of chair height, monitor height, keyboard height, mouse distance. Her RL job now involves MUCH heavier keyboarding, and she’s got 2 “offices,” one for work in an otherwise uselessly small little room (euphemistically called a “nursery” but she scoffs at such useage). Her mousing arm has been getting pretty painful and she’s duly been working through the ergo guides provided by her company and trying to avoid seeing a doctor, because BOTHERATION. The RL work office has…