Laura Seabrook's Ramblings

At the Coffee Shop by Laura Seabrook, on Flickr

This page took so long to do. There's three separate shots for each panel, with only 3 avatars being in world at any one time. It all works IF you can freeze the camera viewpoint, and you remember to set the Sky to a fixed position.

On my first attempt I went outside for something and when I came back in I missed that the sun's position had changed, which affected the tones of each image. Second time lucky.

Success - thanks to Fred Beckhusen (who wrote and updated the original version of script I used)! I've only really tested walking and wandering with NPCs, but the fact that it works makes a HUGE difference in how I make my SECONDS comic, which is made in Second life using Avatars (AVs).

At the moment I've had a system of have multiple Avatars (ALTs) in SECOND LIFE and 3RD ROCK (an OpenSim Grid). Each ALT plays multiple characters with a variety body and clothing sets in folders (you do an Add/Replace Outfit with them), and they get posed in various ways for each shot. This works OK, but there are problems with lag (everything goes VERY slow), and when I need two characters which are played by the same ALT in the scene at once. The two workarounds for that are to take several shots from the same viewpoint with different characters in the scene, and edit them together later; or duplicate the character on more than one ALT (which can be very expensive if the right body/clothing item can't be copied and costs Lindens).

With workable NPCs it's NOT a matter of using multiple ALTs - instead I can have a single AV. Instead that AV has ALL the clothing and body sets to create any character. All I need to do is have a different NPC recorder for each character set I want, create that character on the AV and record it to the Recorder. Then each can be "trained" for whatever position and pose I want, and used in concurrence with the other NPCs in the shot with only ONE logon needed!

Of course there's a catch. NPCs only work in in OpenSim Grids, they don't work in Second Life (at least not yet). So, I can can probably convert three of my AVs in 3rd Rock into NPCs if I want to shoot there, but I'd have to keep my ALTs in Second Life if I needed to shoot there.  And if I shoot on a stand-alone grid (like Sim-on-a-Stick) or a full OpenSim install on my home network) I can have AS MANY NPCs AS I WANT, and leave them for AS LONG AS I WANT.

And as the icing on the cake, NPCs also solve another issue. I've always been interested in making MACHINIMA (videos made from games/virtual worlds) in Second Life, but as it's a real-time thing (rather than a static pose) that's been pretty hard to do with just one person (ALTS don't make that easier), but as NPCs and be set up to do their animations repetitively and left to run, I can do that much easier!

Pleased about this. VERY PLEASED.

 

I may not have been obvious but I "took October off" from the Masters. That's why I was doing so much stuff in Second Life. I did this for two reasons: I felt exhausted and stale after completing part two of Real Life Trips; and it was a form of birthday present to me. I DO enjoy Second Life, both exploring and participating socially in it. I also like the creative efforts I see there and this was a way of exploring what I might do myself.

In any case I thouroughly flaming enjoyed the break./activity. I fee refreshed and rejuvenated but now it's time to work on part 3 of RLT.  This part's a bit different than the others because it's mostly illustrated journal entries (with a comic story in the middle). You'll see soon enough.

Finished working on a new set of characters called the "Wah-Lees" who are sort of gassy podling aliens who create images of expressions on their head (rather than actually have them). This too a bit of thinking and a LOT of help from the Scription community at the Second Life Forums. At a touch I can change the colour, eye and mouth expressions on each, and also change their hands to match.

After a systems failure on my Studio PC (getting a new tower maybe today) I've been stuck with my graphic novel. In the mean time I've been building for Return to Second Life, but rushing that is very very draining. I've also been a bit sick (flu / UTI) and staying up until 3am working on stuff has exacerbated things. So - I've decided in the short term the Masters has to come first, which means fixing the PC and doing some pages for that first. However I still need to work on Seconds as well, just at a slower pace, so I've put that on hiatus and the following will appear in a couple of days on its page:



Wish I wasn't so bloody sick. I have discovered that building architecture in SL is not only fun, but I seem to have a knack for it - provided I take my time.

Had to go shopping today so I didn't get the chance to work with the results of the photo-shoot. However, I spent time tonight making the second Buggle brother (Jeff) for Return To Second Life:



Both characters are based on the 80s band, and I hope there's a bit of resemblance to the originals.

Rebuilding this set took much longer than I expected. While this has become a "drawing guide" ow, it still has to look right. Why, because it's based on a memory of real place, and even if no one else could spot the difference, I would!



I'll be doing a shoot after dinner. So glad I can now go away and leave a set standing, and have the time to do a shoot (or re-shoot) properly, instead of working against a clock.

Have got Octobriana ready for a bit of action in SECONDS.
In comparison to some comic versions,
she's a bit overdressed!

And one the characters she might meet:


...from the alterverse of MUSICALIA. I also have one of
the Buggles making an appearance.

A more or less finished Octobriana avatar, posing in Red Square.



Everything after this is just mixing and matching outfits.

I've been working on some sets in second life while waiting on phone calls. This is an exterior set:

It was made by combing a "ready-made" with parts space station construction kit. However it was no good as an internal set because the asteroid (part of the ready-made and un-modifiable) would have cut through everything. The following is the internal set:

This extended the kit part of the external set, and created spaces within which to put props and characters for the shots. Most of the windows were semi transparent and because the main chamber is supposed to be in solid asteroid I created shapes surrounding it with granite textures to make it look like it was indeed in solid rock. The iris doors used to work but now only one does. On the day of shooting I'm remove and add those manually.

Asteroid bases are quite popular in the Second Life Marketplace. Most though are a tad expensive with prices in the $L thousands. I needed two bases and the other one - used by Tee D'Olby - is a ready made. Big investments either have to be really good or re-usable (or both)!