Getting My Goddess On!

Here I am dancing up a storm as Isis at the recent Steelhead Friday night dance!

Second Impression of Lively Same as the First

SLers, if you want to appreciate SL more, just head on over to Lively. We bitch and moan, but SL's platform still allows for a freedom you don't get in other places. I thought I'd take a look again today to see if my first impression had changed (No) and made a room just for the heck of it...I thought I'd explore and also visited a "Forest Room". In a way, everything kind of reminds me of being a noob in Ahern and everyone walking around and bumping into one another and griping and playing with gestures. But in SL, I knew there were interesting things to do once I got off the Island. Something funny though...this is a world where for the most part customization of one's AV is very limited, yet one guy told the blonde in the center, "Look around! You're the prettiest chick in here!" I couldn't stop laughing to myself over that as I imagined a SL bling and bimbo culture there too before popping away to...
...the Linden Lab room. Pathfinder Linden set up a LL room and folks were there hanging out and comparing SL to Lively. Right now, there isn't a true comparison. Oh, unless someone knows how, I didn't see a "Snapshot" function. These are screenshots I took and cropped in Photoshop. The controls are ugh, there is no content creation, and really...what is there to do? Hey, it'll be interesting to see how/if it evolves...

Elle Looking "Lively"

Well, there's been a big deal made about Google's Lively launching and trust me, SLers, you shouldn't be worrying too hard. It's pretty simple, the avatars are really cartoony and honestly, it's pretty boring so far. Hmm...let me make an avatar or room and hang out and talk to folks and well, that's about it. No places to explore. Nothing to create yet. When can we make out own clothing and items? Will that ever be an option. What else is there to do there? To me, unless they expand the offerings available it's really just a glorified chat room experience. I'll roam it a little more, but I doubt my first impression of it'll change. At least in SL, I had something more to look forward to as a noob...

Dear God, I look like a Bratz doll...

So You Wanna Be...A Fashion Designer

Over a year ago, when I was a sweet innocent new resident (oh quit it with the laughter!) I took a class and made my first outfit ever (below) using the system sliders...I went from that to more sophisticated pieces in Photoshop with my own textures I created like this one...And this!My li'l sis Baube wants to create. Specifically, she wants to learn about building and fashion design. You wouldn't think the two are related, but once you start getting into making prim pieces like flexi skirts or sculpted sleeves/cuffs, yes! I build just as much as a designer as I do as a structure builder! Anyone who has seen or worn one of my Victorian bustle dresses can attest to that fact!

Of course, I'm going to be a good big sis and teach her, but for those of you out there who'd like to learn more about fashion design too, here are some really great tutorials I've found out there...

A lot of designers, like me, make their items mod/copy/no trans so that you can tweak the slider to adjust your clothes better. That especially goes for the prim pieces too! Take the time to adjust your pants for boots, or increase/decrease a prim part to fit you better.

It all starts with a template. Templates allow you to see the planes of the avatar and where the match points are, which are important. Here's an interesting tidbit: doesn't matter if you're male, female, furry or kid-sized...the templates are the same, so clothing will more or less resize to your body for you.

Robin Wood's clothing templates:
Here I am dressed in the upper and skirt ones:

Chip Midnight's clothing templates:
Some folks like using Robin's templates. Some like using Chip's. Both are fantastic.

So, how do you use them? Visit the following site and find out because Natalia Zelmanov explains the process very, very well! I can't rave enough about how helpful her blog is. She covers all aspects of creating inworld and her clothing tutorials are particularly good!

Clothes don't have to be hyper-realistic in SL, but quality touches like fine primwork, shading and texturing do count to your customers!

When you're done and you have saved your file (as a png or tga), it'd be nice to see it right? I once had it suggested to me to go to the Beta grid so I can upload pieces and see them before paying uploading fees for my pieces. Um, no. I love and use this little (free!) program that allows you to see the clothing on an "avatar" mannequin before uploading. SL doesn't even need to be open, which allows you to tweak it as much as needed beforehand: The SL Clothing Previewer by Johan Durant:

Uploads cost $10L/upload and voila! You've successfully gotten your clothing file inworld! Go to Edit > Appearance. Choose the clothing piece you want (ex. "Shirt"), choose your new file for the texture and ta-da! Play with the sliders to make sure it's what you want and save it. You just made a new outfit!

While inworld, check the search or schedules for New Citizens Inc. (NCI) for Basic Clothing classes. They're open to oldbies like us attending too! Everyone's new when they're learning something for the first time! I use Photoshop CS2 myself, although you can use other programs like Gimp for clothing creation. Be inspired, play around and have fun. Most of all, practice! You'll be cranking outfits out in no time! Good luck!

Codie Redgrave's Rouge is Red Hot

I love CodeBastard "Codie" Redgrave as she is a sweetie and makes me smile on a regular basis. Fellow Gardener Eshi Otawara had told me that she was working on a project for Codie and I had seen teaser pics, but Codie tp'd me over tonight to see her "Rouge" sim for myself and all I can say is "Wow." I can honestly say that I've never seen a sim like it...How could I not love a place that's done in my fave colors of red and black? After all, red is one of the thing's Codie's known for...well...besides her derriere that is (*winks*) and Eshi even incorporated that into its design too! Yes, that is the terraform of the sim!
Acc. to her press release, Rouge will serve as the new home of the Boudoir Rouge Gallery Walk showcasing the portrait series, as well as the Code Red lounge and Rouge Boutique. Of course, we had to dance on the poles in the lounge and I have three words for you: Eshi frickin' ROCKS!
Rouge'll be opening today, July 5th, with a big ol' party from 2pm - 5am SLT, and party access might be limited to Code Red group members. Some of SL's coolest designers such as Callie Cline and Shai Delacroix will be having giveaways to celebrate. Here's Codie, the Red Queen herself, getting her twirl on...Oh c'mon y'all...you know I had to have a go on it!!!!

Getting a Haircut--Wastelands Style

I promised Dia I'd let her give me a trim at her barber shop in the Wastelands' Malady Bog. After all, I've got a lot of hair and in the Wastelands, I dunno...shorter just seems to be more manageable and make more sense there. I can't worry about my hair when I'm just trying to survive, you know? She told me to rinse my hair in the water in the bucket in the corner. "The color's fine," she told me. "It'll be good for your hair." Umm, OK. I shrugged and dipped my head into it. Good thing my metal ears are treated. The chair wobbled a bit on its cinder blocks as I sat down and let her go to work...For a moment there I was given a bowl cut, which wasn't quite what I had in mind...
I was like, "Go even shorter! Go for it!" and she got to hacking at it with her rusted shears even more. "Take a look," she said when she was done. I peered at myself in the cracked mirror and smiled. "Perfect!" I said. Now when you see me wandering or hanging out in the Wastelands, you'll know who to credit for the trim!

They Call Me Mister Abs...

Okay, he'll probably either blush (or knowing him, roll his eyes) at this posting and I'll probably be hearing about this one from him, but Lunar took a break from building to visit me at the lake house for a moment. All I can say is "Oo la la...so this is why Genie nicknamed him 'Abs'!" Elven hotness!