tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-88764477209814834762011-12-08T23:38:36.489-08:00Thoughts and creations in Second Life, including techniques for designing and making clothing, skins, textures, animations, and objects in SL.Seshat Czerethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05809019892370992637noreply@blogger.comBlogger551100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8876447720981483476.post-32232305179654041932009-10-29T03:52:00.000-07:002009-10-29T03:55:08.131-07:00

Feldie (Feldspar Epstein) is helping me migrate my blog to tateru.nino.net, and a nifty new CSS-y template that will let me be more certain images are beside the relevant portions of text, and all sorts of neat stuff like that.However, she would like me to avoid writing thirty new tutorials for her to migrate while she's working!So I'll focus on my shop stuff, some animations I promised for

Seshat Czerethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05809019892370992637noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8876447720981483476.post-14254820056611900552009-10-27T00:03:00.000-07:002009-10-27T10:22:50.445-07:00

In the past, I've provided many objects full perms. Unfortunately, some people have taken to using full perms items as a way of concealing their culpability in making collections of stolen goods, or making griefer tools.If you receive an item which purports to be from me, but doesn't seem like my usual style, do not trust it!Also, do not trust a scripted item which claims to be from me, but did

Seshat Czerethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05809019892370992637noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8876447720981483476.post-25818499095843971282009-10-14T14:40:00.000-07:002009-10-27T10:21:59.963-07:00

Lane Luke made these great fruits - a persimmon and a pomegranate. They look fantastic, don't they?Now let's turn them around. Oops.Lane asked for my help - and was generous enough to offer to wait while I made it a tutorial for everyone. :) Kudos for Lane! So let's use Lane's problem as an example for the common problem of texture tiling.Here are Lane's textures for the fruits. As you can see,

Seshat Czerethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05809019892370992637noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8876447720981483476.post-29968657421872685142009-10-09T08:31:00.000-07:002009-10-26T07:44:32.464-07:00

This is a more advanced technique, that belongs in the "Making a Tshirt" part of the "How to make SL clothes in the Gimp" tutorial series, but which I fear might confuse total novices if I put it in there directly.If you haven't read any of that series, you can start at the beginning.Click here for the exact position of the "Making a Tshirt" tutorial that this mini-tutorial fits in.1. If the

Seshat Czerethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05809019892370992637noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8876447720981483476.post-28988107657603881102009-10-07T03:34:00.000-07:002009-10-07T03:35:16.016-07:00

In part one, we collected the tools we'd need to make clothing. In part two, we made a basic shirt with no features. In part three, we added highlight and shadow.NOTE: Enough people have expressed their hope that I get this one finished soon, that I'm putting it up half done. The images will be done soon, in the meantime, feel free to read the text.In this tutorial, we'll cover seams - both

Seshat Czerethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05809019892370992637noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8876447720981483476.post-22364776419809998312009-10-06T06:48:00.000-07:002009-10-06T17:39:32.515-07:00

The pain management program had four more weeks, with different fellow sufferers. A is a comedian, larger than life and with a theatrical way of talking and behaving. M is a fairly withdrawn man, very quiet but when he does speak he's been thinking about it. V is gorgeous, a lovely woman with myriad medical issues, who has led an amazing life.C had surgery, which has left her in pain and with

Seshat Czerethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05809019892370992637noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8876447720981483476.post-37250725417470035282009-07-17T14:41:00.000-07:002009-07-18T16:32:29.263-07:00

Weeks three and four went by similarly to weeks one and two. Hydro and physio were very much the same - I increased resistance in the physiotherapy, and Justin has me walking the dog every day: not far, but far enough to count. To the corner and back. Relaxation was very much the same as the first two weeks - still something I know how to do. The key is to actually DO it.The Tuesday OT sessions

Seshat Czerethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05809019892370992637noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8876447720981483476.post-36421792765086375102009-07-02T08:22:00.000-07:002009-07-02T10:06:50.498-07:00

The pain management course is taking up almost all of my energy right now - it's great, it's helping me a lot, but it's also very exhausting.Thursday Week OneThursday sessions start with group psychotherapy, then hydro again, lunch, a half-hour 'education' session on various topics, physiotherapy, then relaxation.The group psychotherapy last Thursday wound up being largely an introduction thing -

Seshat Czerethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05809019892370992637noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8876447720981483476.post-19733663002406528332009-06-24T13:07:00.000-07:002009-06-24T13:13:13.615-07:00

Guest post from GaiaFrenzoo is a fashion and style community, in which 3D avatars are used as a medium through which to communicate, and to show off one's individuality. A new program is being introduced: the Pro 3D Creator program. As a part of this program, you will be able to create, and easily import into Frenzoo, 3D fashion items. Later on, there will also be the opportunity to import

Seshat Czerethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05809019892370992637noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8876447720981483476.post-66753882170881652812009-06-23T07:23:00.000-07:002009-06-24T08:17:28.457-07:00

Today was my first day at the pain management program I'm doing.The good news is that everyone was nice and friendly and helpful. The bad news is that I'm EXHAUSTED!So I'm not sure when I'll be able to finish the things I've promised people. :( That includes finishing the images for the latest tutorial, and finishing the clothing-for-novices templates I promised. They will get done, but I'd say

Seshat Czerethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05809019892370992637noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8876447720981483476.post-85827011244240538972009-06-02T06:33:00.000-07:002009-06-02T06:36:55.690-07:00

I discovered a new feature in the Gimp. Okay, an old feature, but new to me. It's amazing for highlights and shadows, so that's where I put it.Check out the new "Other layer types" section near the bottom of the Highlights & Shadows tutorial.

Seshat Czerethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05809019892370992637noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8876447720981483476.post-3291289583481443382009-06-02T06:10:00.000-07:002009-06-02T06:19:55.021-07:00

Australians are funny people. Our national identity is wrapped up in strange things.A song about a sheep-stealing vagabond (Waltzing Matilda).A poem about retrieving a runaway horse (The Man From Snowy River).A battle which was a disaster right from the planning stages (Gallipoli).Genocidal convicts and exile-soldiers (the initial colonization - and the deliberate killing of many Koori* & other

Seshat Czerethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05809019892370992637noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8876447720981483476.post-89621559304389419212009-04-25T13:14:00.000-07:002009-05-03T14:47:29.276-07:00

Many people in Second Life sell their products in scripted vendors. Many more seem not to know how to sell their products at all.However, Second Life includes a very simple, straightforward way to sell products, with no scripts at all - extremely low lag and reliable. It's built in to the prim editing system.Preparing the itemsTo start with, you need something to sell. Making that something is

Seshat Czerethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05809019892370992637noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8876447720981483476.post-90613999129362588272009-04-19T05:42:00.001-07:002009-06-20T01:55:16.764-07:00

Skin and clothing layersA Second Life avatar is like a papier-mâché (paper mache) sculpture. It has an underlying shape, which is constructed of a lot of 'lines' and 'vertexes' and looks like a chickenwire framework. And on top of that chickenwire framework, it has several layers of colour - like layers of paper over the chickenwire.The bottommost layer, right next to the chickenwire, is what we

Seshat Czerethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05809019892370992637noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8876447720981483476.post-1708167641724387632008-12-26T18:11:00.000-08:002010-02-02T07:39:34.665-08:00

Chosen Few is one of the great texturers in Second Life. He very generously created a pattern which I use extensively to align my textures - and he made it free for everyone to use. He made the pattern available in a Second Life Forums thread.There are other texture alignment grids available. Each has different features, you might prefer a different grid to this one. But if you've never used an

Seshat Czerethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05809019892370992637noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8876447720981483476.post-51957467375161730992008-10-02T02:30:00.001-07:002008-10-25T11:17:51.382-07:00

You bought something - maybe from me, maybe from someone else - and you're not happy with it. How do you get satisfaction?Conversely: sellers, how do you know when a customer is doing their best to be fair about a transaction they're unhappy with?And how do you avoid being the Unruly Customer in a seller's blog? This guy made it all but impossible for the seller to help him!The really short

Seshat Czerethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05809019892370992637noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8876447720981483476.post-23133007767004468922008-09-14T05:03:00.000-07:002008-09-26T07:28:19.794-07:00

In-World StoresSeshat Studios RoosaI have a shop of my own! Wyn Nitely and I share a building in Roosa (one of the Azure Islands commercial sims.The ground floor is furnishings, rugs, and other homewares. The upper floor has my clothing and animations, and some clothing and art that Wyn makes.Everything I sell is available at Roosa, though some of the variations (no-copy/transfer, for instance)

Seshat Czerethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05809019892370992637noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8876447720981483476.post-43600557706166545612008-08-29T04:39:00.000-07:002009-10-07T04:00:29.969-07:00

In part one, we collected the tools we'd need to make clothing. In part two, we made a basic shirt with no features.Now in part three, we will learn about highlights and shadows. Wrinkles and folds are made the same way as highlights and shadows, but will be a tutorial of their own.Open your Tutorial Shirt file that you made in part two. If you prefer, you can open anything you wish, but this

Seshat Czerethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05809019892370992637noreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8876447720981483476.post-59961307816219048662008-08-29T01:52:00.000-07:002008-08-29T03:28:41.470-07:00

DownloadDownloading is taking a file (in this case an image) from the distant site (SL) to the local site (your computer).To download an image from SL, open it from your inventory. This should get you a window like the one in the image to the right.Then go up to the File menu on the left of SL's top toolbar. You should see 'Save Texture As...' as an option. Select that. You can now select where

Seshat Czerethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05809019892370992637noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8876447720981483476.post-49646152759850752072008-08-22T05:58:00.000-07:002008-09-08T13:58:57.022-07:00

One of the frequent requests on the NCI (New Citizens Incorporated) group channel is for tutorials on animation.Here are the websites I used when I learned to animate, collected into one neat post for your convenience.A thread on animation editors for SLJacek Antonelli's Blender tutorial, link to Blender, and animation exporter from Blender into the .bvh format used by Second Life.The Second Life

Seshat Czerethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05809019892370992637noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8876447720981483476.post-36541192855730954422008-07-07T03:18:00.000-07:002009-11-27T07:56:10.979-08:00

I took some time out to make myself - and everyone else - a little toolkit. It's a template skin made from my blend of Robin and Chip's avatar templates, and a set of shapes.The 'clothing designers' shape set has the faces set at 50, but the body sliders have been set at all 0, all 25, all 50, all 75, and all 100.The 'skin designers' shape set has all sliders (face and body) set to all 0, 25, 50,

Seshat Czerethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05809019892370992637noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8876447720981483476.post-54127033617217653662008-07-01T21:25:00.000-07:002008-07-07T03:18:33.753-07:00

A friend of mine wanted clothing suitable for a fantasy dwarf avatar. Normally this wouldn't be a problem, but she wants a female dwarf. That's harder to find.So I opened the Gimp and my set of blended templates, and created a white base layer.I wanted to put fur trim on this garment, so I studied several images of fur. Fur is essentially repeated patches of short semi-parallel lines of a lighter

Seshat Czerethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05809019892370992637noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8876447720981483476.post-23251448818467019622008-07-01T17:46:00.001-07:002008-07-01T18:39:03.179-07:00

Gwendolyn Cassini is a generous woman. Every month, she lets a new designer have a month's free rent in a shop on her island.This month, I won! So come to Gwendolyn Island and see my shop. And while you're at it, go to the big shop (Cassini Creations). Someone as generous as Gwendolyn deserves to sell stuff, after all.

Seshat Czerethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05809019892370992637noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8876447720981483476.post-76794975743520280982008-06-30T12:00:00.000-07:002009-10-09T10:59:51.550-07:00

In part one we got ready to make Second Life clothes in the Gimp. Now we'll make a simple coloured shirt: our first item of actual SL clothing. You make Second Life skins using the same techniques: you just paint skin colours instead of clothing colours.If your Layers dialog is missing, re-create it with Dialog->Layers from your Tutorial Shirt window, or File->Dialogs->Layers from the main Gimp

Seshat Czerethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05809019892370992637noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8876447720981483476.post-86720711468563986982008-06-30T11:09:00.000-07:002010-08-24T11:06:02.852-07:00

Apparently, there are few good tutorials about making Second Life clothing & skins in the Gimp. Or so I'm told. Well, I use the Gimp, so I may as well explain.TheorySecond Life clothing comes in two types. One type is prim attachments to the avatar, and that's not what we're working with in this tutorial. Those are made within SL, using prim building techniques.The other type is painted onto a

Seshat Czerethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05809019892370992637noreply@blogger.com30tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8876447720981483476.post-452178552469437912008-06-29T05:39:00.000-07:002008-06-29T05:55:32.548-07:00

Well, all my Seshat Studios records are duly included in GNUCash now.Spark of Genius has cost me nothing (Thank you!) and I've sold 650 Linden worth of stuff there.Carmarthenshire Market has cost me 1,680 Linden and I've sold 2,050 Linden worth of stuff.Gianfar has cost me 320 Linden and I've gained 750 Linden.Medieval Times Market has cost 200 Linden and gained 250 Linden.In sales direct from my

Seshat Czerethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05809019892370992637noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8876447720981483476.post-7812359331558387902008-06-28T01:40:00.000-07:002008-06-28T02:09:18.284-07:00

I've been doing administrative work, for the last few days. Setting up an OnRez and an SLExchange shop, setting up a GNUCash financial management system, and generally dealing with the annoying parts of running some sort of business.In SL, I've been meeting people, exploring, and mostly socialising. I've also created a roleplay character.Amidst all that, I set up two more shops. So now I have

Seshat Czerethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05809019892370992637noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8876447720981483476.post-81540843248543100052008-06-20T10:33:00.000-07:002008-06-27T22:32:25.662-07:00

Eloh Eliot is an extremely generous woman. She has not only made quality free skins, she has provided the original PSDs for them.Find Eloh's free skin PSDs here.I haven't yet studied the files - I only got the link and sample skins today - but the skins I tried on my av look good.

Seshat Czerethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05809019892370992637noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8876447720981483476.post-83059203251469118992008-06-20T10:13:00.000-07:002008-06-28T00:23:57.355-07:00

. . . and since then I've kept busy. I made a red iris-ed eye, because I'd had inspiration to. And I researched vendors, chose SVN, and installed five SVN vendors. And finished the display images for the Rowan set (the laced leather). And totally neglected the blog.Oh, and I won a 'Newbie show and tell' for my red iris-ed eyes!

Seshat Czerethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05809019892370992637noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8876447720981483476.post-4747436863868289302008-06-15T22:30:00.001-07:002008-06-28T00:50:26.145-07:00

It's Monday, and my new power supply is, according to tracking data, "being packed". This is annoying. Oh well.I'm using the time productively. Some housework, some art practice, some planning for new outfits. I'm also working on the class I mentioned last post, and on the scripts that I'm writing and planning to sell.

Seshat Czerethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05809019892370992637noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8876447720981483476.post-48952538602360799692008-06-13T05:57:00.000-07:002008-06-28T01:13:51.954-07:00

I've been kept away from Second Life by my computer's power supply. Damn thing decided to go bust on me, and my replacement supply didn't arrive today. So - hopefully Monday. In the meantime, I'm doing some of my RL chores, a bit of scripting, and writing a lesson I think I'll see if I can teach through NCI.So. For the title of this: my family (me, Tat, Feldie) were out at the local shopping mall

Seshat Czerethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05809019892370992637noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8876447720981483476.post-47693596204605090502008-06-11T05:35:00.001-07:002008-06-28T01:21:52.677-07:00

I was going to work on scripts, but I found myself in a mood to draw instead. So I made the ranger-ish outfits I'd been wanting. A friend of mine in Gianfar (a Pern sim) says they're also very Pernese. So I started by making leather, in the Gimp.Making leather, I open up the Gimp, then a copy of the templates I use (a blend of Chip Midnight's and Robin (Sojourner) Wood's), and make a new layer.On

Seshat Czerethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05809019892370992637noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8876447720981483476.post-23578013909768559952008-06-08T22:41:00.000-07:002008-06-08T22:50:48.091-07:00

What many of you probably don't know is that I'm a trained programmer. And one of the things you learn in your training is version control. What the hell is version control, I hear you ask? Okay, I don't hear you ask, but I bet a lot of you are wondering.When you're writing anything important, you go through a bunch of tries. Programming - or scripting - is no different. Version control is

Seshat Czerethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05809019892370992637noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8876447720981483476.post-13993800843615756132008-06-08T22:15:00.000-07:002008-06-08T22:32:07.237-07:00

The curtseys are in store now.There are three curtseys. The first is an informal one which is a simple bob down and up, with the head slightly lowered. It's the sort of curtsey you see in period dramas where a maid is responding to the housekeeper or the lady of the house.The semi-formal curtsey is similar to the informal one, but the curtsey is held for a short time at the lowest point of the

Seshat Czerethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05809019892370992637noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8876447720981483476.post-34555978768021303202008-06-08T22:03:00.000-07:002008-06-08T22:35:33.768-07:00

I need to finish the Epicurean stuff (the eating script), and make a demo script for the demo roll. All it needs is some final testing on the scripts, proper 'bread rolls', and the demo script. I've got a ranger outfit I've dreamed up. And a variation on the Brigids. A variation on the Florences. I want to make a noble's outfit. I want to make male peasant's wear. I want to make male nobility

Seshat Czerethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05809019892370992637noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8876447720981483476.post-58210674230803114692008-06-08T22:02:00.000-07:002008-06-08T23:05:24.540-07:00

My business is now Seshat Studios. Not just 'Seshat' or 'Seshat's shop' or whatever. An actual business name.I've got a Second Life group by that name, too. Seshat Studios.

Seshat Czerethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05809019892370992637noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8876447720981483476.post-53577451870407596502008-06-08T21:48:00.000-07:002008-06-08T22:04:00.262-07:00

Yet another change. I attended an NCI class on consumer skills, and the woman giving the class gave good reasons for consumers to want modify permission on their clothing. So I thought about it, and realised there is no reason not to give modify permission.Nothing I've made, except the Lisa scarves, relies on no-modify permissions for me to sell lots of different colours; and I included the fact

Seshat Czerethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05809019892370992637noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8876447720981483476.post-73835077358978715382008-06-06T02:05:00.000-07:002008-06-06T02:09:14.145-07:00

Carmarthenshire is a medieval roleplay sim, and logos for the shop should have a medieval feel. My Egyptian logo definitely doesn't!So I took some time today to come up with a different logo for the Carmarthen shop. My first attempt was to try to 'medieval-ise' the Egyptian Seshat image, using the Bayeux Tapestry as inspiration. It was a total washout.My second attempt was based on illuminated

Seshat Czerethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05809019892370992637noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8876447720981483476.post-74829305999089394742008-06-05T04:09:00.001-07:002008-06-05T04:20:09.919-07:00

I can't believe I forgot to post about this! I got the eating animation done in Blender. It really was just a matter of learning the controls.I still can't find all of the controls I want, but I have the ones I need. The eating animation is repeated, and the Blender inbetweening does look smoother than the Qavimator version.And now I have a re-done curtsey. The technique is the same as my

Seshat Czerethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05809019892370992637noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8876447720981483476.post-73368398692889306252008-06-04T05:05:00.001-07:002008-06-06T02:01:35.666-07:00

I want to use the butterfly lace in sale items, but I want to provide a freebie so people know the quality of my sale items.I was going to just have one colour of the butterfly lace as the freebie, but then I realised - if I use it in flexi-prim stuff, I need to make it modifiable so people can fit it to their avatars. I could upload a coloured lace specifically for the freebie - or I could make

Seshat Czerethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05809019892370992637noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8876447720981483476.post-49941528642525238902008-06-03T02:28:00.000-07:002009-05-04T07:20:05.687-07:00

IMPORTANT NOTE: Since viewer release 1.22, clothing is no longer darker than prims. Do not tint prim clothing attachments grey anymore.When I'd finished setting up my shop at Carmarthenshire, a friend I'd made there - and a friend of hers - came to check it out. They both adored the Florence clothing, but they wanted it in colours as well.So I went ahead and checked colours with them (go into

Seshat Czerethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05809019892370992637noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8876447720981483476.post-17047704338645085672008-06-03T02:27:00.000-07:002008-06-06T02:10:37.094-07:00

I have been brave, and bold, and rented space in the Carmarthenshire fantasy-medieval roleplaying out-of-character shopping mall. You can find it with a search for Carmarthenshire, or you can click here to go to Carmarthenshire Market.I've put all my clothing I've made so far there - since it's all appropriate - and once I've gotten the hang of Blender and made my animations for the eating/

Seshat Czerethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05809019892370992637noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8876447720981483476.post-41669802941446269312008-06-03T02:26:00.000-07:002008-06-06T02:24:10.906-07:00

With my lace, I want to make lace skirts and scarves. So I started by making a plywood box.I modified the box with an X taper, played with stretch until I had a triangular prism that was as thin front-to-back as I could get it, and a metre high. Then I turned it into a flexi, and made sure the point of the taper was the root of the flex (if you have it wrong, just reverse the X taper).I painted

Seshat Czerethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05809019892370992637noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8876447720981483476.post-20917523632255852682008-06-03T02:25:00.000-07:002008-06-04T05:04:26.571-07:00

I had produced a unique version of the Brigid set for an auction: the version has a butterfly embroidery on the apron, rather than the simple flowers the others have.And since I had that embroidery hanging around, and I wanted to play with lacemaking, I cut the image and pasted it into a new Gimp window.Then I made the image (motif) white, with a transparent background. Then I pixel-by-pixel

Seshat Czerethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05809019892370992637noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8876447720981483476.post-18274886540584377742008-06-03T02:24:00.000-07:002008-07-07T05:58:48.201-07:00

I showed my animations to a friend of a friend, who happens to be a professional animator. She complimented me on them, and told me she was amazed that they were my first ever animations (WHOOO!)However, she said I needed to work on my timing and smoothness, and suggested I look at the program called Blender. She also offered me an SL skeleton/armature she'd developed for Blender. Jacek's Blender

Seshat Czerethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05809019892370992637noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8876447720981483476.post-5608769959380907772008-06-03T02:23:00.000-07:002008-06-06T02:05:10.949-07:00

If you think any of my stuff sounds cool, I have space at some friends' shop. It's called Spark of Genius, and is easy to find with Search->Places in SL. Or you can click here to go to Spark of Genius.My stuff has a Seshat logo on it (taken from an Egyptian image of Seshat, the Egyptian female counterpart to Thoth).The vendor I'm using should be easy to use: my friend has been using it and makes

Seshat Czerethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05809019892370992637noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8876447720981483476.post-872170079059990942008-06-03T02:22:00.000-07:002008-06-04T04:52:05.647-07:00

Second Life's rules about textures change sometimes, but at present all clothing textures get converted to 512 by 512. Since the Gimp (which I use) is better at converting textures than SL (probably) is, I get better results by doing the conversion myself.Besides, a 512 by 512 image takes less time to download to other peoples' clients, so my clothes and stuff are 'cheaper' for the hardware.So I

Seshat Czerethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05809019892370992637noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8876447720981483476.post-60035041305403940082008-06-03T02:21:00.002-07:002008-06-15T22:35:18.087-07:00

So I'd figured out most things, and I decided I wanted to have a go at body parts. I researched skins, and decided that I already had the basic techniques for them, I just needed to get the art - and the time and patience.Prim hair is texturing and building: again, art, time and patience.So I decided to have a go at eyes.I found 'create new body parts' under 'create' in the inventory menu. (This

Seshat Czerethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05809019892370992637noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8876447720981483476.post-39650162654113129952008-06-03T02:21:00.001-07:002008-06-06T01:38:22.744-07:00

Gestures, it turns out, are sequences of animations, sound and chat text. Sound usually bugs me, so I typically go for silent gestures.Gestures are created with the Create menu in the inventory. I find it fairly self-explanatory: drag the animation into the right hand side, fill out the Trigger and Replace With boxes (or leave Replace With empty, to have nothing show as chat).To add a chat line,

Seshat Czerethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05809019892370992637noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8876447720981483476.post-60944907654322695022008-06-03T02:15:00.000-07:002008-06-06T02:18:48.383-07:00

After all that clothes-making I got hungry.Well, not really. But I had a thing I wanted to figure out. How to make food that gets consumed.Wherein I make the animationsFirst, I needed an animation. Back to Qavimator.This time, I left the left arm, the pelvis, and the legs entirely untouched. Doing this, SL lets the previous animation control those parts of the body - so if the avatar is standing,

Seshat Czerethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05809019892370992637noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8876447720981483476.post-30143189530983913752008-06-03T02:12:00.000-07:002008-06-04T04:40:27.868-07:00

I was talking about the Brigid set with Alarah Weatherwax, and she asked if I could make her an outfit for her character. She was playing a healer, and needed something designed to be a practical - most clothing in SL is flamboyant or dramatic, and not really suitable for the character she had in mind. She also specified dark colours.So I thought about it, and came up with the features of the

Seshat Czerethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05809019892370992637noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8876447720981483476.post-85180005406913079142008-06-03T02:08:00.000-07:002008-06-04T04:27:33.664-07:00

I joined the Osgiliath roleplay community, and developed a bartender character. I looked for female commoner fantasy medieval clothing, and couldn't find anything that really suited the character I had in mind.So I made my own.I went back to NCI's wall, read the tutorials for clothing making, and grabbed both Robin Wood's and Chip Midnight's variations on the standard SL clothes-making

Seshat Czerethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05809019892370992637noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8876447720981483476.post-60806539684049249332008-06-03T02:04:00.000-07:002008-06-04T04:18:18.765-07:00

I couldn't find a curtsey animation or texture in among the freebie animations, and I wanted to play and explore in a fantasy sim. So I wanted one.So I went to the NCI (New Citizens Incorporated) 'sign maze' in Nova Civis Caledon, and checked out their animations lesson-sign. Grabbed the notecard, did some reading, and downloaded Qavimator.The tutorials and documentation for Qavimator are fairly

Seshat Czerethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05809019892370992637noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8876447720981483476.post-8247501474734367362008-06-03T02:01:00.002-07:002008-06-04T04:17:16.138-07:00

The first clothing I made, rather than acquired as freebies, was made with library textures and sliders.I discovered when editing my appearance, that I could make new clothing items. Go into appearance mode, and select an item of clothing. Take off the one you're wearing (there's a button at the bottom of the screen, left of 'save'), and it shows you 'Create new (whatever)'.So create a new '

Seshat Czerethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05809019892370992637noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8876447720981483476.post-15513901440611258892008-06-03T02:01:00.001-07:002008-06-06T02:12:50.095-07:00

I joined Second Life on 19th April, 2008.Since then, I've been playing with making stuff and doing stuff. And I know I'm going to forget how I did things, or sometimes what I've done. So I need somewhere to keep my 'notes to self'. I'm a writer by trade IRL (among other things - I'm also a programmer), and sometimes my 'notes to self' are useful to other people. So I'll make them public.For the

Seshat Czerethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05809019892370992637noreply@blogger.com0