Film Noir

       Two destinations that delight this week. Grid addresses at the end of the post as usual.
        If you have not visited Avacon Grid yet, put it on your 'Must See' list.

         Not only is Avacon closely associated with the organization and prep work that goes into the annual Opensim Community Convention (held over on OSCC Grid), it is also home to some interesting regions, including the Building Tutorial region Primland, you may remember it being originally on Fleep Grid; some nice work-in-progress Library regions belonging to Rockcliffe University, and of course Nebadon Izumi's regions bursting with interesting free stuff, called Oni Kenkon Creations.

          But for our purpose, the conference hall on Avacon Plaza, the grid's Welcome sim, was our destination.    Our reason to visit the grid was to hear a presentation by Marcus Llewellyn about streaming and filming inworld, using opensource tools.

          Roughly twenty of us attended,  from France, Germany, the Netherlands, Italy, Britain, Sweden, Spain and of course the US and Canada. The event was in Voice, which I know can be a bit of a downer to anyone not of the English persuasion, after dinner on a weekday, but Marcus did a great job in keeping things easy to understand for the non native speaker. And there was so much information packed into his fifty or so minute presentation, the time flew by and this useful slides made it easy to follow.
         So much to learn about useful tools, and how to avoid those silly beginner's mistakes that can mess up a live streamed event. And best of all, the focus was on free opensource tools... what's not to love!?

Marcus Llewellyn

               Marcus discovered SL very early on, but demurred to the idea of having to hand over credit card details to be part of the game. He finally joined in 2007, and not long after that, of course, third party viewers became all the rage. On seeing them, it occurred to him to wonder - if someone is making their own viewer, might there not also be people out there making their own grids? That's how he discovered OSgrid, got involved in all kinds of creativity, including Blender... and the rest is history.
          Marcus is the guy behind the camera on countless videos of the OSCC, and tutorials that can be found on Avacon's Youtube page  and that is where you can watch the video of our visit!
         

         Later, after the presentation, Avacon Veep Joyce Bettencourt explained to us the evolution of AvaCon, the grid that puts free open source tools front-and-enter, promotes the metaverse, and lures scientists and educators, adults an students, into the wonderful world of Virtual.

AvaCon Co-founder Joyce Bettencourt

Sunbeam Magic: I better find my sunglasses, the FUTURE for Avacon is looking so bright!!

       Second stop. a party to remember our friend, mentor, and one of the original 4 founding members of Craft Grid, Lumiere Noir.

              We met on a region called The Caravan in the base of an Ivory Tower that also seems to be a huge tent, or even a genie's bottle, depending on how the light catches this extraordinary construction.

Tosha Tyran

             Lumiere's partner, Tosha Tyran, a fine builder in her own right, with such acclaimed installations as the Hopi Indian village, the new Craft shop on Park Plaza, her refugee-themed build Far Away, and countless fun accessories. while Eva and DJ Fire kept the party revved up.

         It was a chance to think about how important it is to give back to the community we live in. Sometimes just a kind word, or a helpful hint is all that is needed to make the difference to another person's virtual experience. Sometimes it can be by sharing our projects, so that we can inspire and encourage other builders or teachers to do the same. For a person like Lumiere Noir, sharing what he knew in a humble, humorous way, came as second nature, and his Ivory Tower of Knowledge remains a cherished asset for countless builders.
Arielle Delamerlibre: Lumiere has also a great meaning in my second life, I never talked to him, . but ever learned
Cherry Manga: Thank you for keeping Lumi's spirit alive, Crafters
     Dozens showed up to enjoy the lights and the music, and to pay their respects to our dear friend. His life-affirming spirit and his love of all things witty, pretty, and imaginative will never be forgotten!

HG Addresses

Avacon Conference Hall grid.avacon.org:8002:avacon plaza 

Lumiere Noir Event craft-world.org:8002:the caravan