Lloud and Clear

What's going on in Opensim can be a difficult question to answer. There's so much happening on so many grids and people who are busy making things don't always have the time or the temperament to effectively let others know about their creations.  

One way this need for communication is being served is through two broadcasts, MBTV News and Inworld Review,  filmed on Sundays from 10 am Pacific time, and available on Youtube. 

Making a show like this isn't easy - and there is a lot to learn not only from the guests on the show, but also from those behind the scenes...

MBTV News is a weekly rundown of headlines, videos, tweets, gossip and press releases covering all things virtual, from emerging hardware and innovations in technology for virtual worlds, to the personalities and companies behind all kinds of virtual platforms. The show is designed to give you a complete panorama of all the plans and promises made by entrepreneurs around the world, so you have a real-time idea about what the next bit thing in the metaverse - or multiverse - may be. 

A second show, Inworld Review, is all about Opensim, with news from the grids, and guests who describe their projects and grids in detail.  Here, for example, are Dabici Straulino and Kelso Uxlay from the Inworld Review of April 3 this year. Dabici and Kelso did a walk through of their Spring build on Creanovale, their personal grid, based in Canada.

Who exactly makes these shows? If your answer is Mal Burns, well known in both opensim, Sansar, and of course Second Life for his long career in communications, well then you are only partly correct.

 Sitting right next to Mal in each broadcast is James Atlloud - who is that guy? What's he doing there?

James Atlloud

 Excellent questions. Many Safari tourists will tell you, James is a regular on our trips around the hyperverse, jumping from grid to grid, meeting artists and builders and exploring a wide variety of cultures and creations. 

James Atlloud: I chose Kitely as my home grid. I felt it would be the most permanent grid at a time when OS grids were popping-up and popping-out.  The Kitely Market is also a big factor for selecting Kitely as home.   My Kitely avatar buys things for my other OS grid accounts.  I also support OSgrid but I don’t maintain any land or inventory there.   

James is the cameraman on both shows, so talks less than one might like - a shame, because he has a lovely speaking voice - but he's busy behind the scenes, making sure all the various media come together. James discovered the potential of Opensim about eight years ago. How did this come about?

James Atlloud: I started my VW explorations in Second Life for my Master’s degree after ruling out there.com.   I’m pretty sure I first came to opensim when SL betrayed the educational community by eliminating educational pricing.  I opened my Kitely account in September of 2014.

The Inworld Review stage

James Atlloud: Some years ago, Petlove [Petshop] was a frequent streamer for Mal.   I was watching Inworld Review on YouTube one day and Petlove announced that she would be leaving. In an unusual burst of effort, I approached Mal and Tara to see if I could help out.  My first streaming tests were in April of 2015 and I streamed live for the first time on 25 Sep2015.  We were using Livestream Procaster at that time.

A commitment to a weekly show with some serious technical challenges is not for the faint hearted. It requires enthusiasm, but also a keen sense of the history and the potential of Opensim as an evolving platform. Optimism does not, however, mean that James doesn't have concerns and ideas about how Opensim could improve.

James Atlloud: I adore OpenSim and the communities there.  But I am also concerned that it has a chaotic development community that could fracture severely at any moment.  Just a very few well-intentioned people seem to be keeping it active.  I am also a VR enthusiast and the inability of OpenSim to provide an immersive VR experience may just be too much of a limitation for younger people.  It seems the average age of OS users is climbing and that is a statistic that can only climb so far.  I’ve learned so much from OS and it still has features that are not available in other platforms.

Thirza Ember: What is the best and what is the most challenging part of doing a show live inworld? Do you have any advice for people wanting to do videos in virtual worlds? 

James Atlloud: Hoo-wee, that’s quite a question!  First and foremost, 1.) a streamer’s internet needs to be fast, fast and fast.  And reliable.  I’m very fortunate to live in a neighborhood with fiber optic internet buried underground.  Outages have been almost non-existent (knock on wood).  After that, 2). a streamer needs a fairly powerful computer and at least two large monitors where one monitor can be dedicated to generating the virtual world image to be streamed and the other monitor to run the streaming and audio hardware.  A close number 3.) is mental dexterity because there will always be problems - especially with audio.  In my experience, most streams are audio with pictures - if the audio is bad, the video is nearly worthless.  After those three very important things it then becomes an issue of 4.)  having a Producer who has clear objectives for the project.  There are SO MANY OPTIONS when creating a video stream and having an expert to prioritize things is critical.  A Producer will also make aesthetic decisions and provide feedback to the streamer to achieve those aesthetics.  There are countless hours of how-to stream resources online, but I think the four things above are critical.