Wednesday, October 12, 2022

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...

Monday, October 10, 2022

What Dreams May Come

 Eclectic & Ever-Changing are the first words you see when arriving on AI Dreams in Art, the new sim by Karima Hoisan featuring art by Dale Innis. A bold promise, you might say, but Karima isn't the kind of person who over-promises, and this build lives perfectly up to expectations.

At this point, pretty much everybody on Discord has tried their hand at MidJourney, with varied results.  Admired and despised in about equal measure of passion, millions of words have already been spent on its place in the art world, so there's no point in rehashing all that. 
What counts here is the inspiration, and by that, not just the word choice by Dale Innis that elicited the images, but also the fabulous way the images have been set, like jewels in a splendid jewel-box, in discrete galleries in collaboration with the wonderful Karima Hoisan.

Saturday, October 8, 2022

Fluxantis Fun

 Alien alert! Continuing the Pangea Art and Culture Festival, FLUXANTIS opened on September 30 with a big party. Made in Blender by Finja and Jason Flux, the predominant color of the build is turquoise - or is that Avatar Blue? 
 Finja and Jason Flux
The theme of the sim is scifi, with more with a touch of water-based fantasy and manga thrown in. Make sure you switch to shared environment to get the full effect of the region - it's beautiful!

Friday, October 7, 2022

French Weave

To weave the mirror's magic sights...
Tennyson, The Lady of Shalott

The appointed hour - the heure fixĂ©e -  is 12 noon SLT, let's call it 21 heure de Paris. The place, a marble palace on the tiny grid of Eden Cat, full of souvenirs, games, pictures, comfortable chairs, and music. The day - the first Thursday of the month.
It's time again for a regular get-together of anyone who enjoys the francophone community in Opensim. This month, half a dozen grids were represented among the participants, some with famous names, others bijou grids with only a handful of residents, some personal sanctuaries with a single  inhabitant.  It can be fun to have your own place, there's a lot to be said for it creatively and in terms of keep the drama to a minimum, but humans do tend towards gregariousness. Advice, encouragement, and some chill chit chat can make a welcome change.

Thursday, October 6, 2022

The Wonders of Wellspring

Opensim has a long and storied past, and certain projects exemplify the resilience, ingenuity and strength of  the community on the vast archipelago of independent grids that it comprises. One of these is the Sendalonde Library, currently residing on Digiworldz. 
This was the second destination on our Safari trip, and although we lost a few travelers due to the slight complication required to access the grid (you have to verify your UUID and some find that a bit complicated) the majority of us made it through. To welcome us, Alexina Proctor, Prax Maryjacz and Snoots Dwagon were on hand, and let us into the Sendalonde Theater which is an integrated part of the library building.
The Sendalonde Library is the gateway into 'Wellspring' - follow this link to learn more about that.
The Sendalonde is preparing for a grand reopening on Sunday October 16 at 1pm SLT , so you might say that our visit was a bit of a dress rehearsal for region performance! We saw a really nice slideshow down memory lane, ably put together by Alexina.

Cho and Tell

Kashi Takeshi: Hello all, happy to see you and welcome at Heiwa. Heiwa is hosted on the Virtual Worlds Grid that was founded 2 years ago.  The grid is non-commercial and sponsored by the founder and residents. Heiwa stands for Peace and is the name I gave this region where I am making a little Japanese village. I do like the old Japanese ways instead of the modern cities, The ambiance and atmosphere breathes Zen.  That's what I am trying to create here on Heiwa. Heiwa is still being build and hopefully will be ready this winter ;)  Many people helped my out to gather the items you see around  you.  If you happen to like an item please send me a notecard and I will deliver it to you later.

Kashi Takeshi 

Thursday, September 29, 2022

The Wow Factor

 Our second destination this week was to one of the most unusual and spectacular mesh builds you'll find in Opensim. Inspired by the great city of Dalaran in World of Warcraft, it's an immense labour of love by Gridmistress Wendie Blackthorn on her delightful grid, Kinky Haven. Lots of mesh, lots of passion, but not lots of Blender, as one might assume -pro tip alert!
Wendie Blackthorn:  I do not use blender to edit mesh, that program gives me a headache to look at it
Star Ravenhurst: What do you use?
The splendid floating city of Dalaran
Wendie Blackthorn: Wings3D   it's a much friendlier interface and has lots of tutorials that are easy to follow
Arielle Popstar: oh really, little more intuitive then Blender
Fetter Gyve: Good to know. Thanks Wendie. I will check it out