I’ve been banging away on a tutorial, called SL Animation for Blender Newbs. It’s a gentle introduction to the SL animation exporter, with just enough Blender-fu to get you started. And it has pictures! It’s about 80% done right now; I’m hoping to have it finished up tomorrow or the next day. So, mark your calendars and all that. *4AM head-desk-bonk*
A new revision (2008-06-02) of the Animation Exporter is available. This revision is mostly UI changes to improve usability, especially for new users who have not mastered Blender’s UI yet. The new layout will also scale better to different screen sizes.
Here’s the revision log:
And a snapshot of the main view. Click to enlarge:
Enjoy.
P.S. I still deny that I’m maintaining this thing, despite all evidence. :P
I don’t envy Linden Lab’s situation. Try to dodge the self-serving politicians and reporters nipping at your heels, and the Residents bring out the pitchforks and torches. It’s an impossible job, so it’s no wonder they’re doing so poorly at it. I’d have plenty of sympathy for Linden Lab. I really would.
Except that they put themselves in this situation. Read the rest of this entry »
Just when the trademark issue started to fade away from public consciousness, Linden Lab has provided us with an even bigger fish. Continuing Linden Lab’s campaign to strangle your inner child, it seems from all evidence that Dusty, Everett, and/or other Lindens are stepping in and barring the SL Kids community from participating in, and possibly even attending, Second Life’s 5th Birthday celebration. Read the rest of this entry »
A new revision (2008-05-28) of the Blender to BVH exporter is available. Here are the noteworthy changes:
A note about Auto-IK: for this revision, Auto-IK is enabled already, to make it easier for beginners to pose the armature. Just grab and pull on the arms or legs (but not the hands or feet; those won’t work), and the limb will move around. If you don’t want Auto-IK, click off the “Auto IK” button in the panel on the right (about 1/3 of the way down the screen).
A note about the hand and foot control bones: by default, they have no effect. But if you scale them up to scale 1.5 (select the bone, press S, type 1.5, press enter), the corresponding limb will try to reach for the control bone, using IK. You can use this to keep the feet planted on the ground, for example. If you don’t want the control bones cluttering things up, you can hide them by selecting them and pressing H; get them back with Alt-H.
By the way, a tip about using IK targets (like the control bones): it works best if the limb is already (without IK) in a pose similar to how you want it. So, IK just gives it that extra “snap” to keep it in place. If you only use IK without posing first, the limb might bend the wrong way and you’ll have to see a doctor.
Enjoy.
P.S. This doesn’t mean I’m maintaining it… :P
Long-time readers may recall my post last December about an animation exporter project I had been working on. I’ve been meaning to release it to the public for a long time now, but never got around to it… until today!
I’ve cleaned up the script and packaged it in a Blend file with the skeleton (it can’t export arbitrary skeletons as animations, it’s currently tailored to a specific one). The download link is below, but first I’m going to make you read my statement:
This script is the product of countless hours of study, effort,and tweaking. I had intended to use it myself to create and sell animations in Second Life, but plans and interests change, and I don’t see myself doing that anymore.
So, rather than keep it to myself, or let it linger untouched on my hard drive until the heat-death of the universe, I’ve decided to release it for the benefit of other animators and the general public. I hope some people find it it useful, and it makes their lives a little bit easier.
But, I have no interest in maintaining or providing support for it. So, if you can’t figure out how to use it, find someone else to teach you. If it stops working, find someone else to fix it. If you need it to do something new, find someone else to improve it.
I’m not trying to be rude. I’m sure you’re a very nice person. But I have a lot of ideas, and not a lot of time to spend on things that don’t interest me anymore.
That said, if you have the inclination to write me and say thank-you, or tell me about a project that it has helped you with, that would make my day. (I’m jacek.antonelli on gmail.)
- Jacek Antonelli
(May 19, 2008)
So there you have it. Go free, little exporter! Go free!
Both the scene file and the script are distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 United States License. (As is the image up top.)
Enjoy.
[Update: If you wish to use Blender’s Auto-IK feature for posing, you will need to unlock the left hand’s location. To do this, select the skeleton’s left hand, press N to open up the Transform Properties, and turn off the little lock-shaped buttons next to LocX, LocY, and LocZ. You may wish to do this for other bones as well, depending on your needs.]
Just in case you didn’t have enough giant megaprim sculpty octopods in your life, you can follow the pictoral story of the creation of my Giant Octopus sculpture from start to finish.
Background: Linden Lab has announced that they are planning to implement a system where search results can be flagged as mature, prohibited, spam, or worthy of being showcased.
I’m quite glad to see that some of the Lindens have started to give some heads up about their plans. The “surprise announcements” on the blog come off as arrogant and aloof (”Feedback? We don’t need your stinking feedback!”), and the suddenness of the announcements also triggers an instinctive opposition to change, the gut feeling people get when suddenly presented with something they don’t have the time or information to understand.
So, these advance notices are a step in the right direction. However — and this makes me quite sad — very few of the pre-announced systems undergo any significant changes before they are rolled out, even in the face of legitimate criticism (setting aside the usual wall of bitching and moaning). Read the rest of this entry »
Go check out the Information Week interview with Mark Kingdon written by the always-lovable Mitch Wagner. Also check out the Technology Review Q&A, from which I shamelessly lifted the source image for my LOLMark above (and simultaneously flouted Linden Lab’s policy against displaying their “Marks”. Wakka wakka.) Just don’t listen to the sound clip, it’s bad audio quality and he says “Um” a lot. Not at all flattering for the CEO-to-be.
He may not be as pretty as Philip Rosedale, but he has all the qualifications for the job: a passing familiarity with SL (although he’s going to have to make another alt now that his secret identity is out), lipservice towards businesses and the creative types, and most importantly, the “tech startup CEO” hair. Lookin’ sharp, tiger!
But seriously, he does seem like a pretty good fit, judging from his previous experience. And his emphasis on improving user experience (including platform stability) is good to hear. He does seem to have this strange notion that he’ll be influencing how Linden Lab does things, but I’m sure Philip will get around to letting him know that the job actually only entails travelling, giving talks, and writing feel-good blog posts at random intervals.
4.4 Without a written license agreement, Linden Lab does not authorize you to make any use of its trademarks.
So reads the summary sentence for the now-infamous trademark clause in Second Life’s Terms of Service. That unfortunate choice of words, and the similar phrase contained in the full text for that clause, might just be the source of the confusion that has myself and other concerned Residents up in arms.
The full text of section 4.4 reads (emphasis mine):
You agree to review and adhere to the guidelines on using “Second Life,” “SL,” “Linden,” the Eye-in-Hand logo, and Linden Lab’s other trademarks, service marks, trade names, logos, domain names, taglines, and trade dress (collectively, the “Linden Lab Marks”) at http://secondlife.com/corporate/brand and its subpages, which may be updated from time to time. Except for the licenses expressly granted there or in a separate written agreement signed by you and Linden Lab, Linden Lab reserves all right, title, and interest in the Linden Lab Marks and does not authorize you to display or use any Linden Lab Mark in any manner whatsoever. If you have a written license agreement with Linden Lab to use a Linden Lab Mark, your use shall comply strictly with that agreement’s terms and conditions and use guidelines.
Here again we see “does not authorize”. But how are we to interpret it?
To a lawyer, it probably means, unambiguously, that Linden Lab does not grant special permission for you to use its trademarks. It’s not a restriction on your rights, just letting you know that you don’t get extra permission simply because you pressed “I Agree”.
To a layperson, though, it can easily be interpreted to mean that Linden Lab will not allow you to use its trademarks. You can’t write or say any of Linden Lab’s trademarks, anywhere, ever, in any form, or Linden Lab will ban you faster than you can say “nominative fair use”.
I’m sure it’s a perfectly benign phrase, when translated into plain speech. Heck, they even granted us a license to use “SL” and “inSL”! Linden Lab’s General Counsel is probably utterly baffled as to why we’re not genuflecting and thanking LL for its supreme generosity.
But, in general, we’re not lawyers, and we’re not fluent in the twisted dialect known as Lawyerese. To many (if not most) of us, it reads as a restriction of our rights, and a threat of legal action. And as Residents watching the gradual “crackdown” on various freedoms we had enjoyed in Second Life, we’re especially prone to interpret Linden Lab’s legal moves as being hostile and restrictive, even if they were not intended to be.
There is one sore point, though, that isn’t directly attributable to poor communication: the “taking-back” of the phrase, “my Second Life”. Linden Lab doesn’t want us to talk about “my Second Life” or “our Second Lives”, because of the potential for confusion and/or genericide. That issue is a legitimate concern on the part of Linden Lab, as well as a legitimate complaint on the part of the Residents.
However, I’m willing to find an alternate phrase (”my virtual life,” maybe?) that does not have the potential to damage Linden Lab’s marks. And just maybe, Linden Lab will be willing to find an alternate phrasing that is less prone to being interpreted as overtly restrictive. Then maybe we could put this whole mess behind us, and get back to living our virtual lives.