Nocator: May 2011

Sintel.. A Emotional Story

While looking at Blender the other night, I discovered this film in their gallery. To be honest, I wasn't sure if I should post this since it is very emotional. But considering the quality and amount of work that obviously went into this film, I just have to.

Sintel is a short film started by the Blender Foundation to promote and I can even dare say "show off" what Blender can do. What exactly is Blender? Well it is a free 3D creation suite, excellent for 3d modelling and animations, as seen in the film. It can even be said that it competes with some commercial 3D creation suites! You can get more information over at Blender's homepage.

The animation and models in the short film is really well done and smooth, which flows very well throughout the film with well done transitions. The voice over is also very well done with a soundtrack that suite the film.

The story itself is well thought out and keep you interested throughout the film. There is just one thing, and I am warning anyone before you watch this movie. It's really emotional. You have been warned, so if you start crying hysterically, do not blame me :P

Anyhow, here is the film and for more information about the film you can head over to the Sintel Homepage.

Update... Again!? Yes, yes it is!

Another update!! This time it's my BanP - Ban line detector so that you know when they are coming toward you like a rock!

For all the none - Second Lifers, Ban Lines are the result of people setting their piece of land to only allow certain people to enter. Other than being an eye sore, any vehicle you are in when driving into them will be stuck! Since you do not always see the lines fast enough or until your too close to do something, a lot of people's peaceful driving experience is interrupted by them.

To prevent that, I created a detector back in 2009 to detect these lines from 200 meters away. It helps a lot to avoid ban lines and makes the experience more fun :D. So I have updated it and changed a lot.

Other than the design (there is a wood and tech version now in the box), I have rewrote and combined some for a faster and less laggy experience. I have also changed some guidelines to detect regions better, include an automatic updater for when I launch new updates again, and finally, an optimized lag free resizer so that you can resize the HUD very easily.

So what are you waiting for? Go do some shopping at my store :D

About the resizer: Standard resize scripts in Second Life used to be (and at some places still are!) where the creator have put a script in every piece of prim for hair or clothing. That means there is sometimes up to 50 or more scripts just for hair!!

The thing about this resizer script is it is only ONE script. One script does the whole job that 50 or so did in the past and it works fast and very lag free! This is thanks to Brilliant Scientist, Maestro Linden and Ann Otoole!! You can check out the script over at the Second Life Wiki or if you want to get it as a freebie straight to Second Life, head over to the Marketplace where Ann Otoole is giving it away ^^

Another Update - Oilform.

I am in the progress of updating some of my old products and the next one that has been updated is Oilform, the Oil Platform I created in June 2009.

There are a few stuff I have updated on this product:

-Some textures has been changed or replaced that looked on the low quality side or was not aligned well.
-Updated the sounds to better sounds than what it had.
-Included an updater so future updates of this product is free.
-Optimized some scripts, so they work better and faster now.
-Last but not least, I have enabled modify so that you can change the build if need be.

I changed the readme a bit and also took new pictures of the oil platform. It is on sale on the Marketplace for the same price as it was before, enjoy ^^.

ASN Instructions - Update

Well it has been a few years since I created these textures for the Alteran Stargate Network created by
Alpha Fox to help new users to the network understand how the gate system works.

I have updated the texture a bit from the old design and like before, there is two versions, light and dark. I also updated my blog address since it changed from braclo.blogspot.com to nocater.blogspot.com.
Below you can see the difference between the two and the dark version.

Old Light

New Light

New Dark

So if your still new to the network, feel free to pick it up over at my shop on the Second Life Marketplace, it is free after all :D

License: The textures is licensed under Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 Unported. http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/3.0/

The License is clear. Do not modify or sell this image but you are free to copy and share it. My name is on the picture so attribution is given.

New Product! Introducing... Scannor!

It is finally here and can now be found on the marketplace!

(click the images to be taken directly to the item's page)

PROMO PRICE TILL END OF MAY 2011

Scannor is the new way to make events more interactive and fun. It is a system that shows to the resident, with the Scannor-HUD, how far they are from the treasure and this is showed with a flashing light/repeating sound. It is almost like a hot/cold game. You get closer, the Scannor-HUD beeps and flash faster, you go further away, and it beeps and flashes slower.

Just to make something clear at the start - this is NOT a cheating item. This item will NOT tell you exactly where the treasure is. It will only show you with sound and visual flashing, so it will still take the resident time to find the items while making it more fun for them to take part in events.

What happens is that the owner set up their event and treasures using the Scannor-Server. The resident comes along, click the Scannor-Server and receive the event settings (if they pass the limitations e.g., If it is set to group only) and their Scannor-HUD is updated with the name, number of treasures to be found and more. Now the resident can run around, click scan, and check their flash indicator to see how they are doing. The residents also have an attachment, e.g., Flashlight for Role Playing purposes. These attachments only change color or light and do not indicate anything else that would indicate to other residents where treasure is. Same with the sound by the HUD, which can only be heard by the resident wearing it.

I have released four different HUDs and four different Servers. There is also a HUD Multi-Pack and a Server Multi-Pack.I will probably create different HUDs in the near future. If anyone has a theme to suggest, feel free and I will look into it :D

For more information:
Scannor-HUD Manual
Scannor-Server Manual

You can contact me in Second Life as Braclo Eber.

Winners of the MachinimUWA III

The winners of the MachinimUWA III: Journeys competition have been announced!

The joint first place winners are:

Journey into the Metaverse by Tutsy Navarathna

and

Juroney by Eric Boccara

And in third place:

Unplugged by Al Peretz

There was a lot more winners of various prices, but sadly Drax and Vi in "Journey to to Top" did not bring home any trophies this time, but maybe another time :D

For a detailed list of the winners and overview of the event, head on over to the UWA in SL blog.

Congratulations to all the winners and thank you Jayjay and everyone that helped him for a awesome event!

MachinimUWA III: Journeys Finale!

Little more than an hour to go before the MachinimUWA III: Journeys Finale!!!

Last night went pretty well with day two of the Review Event that reviewed all 50 entries over two days live on air at the UWA-BOSL Grand Amphitheatre. Ill post a player link later for the audio of my interview last night! :D

Meanwhile, get ready for the finale! Starting 06:00 SLT at the UWA-BOSL Grand Amphitheatre, the event will include the Second Life dance group The Phoenix Embers Showcats, the awesome Tukso Okey and the winners announcement!

If you cannot make it into Second Life, you can head over to http://metaversetv.com/live/ that will be streaming the event live!

The Event Starts:
06:00 PST (San Francisco, USA Time Zone) - 22 May 2011
14:00 BST (London, UK Time Zone) - 22 May 2011
15:00 SAST (Cape Town, South Africa Time Zone) - 22 May 2011
21:00 WST (Perth, Australia Time Zone) - 22 May 2011

For more information on the event, head on over to the blog of the UWA in SL.

Hope to see you there! :D

MachinimUWA III: Journeys

Well the time is nigh for the winners announcement!

Meanwhile, last night the reviews started of all 50 machinima that was entered the competition. Pretty cool event with an awesome location, the comments are very helpful to machinimatographers and overall it's an epic feeling! :D The event is at the UWA-BOSL Grand Amphitheatre with The Spotlight Radio Show that broadcast the event live!

The second set of movies will start today at 12:00 SLT (Second Life Time = Pacific Time Zone. so 12:00 PDT) and will continue for several hours until all reviews are done.

I will be interviewed at 15:00 SLT, give or take, and Journey to the Top will be shown. So if you're in the area, be sure to drop by the UWA-BOSL Grand Amphitheatre in Second Life. You can also tune into The Spotlight Radio Show to listen and watch the live stream on website :D. (Check links below.)

So to make it easy for people that are to lazy to convert times, I did it for you :P
The Event Starts:
12:00 PST (San Francisco, USA Time Zone) - 21 May 2011
20:00 BST (London, UK Time Zone) - 21 May 2011
21:00 SAST (Cape Town, South Africa Time Zone) - 21 May 2011
03:00 WST (Perth, Australia Time Zone) - 22 May 2011

The time when I will be interviewed and Journey to the Top will be shown:
15:00 PST (San Francisco, USA Time Zone) - 21 May 2011
23:00 BST (London, UK Time Zone) - 21 May 2011
00:00 SAST (Cape Town, South Africa Time Zone) - 22 May 2011
06:00 WST (Perth, Australia Time Zone) - 22 May 2011

If you ever want to learn more about time zones or need to convert time fast, check out this website for any information concerning times and dates: http://www.timeanddate.com/

Links of information and SLurl of the location in Second Life:
UWA in Second Life main blog: http://uwainsl.blogspot.com/
Review Event - http://uwainsl.blogspot.com/2011/05/machinimuwa-iii-review-hosted-by_19.html
Full list of entries and Information: http://uwainsl.blogspot.com/2011/05/machinimuwa-iii-full-list-winners.html
The Spotlight Radio Show information: http://www.thespotlightradioshow.com/machinimuwajourneys/schedule
SLurl to the UWA-BOSL Grand Amphitheatre: http://slurl.com/secondlife/WASP%20Land/241/106/1645

Hope to see you there :D

New Promo Video!

So I recently got asked if I can make a promo movie of a region in Second Life called 69 Park Avenue, Secret. Well it is done and uploaded on Youtube now :D

Be sure to check out this awesome region by Silexe Core here: http://slurl.com/secondlife/The%20Secret/93/187/23

The cool song that is heard in the video is by FunandMore. Really catchy and fun tune :D Check it out and more songs here: http://www.newgrounds.com/audio/listen/270753

Hi all!

Greetings all!

Well been a while since I have updated this blog, so decided it’s about time I post something here and let you know what I been up to and what’s news.

Products: First, I am working on a new product in Second Life. Based on an old thing I made for my role-playing group, I decided to redo it and make it compatible for most situations. The coding is so to say done, some building still needs to be done and some designs need to be finished, so overall, it’s about 90%. Be sure to watch this space, as I will launch it soon.

Movies wise, there is an idea for a movie but some details need to be looked over so no confirmation that is going to be filmed yet. I am also currently working on a promotional movie for a pretty cool region. More details and the video coming soon.

For the Drax and Vi fans, there has been a lot of talk and ideas flying around for a new movie with them. People really seem to like it, so the possibility of one happening is very likely, but the ideas have not been put on paper yet, so it will still be a little while.

April Script Frenzy... well sadly I ended up not taking part in it. I was spending my time more on other stuff and decided in the end that I just do not have the time for it.

Journey to the Top... Well it has been entered into the Machinima UWA III competition and people seem to really like! The winners will be announced at an event on the 22nd of May. Be sure to check out the official post at the UWA in SL Blog for info how you can even take part! Oh! In addition, check that video while you are there!

Ants! I recently posted about an ant problem in my external hard drive. Well, I tried out the cinnamon powder as suggested on some websites, but sadly, it did not seem to have much effect. Seems like they will avoid it slightly, but if their determined, they are not bothered. Maybe some other types of ants do not like cinnamon powder, but I do now know enough of ants to confirm that. In the end, I won by switching off my external hard drive when not in use, meaning it is cold a lot of the time and they lose interest.

Well that is all from me for now, watch this space for updates to come :D

Oh! I updated the sidebar of the blog a bit, so you more easily find post under certain topics!