new TV Channel -- perhaps too ambitious?

Right, so, as per the Linden's recent announcement, they want to take bids for a player-run television station.

Some highlights include: minimum 4 hours a day of live programming, a maximum team of five, and a rather sophisticated system of setting up shows (developed by residents, of course).

Now, pardon me if I'm wrong, but we, as a community, don't even have a full hour of edited video machinima after 3 years of existance. How the heck are we going to produce not only 4 hours of live content (interesting content, mind you) a day, but also fill in the remaining 20 hours with stuff?

Considering the tools we have to work with... a low-fps client, a kludgy interface, no native way to properly record video (the SL renderer skips frames and speeds up randomly), no live sound support (without resorting to third party devices), and the inherant non-dynamic movement of our avatars (standing around typing != good television)... how are we supposed to do all this?

Now granted, there have been great videos -- but they are few and far between... we get a new video offering from the community perhaps once a month? 3-4 minutes in length total... At this rate we should have 24 hours worth of programming in about 5-6 years.

And live streaming of events... what, World Series of Tringo? Moneyball Leeching 101? What dynamic events happen 4 hours a day that can be shown on highly compressed video by a stationary camera?

Bah.

LF

Truth, they would have the MAKE the events that would be filmable. I'm thinking 6pm news with on site news updates and ambush reporting.

AR: "Mr. Phillip Linden, have you stopped beating your wife yet?"

PL: "Yes! NO! I mean... Hey! Are you filming this! Come back here! What the hell do you think you're doing?!?!"

AR: "And there you have it, Ambush news: We're out to get YOU."

I work in TV... and for just live newscasts of a half hour long you need a dedicated team of people working hours beforehand just to put it all together.

Is it doable in SL? I'd say if you get a truely dedicated team together with the motivation and the shuffle to do the production nessessary, yeah... its doable...

But you're gonna need a LOT of behind the scenes people to make it work - and not fly by night 'this could be fun' kinds - people who deeply care about what they're doing, and are willing to kick ass and take names on a daily basis to make it happen.

For me - personally - not even gonna get involved.

Why?

Well after busting my ring for 8 hours putting the real news on the air.. the last thing I want out of a 'second life' is log in and do the exact same thing.

That being said - best of luck to those who take on the project.. I'm happy to give advice - along the same lines as a station consultant might.. but that's the be-all of my involvement.


Siggy.

OMG !! After cleaning my keyboard, yes I was drinking coffee

Foolish, I can just imagine that

Yes. Maybe a tall order but lets wait and see. SL never fails to amaze me

{edit}
Those post counts are way above mine !! Am I slacking here?

yeh, that's what'll bring the viewers, 'sl-COPS'!! seriously, i could see a good creative outlet finally for the 'griefer' set - give them a 'punk'd' style show. that'd be hilarious - 'sl punk'd'!!

there's lots of possibilities... a travel show could easily kill an hour or two - the host just preps their location list, grabs the cam, and takes the audience along on a pleasant flying tour of the hotspots/quiet spots along the grid...

just the fact that they've made an ava-cameraperson is terrific - i'll have to go check out the current feed; are they already using it?? just to get the cam moving around... having it sit in one place got pret-ty boring after awhile...

so, i think there could be many willing, prescreenable (for responsibility's sake) volunteers for shows. the 'producer' position though, with the website, archiving, et.al., is a bit imposing. ummm... how many Ls does that pay again??

I have to say that I agree: Linden Lab is asking (hoping) for way, way too much here. I read the announcement that called for bids and thought the whole undertaking seemed way overwhelming. The job they're asking for needs to be paid. Putting something like this together reliably isn't a small investment of time. It almost seems like a last ditch effort to get something moving for which a budget could not be secured.

LL needs to simply hire a team of people to handle 'SLTV" to manage content. And, get this, pay them money. They would take submissions from SL'ers, work on actual shows, etc.

If I did a show for SLTV it would be an over-the-top superhero show with cursing, nudity, and extreme violence.... if we could decapitate heads...

Naturally, Second Life is perfect for soap operas and a Jerry Springer knockoff or three.

Using your sig: "BDSM Furry Vampire Tringo Addicts, and the Grues who love them, on the next..."

Okay, so maybe not a good idea for those wanting to keep their dignity... or their sanity.

where is this sltv annoucment/call to arms located on-line? i'd love to read it and

seems like it could be a fruitful new medium in sl..

what do you think? scripted comedy sitcoms/dramas or news-based magazine style daily show type shows on life in second life?

what would you rather see be made?

i, for one, would rather a newsy show disseminating information to the masses although im not sure it's so neccessary with the derth of sl blogs online...

/3/b0/56624/1.html

something kinda semi-related:
/120/8d/56824/1.html

I'd say that it could be possible but is HIGHLY unlikely. Many of you know I was working to get a series off the ground not long ago -- is it happening? Not very likely. People don't have the time.

I am still trying though for other ideas with less production work and more guerilla media styles, but it's rough.

I do know that there are people in SL dedicating their time to projects to make the process of SL machinema simpler.. but it will always come down to animation. It's a tonne of work not a whole lot of people will find interesting.

I want to see media produced in SL, but LF kinda has it right -- it's a shitload of work to make something look relatively decent.

Compelling live footage? Har!

I never say impossible, and so I'll wait and see what happens for now.

Welp, as my mind is always full of ideas, I do have a way to full their requirements, but it wont be easy as pie. Oh did I mention I have no experiance with editing, or running a television station?

But what the hell eh?

Worth a shot,

- Sam

I really agree that LL has too many high expectations here.

SL is perceived more as a passtime then a commitment: You will have alot of people probebly intrested in starting this up. But as soon as they'd have it rolling, if it will take too much time and effort from "the next fun thing", it will pretty much collapse as people just walk away.

Other then that, 4 hours a day requires alot of content - more then SL's current people can handle without alot of stress.

The one model that I see here that might work is the Active Worlds model: Active Worlds used to host "TV shows" by using a set of still frames rather then live video. What people did was basicly make afew shows, and have them run as a loop for a week. Each week they'd try to have a new show ready to put into rotation, and so on.

Slow pace, little content - but it worked nicely.

Ofcourse, a refreshing texture also had the nice ability to just run quietly on the background without generating noise or requireing too much resources from your computer - so my guess is that people will not "leave the TV on" in SL as they do in RL and did in AW.

Still, a point for thought.

I work in radio. It costs $200/hr to produce. TV is around $1000/hr.

Ambitious? More like absurd.

I agree, it all makes sense, except for the four hours a day bit.

Ramping up way too quickly.

Test the waters with a few short programs, repeat them several times a day.

Actually, what they should do, is put the word out for commercials. They could charge for the content and I suspect it'd be pretty cool to boot.

I have to agree, and a little 'bizarre' that we are discussing this the day we announce the:

avalon.film festival fall05

For exactly the reason discussed, a festival that is broadcast over a set period will allow everyone to enjoy and be part of a 'TV type event'.

Also, the 'live' aspect is only relevant per timezone.

Plus, if you know about any type of TV production, the burnt out rate will be severe!

The festival we have organised, will really allow us to showcase new talent, allowing everyone in SL the opportunity to see and experience short-films they would, probably, never have the chance to see: many cultures, many language and in many styles.

Lets not get hung-up on tired out of date 'analogies'; lets talk less about a linear TV kinda experience, concentrate instead on how we can push the paradigm?



If anyone in SL would like to contribute, lets us know.



Best


River Dusk

Ask not what your game service can do for you, ask what you can do for your game service.

SLTV should definitely be a volunteer work and not compensated in any way just like Mentor, Live Help, Greeter, because we wouldn't want people to do US$1000/h work just for the compensation* but because they love what they are doing.

This has got to be the most crass attempt at exploiting the playerbase I've yet seen. I read this thread just after one that pointed out that *ingo is now on the events calendar under "Education" because LL can't dedicate the staff to police something as trivial as that.

Want some PR videos? Then hire a firm to do it. Hey, even Real, Inc. doesn't give away free content. And you know what else? Streaming video still sucks over the internet.

*Sorry, I remembered that Live Helpers got t-shirts which probably works out to "wages" that would make a Nike plant manager blush.

This throws it all way into perspective. Worth repeating. Thank you.

Right. Because, after all, SLTV will require expensive camera equipment, live professional actors, physical sets, makeup and wardrobe, and all the other wonderful things producing TV requires.


Folks, buy a high FPS machine (powerful graphix card + lots of memory + good CPU + great bandwidth) and you're pretty much set.

I don't think SL is looking for movies and cinema, but rather people wondering about and showing off the cool content that SL has in interesting ways.

You know, maybe a visit to Darkwood to have a chat with the workers .. or hanging out in boardman to swing, or flying around a new continent to check out the lay of the land.

Basically if you're good at the inworld camera, have an eye for popular content, type in a way that is grammatically correct, and you have a high FPS machine, willing to do a little bit of editting, I'm sure LL will be happy with whatever you do.

However, I don't understand why they're ramping up so quickly like this. Why not just test the waters with a few user submissions first? Maybe to get everyone excited?

Or, maybe they've already had a realistic and good offer from someone they like, and they're just trying to open the competitive space so people don't think they're just giving it away to the FIC.

Who knows.

Goodness, you're right, blaze. I completely forgot. Television is expensive because of the magical machinery that TV studios have that plan things for them, that run the cameras and organize the talent. It's not that intelligent people have to coordinate a lot to make television happen, no. It's that blasted magical machinery!

I don't understand what the fuss is all about. SL is full of ready-made content just waiting to be broadcast! Just look at the events calender...it's an embarrassment of riches, chock full of gambling events and strip shows! Now that's good TV!

Whoops, content has to be PG...ditch the strip shows, it's the lottery channel 24 hours a day!

LL has willfully let the state of events in SL rot, and now they want 4 hours of live content each day. If they hadn't thoroughly hosed the event system, it might not seem like such a herculean task; there might already be content out there, interesting events, refined to the same level of quality to which builders and scripters have been refining the products of their labors. Instead, potential event holders have been fleeing from the stagnant event system in droves. Trying to hold an interesting event is the most thankless task in SL next to tracking down denuded money trees.

I am normally a big booster for both LL and SL, but I am pissed off by the sheer gall of this request; I wouldn't touch this project with a ten foot, plywood, noob-style penis. Not because it seems so overly-ambitious, but because LL has turned around and asked for help from the very people they've abandoned.

The programming doesnt have to be that complex. They expect a live feed somewhere, thats as easy as parking someone somewhere for a couple of hours.

Another feed idea would be as simple as an exploration show. Just have a camera follow someone around on a tour. Have it random, or focus on a theme. Give a snapshot tour of each sim, have a subject each week, "Castles of SL" or "Gardens of SL" (etc), or host a random resident profile show, interview people about what and why they do what they do and tour their home or shop. All these would be interesting for me to tune into, but thats just a small sampling of ideas.

For actual shows, the TV crew (one person?) just has to show up to an event that has been planned and arranged by a group dedicated to putting on a show. The idea of having your play or performance be seen via a webstream is just an added bonus or incentive to get the idea off the ground.

Long term goal is to host archived shows. Those that have been wanting to produce SL videos but have not been that motivated because they have no means to host an audience for their work will have a place to showcase what they have done.

The ones that take on the task will have to be organized and plentiful enough so that anyone can take up the slack should a single user have to bow out for some reason. Success (or failure) should not be placed on the shoulders of a single user. There should probably be some sort of minor compensation, but the ones that take on the project should be doing it because they enjoy it first and foremost.

Maybe my view of it is too simplistic, but it all seems like a win/win situation to me.

haha, having worked in video production for the past decade I can tell you that it's not only people outside the industry that think this. It's a common meme in the brains of most producers, account reps, sales people, and clients. "You told them we could do what? By when?! For how much?!!!" Yeah, let me just hit the "make cool button." I'm sure it'll be done by the time I get back with my coffee.

In a similar vein, what fraction of podcasts are worth listening to? How many blogs are deeper than "this is what I had for lunch"? How many webpages are worth bookmarking?

I heard Jon Stewart interviewed on how much work goes into making 40ish minutes of amusing per day, it is a lot. I would guess Jay Leno (larger audience) has dozens of writers working all day to produce 30 minutes of content.

Okay, maybe I'm setting the bar too high. Let's think about "Wayne's World" style community access television. Even though the production time is at least two times air time, quality productions like that would bring the players flocking in.

Is it gall or delusion? Short list of things that would keep players here:

1. fix bugs
   
2. have more than one person on support at anything other than PST business hours
   
3. fix bugs
   
4. fix asset lossage
   
5. answer support mail
   
6. fix bugs
   
7. document the system so that people don't have to fight to learn to play
   
8. have a beer
   
9. make streaming video of someone building Cabin, Small