Linden Labs own Stephen Lewis in Renderosity Spotlight :)

Has anyone else seen this yet? Pretty COOL! Just stumbled on this. Here's the URL:

http://www.renderosity.com/hostedforums.ez?hostedforum_id=102

NMG

Yep this was posted a few days ago!




Cool, eh?

Clicked the link. Got:
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Bah
**waves bye**

The Spotlight
Second Life in the Spotlight

An inside look into the latest craze in virtual worlds. Second Life has opened new doors for users of Curious Labs Poser.

Stephen Lewis joins us for a week of questions and answers as we discover how we can create the life we always wanted.

Our guest:


Stephen Lewis
Community Spotlight - NOW OPEN!

Now through December 14th you are invited to ask any questions you may have.

He will be on hanging out with us to answer questions you might have about Second Life, Linden Lab, and how products like Curious Lab’s Poser® fit into this dynamic virtual reality realm.

STEPHEN B. LEWIS:

Stephen is a digital artist and animator with 12 years employment in the game industry. He has created graphics for coin-op., console, and PC games while working for companies such as Paramount Interactive, Epyx, Acclaim, and Sega. Preferring to work within a small team developing innovative products, Stephen found a home at Linden Lab where he has been working for the past 3 years.


Stephen B. Lewis

Stephen's roles and responsibilities have evolved with both the product and the company. Prior to the public release of Second Life, Stephen created the base Second Life avatar model using Zbrush and Maya, as well as hundreds of morph targets and texture maps underlying user-directed avatar customization. He also created many of the default character animations and gestures using Poser. After the product's official v.1.0 launch, Stephen's role transitioned toward the creation of some of the early content for the virtual world including buildings, vehicles, clothing, and characters while continuing to refine and extend avatar customization. As the population growth of Second Life escalated, Stephen's responsibilities transitioned yet again to focus on the design of new terrain meeting customers' ever increasing demand for more land. As the development of Second Life continues to evolve with new innovations and technologies, Stephen's role as artist will likely continue to evolve as well.

Known as "Xenon Linden" within Second Life, he assumes many forms including monkey, construction worker, or vixen(depending on mood), continuing his work to help build the New World.


For more information, visit:

Find out how you can experience the adventure for yourself!



Poser® is a registered trademark of Curious Labs.






Q 1 by LillianH on December 7, 2004 9:22
Good morning Stephen!

Thank you for joining us here at Renderosity. We appreciate your time and are excited to find out more about Second Life and how it works.

I am trying to envision what the Second Life experience might be like. I have seen some dance clips, and pictures of skiing and sky-diving. How are these things possible in real time and how does the user control the movements, particularly when dancing?

Is it hard to set up an account? Does it require any special software?

Do you have a "favorite place" within the Second Life world? If so, what is it and why?

Again, we're glad to have you here with us and look forward to learning more about this cool new place.

Best wishes,
Lillian

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A by Stephen Lewis (StephenLinden) on December 8, 2004 04:29
Q. Do you have a "favorite place" within the Second Life world? If so, what is it and why?

A. That’s a tough question, if only because things in Second Life change so quickly. Back in the “old days” of year or so ago the world was small and there were relatively few “places”. A stand-out for me was an amusement park featuring some of the first resident created rides in SL. Many of them were amazing and fun experiences including roller coasters and boardwalk style rides (Spook House and TimePlunge come to mind, both of which still exist in world and are still great fun). These days there are hundreds of full-fledged destinations including amusement parks, casinos, themed clubs, malls, island retreats, memorials, Zen gardens, a “serious” locale that simulates the delusional world of schizophrenia by temporarily afflicting you. I really couldn’t point to a favorite.

I enjoy finding places in SL that play with my perception of reality. I recently discovered an island called “backstage” consisting of a a den/living room built to giant proportions, effectively shrinking your character to the size of a mouse. There are toy cars scattered all over the parquet floor and since you’re tiny you can of course get inside them and drive them around. Another ambitious project recreates Olde London from the story of Peter Pan. It’s fun to just walk around the city as a site seer, but there are also deeper levels of involvement faithful to the story, all created by residents of SL.

The world has become so large and there are so many creative people building amazing things and experiences it is now literally impossible to see and do everything in-world. By the time you’ve visited every area on the map, new areas will have been added and old areas will have been completely made-over. The exciting aspect of this rapid change is that the bar keeps getting raised, with not only the amount but more importantly the quality of user-created content improving.


A by Stephen Lewis (StephenLinden) on December 8, 2004 03:21
Hi Lillian,

Thank you for hosting this Spotlight and giving me the opportunity to answer any questions the Renderosity community has about Second Life (SL). Before I get to your specific questions I’ll give a brief overview of what SL is and why it may be of interest to the artists here at Renderosity.

Typically, SL is often described using buzzwords and phrases such as “a massively multiplayer online virtual reality dynamic real time 3D simulation.” These terms touch on some of the core technology that allows SL to exist but do little to describe what SL is. Simply, SL is an online community of diverse people provided with the tools and freedoms to define the community. The tools allow one to create, build, explore, and communicate within the world, and in that way the residents of SL help shape the experience for everyone else.



A by Stephen Lewis (StephenLinden) on December 8, 2004 04:02
So is SL a game? There are certainly many ways to be entertained in SL’s space, including “games within the game” to play if you so desire. The key phrase here being “if you so desire.” A person participating in Second Life chooses what they want to do and how to do it rather than having pre-defined goals foisted upon them by an overarching game design. There is no way to “win” SL any more than there is a way to win your first life, but personal satisfaction and a sense of achievement is easily found in SL, and many residents have found the lack of typical game pressures liberating.

Since the world is defined by the participants, many of the tools provided are geared towards creation in 3D space. Objects ranging from houses to motorcycles to belt buckles can be constructed directly in-world using provided 3D solid modeling tools. Because the simulation is dynamic, as soon as you create or edit an object in-world it immediately exists for everyone. There is no upload or approval process hindering the creative flow.

Your character in world is infinitely customizable. You define your shape and clothing using hundreds of sliders controlling everything from nose tip angle to pant cuff flair; attach 3D objects like boots, swords, and hair extensions (built yourself or by other artists in the world); upload custom textures and apply them to your skin, clothes, and objects; and even upload custom animations created using tools like Poser to alter the way your character moves.

Another tool provided is a powerful scripting language (LSL) that allows objects to have behaviors. Everything from a door that opens automatically when someone approaches to complete multiplayer roll-playing games can be implemented within Second Life using the scripting language.

It’s difficult to distill everything you can do in SL down to a few short paragraphs, so I’ll stop there. On to your questions, Lillian!


A by Stephen Lewis (StephenLinden) on December 8, 2004 04:28
Q. Is it hard to set up an account? Does it require any special software?

A. It’s not hard at all. You can go to www.secondlife.com and sign up for a free 7 day trial. You will need a credit card for age verification (SL is an 18 and over only service). You will then be lead through a few simple steps to create a new trial account. To participate in SL you need a broadband internet connection (DSL, cable) and a modern graphics card. You will then download the SL “viewer”, a small 20mb application. This is the only software needed to run Second Life, since all the content in the world is downloaded dynamically to your viewer while you are in the world.



A by Stephen Lewis (StephenLinden) on December 8, 2004 04:03
Q. I am trying to envision what the Second Life experience might be like. I have seen some dance clips, and pictures of skiing and sky-diving. How are these things possible in real time and how does the user control the movements, particularly when dancing?

A. If you have ever played a modern real time 3D game you will be familiar with the look and feel of Second Life. The world is presented to you via the SL viewer, which you can think of as a connection and window into a communal 3D space. In third person mode you see your own character from behind, controlling your movement through the world using the keyboard and mouse. You can also experience the world in a first person mode through the virtual “eyes” of your character. default modes of travel include walking, running, flying, and teleporting. Additionally, it's possible to travel through the world in vehicles you or others may construct.

Certain keyboards combinations can be used to trigger what we term “gestures”, which are simply combinations of animations, sounds, and chat text. If you are going to a dance club in SL, you can easily apply a group of dance gestures to your character and press a single key to trigger a particular dance move. Trigger multiple dance moves in time to the beat of the club’s music and you’re dancing!

That is the simplest and most common way to dance in SL, but it's not the only way. Because of the flexibility of the scripting language, dance “controllers” can be created that automatically trigger animations on any person that gives it permission to do so, or even trigger moves for entire groups of characters at once in time to the music. Line dancing, synchronized swimming, and even ballroom dancing are all possible using scripted objects and custom animations.

Experiences like skiing and sky-diving are similarly created. If I decided to create a realistic ski experience I would first build some skis, poles, and boots using the in-world 3D building tools. Then I would apply a script to one of the skis that detected the slope of the land and if I was pressing a movement key trigger a custom “ski” motion on my character. Once created, I could share these ski objects with my friends, or even sell them to other people using the in-world commerce system. Perhaps a clothing designer would design some outfits in keeping with the ski theme and we could go into business together, building a little ski chalet/outfitters shop at the base of a mountain in SL, selling our wears to other residents in SL who don’t have the time or expertise to create their own ski equipment yet want to have that experience.

Q. Is it hard to set up an account? Does it require any special software?

A. It’s not hard at all. You can go to www.secondlife.com and sign up for a free 7 day trial. You will need a credit card for age verification (SL is an 18 and over only service). You will then be lead through a few simple steps to create a new trial account. To participate in SL you need a broadband internet connection (DSL, cable) and a modern graphics card. You will then download the SL “viewer”, a small 20mb application. This is the only software needed to run Second Life, since all the content in the world is downloaded dynamically to your viewer while you are in the world.

Q. Do you have a "favorite place" within the Second Life world? If so, what is it and why?

A. That’s a tough question, if only because things in Second Life change so quickly.
Back in the “old days” of year or so ago the world was small and there were relatively few “places”. A stand-out was a Linden supported amusement park featuring some of the first resident created rides in SL. Many of them were amazing, fun, full-fledged experiences including a couple roller coasters and boardwalk style rides (Spook House and TimePlunge come to mind, both of which still exist in world and are still great fun). These days there are literally hundreds of full-fledged destinations, including amusement parks, casinos, themed dance clubs, shopping malls, island retreats, memorials, Zen gardens, a “serious” building that attempts to faithfully simulate the disturbing, delusional world of schizophrenia onto your experience … I really couldn’t point to a favorite.

In SL, a favorite pastime of mine is looking for places that have been designed to distort my own perception of reality. Just recently I discovered an island called “backstage” that reconstructs a den/living room in giant proportions, effectively shrinking your character to the size of a mouse. There are little matchbox cars scattered all over the parquet floor and since you’re tiny you can of course get in the cars and drive them around. Another ambitious project recreates the world of Olde London from the story of Peter Pan. It’s fun to just walk around the city as a site seer, but there are also lots of interactive elements and games faithful to the story, all created by residents of SL. It even has a musical soundtrack. The world has become so large and there are so many creative people building amazing things and experiences it is now literally impossible to see and do everything in-world. By the time you’ve visited every area on the map, new areas will have been added and old areas will have been completely made-over. The exciting aspect of this rapid change is that the bar keeps getting raised, with not only the amount but more importantly the quality of user-created content improving.






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Q 2 by Jaqui on December 8, 2004 6:43
okay, when is a linux version coming out?

don't own a mac.
and don't use m$winders.

your site lists mac and hexp winders as os.
yet you use linux and .ogg for the server / streaming.

why no version running on linux?
( QT is on linux, KDE is QT based gui )


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A by Stephen Lewis (StephenLinden) on December 8, 2004 02:54
Hi Jaqui,

There is no official release date announced, but I can tell you that a Linux version is on track for beta release some time around the middle of '05. Assuming it follows a similar path as the Mac version (which recently graduated from beta to release) you and anyone else interested in the Linux version will be encouraged to bang on the beta. The beta version connects to the main grid along with everyone else.

Also, there have been several people who have been successful getting SL to run under Wine/WineX. There are a couple threads in the SL user forums describing what is required to do that but you need to have at least a trial account to view the forums.




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Q 3 by bushi on December 8, 2004 12:42
Interesting that this thread should be here now. Just last week I was out looking at Second Life and associated sites. Unfortunately, this old PC that I use for browsing just doesn't have enough horsepower to run the client software. Second Life will be a sure thing when this eventually dies and I have to upgrade.

Anyway, the question I have concerns importing objects into Second Life. From what I could gather, the only importable items are textures. All 3D objects have to be made using the imbedded tools. Is that correct, or have I missed something along the way.

Thanks!

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A by Stephen Lewis (StephenLinden) on December 8, 2004 03:37
Hi Bushi,

The three directly importable items into SL are textures (24 an 32 bit), character animations (in BVH format), and sound clips (10 seconds or less). You are correct, 3D objects in world are built using 3D "primitives" with editable parameters allowing for many complex shapes. You can then apply custom textures to each face of every primitive if so desired.

The is a good reason for this approach. Since the world is "dynamic", meaning that everything in the world can be altered in real time and instantly visible to anyone viewing those changes, an awful lot of data needs to be transferred down to every viewer of those changes. A procedural approach to 3D objects allows for very complex structures to be described in very few bytes of data, whereas a custom uploadable 3D mesh approach would bring users' viewers and internet connections to their knees, not to mention increased bandwidth charges for Linden Lab .

The characters in SL are constructed similarly. There is only one base "mesh" of 3D data used for every character, both male and female, plus hundreds of morph targets to alter the shape of the mesh to cover an entire range of humanoid body types. All this data is pre-loaded as part of the small viewer application downloaded when you first install SL. Each morph target is associated with a slider in the avatar customization GUI, so transmitting an entire character to every viewer is simply a matter of transmitting a set of slider values. Even though there are hundreds of sliders used to describe an avatar's appearance the amount of data required to store and transmit that appearance is miniscule.

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Anyone want to echo or paraphrase here for those that don't want to register with them>

Damn Stephen is hot... too bad it doesnt list his phone # !

Anyone want to upload a screenshot?

Its an interisting read, always fun to learn more about the creative team behind the source of SL.

I'd like to expand on that last question asked there though, and put the question to any Linden wanting to answer...

Is the ability to upload 3D models not allowed because of how SL currently handles streaming? Or is it something LL doesn't think will *ever* be possible?

My interist is based on the fact that ActiveWorlds somehow managed to pull off 3D model uploads, with no large swamping of bandwith. This could be because of the type of model they allow (.rwx I believe, Renderware native model) however, but still, wouldn't it be possible to allow 3D uploads of a certain type of model that may be within whatever restrictions you think would be nessisary?

ActiveWorlds is also streaming, with any updates made being visible to all clients, I would imagine the key differences would be with how AW and SL do the streaming.