If SL freed your creativity...

Pretty much what Jesse said: It almost doesn't matter--it's kind of enough that somebody *could* choose to look at it. That's not to say that occasional words of encouragement aren't appreciated, but I think just the fact that the object is out there is what's necessary and sufficient.

But, taken another step, the "there" being the SL grid somehow matters. I'm sure there must be online "communities" of folks who exchange 3D models and simulations via websites, but that wouldn't interest me in the slightest. I'm not sure why not; I'm not even sure it has anything to do with social factors or if it's all technology. Somehow it just seems more "real" in SL's VR context than it would as a kind of file exchange or a stand-alone 3D scene, no matter how navigable it might be.

I guess something about it is shared with a gallery exhibit, somehow; it's just more satisfying to think somebody might come to your sim and see your object than to think that same somebody might look at a website or examine a file they downloaded. Exactly why, though, is just beyond my powers of introspection, at least for the moment.

The social atmosphere might help some. It certainly doesn't hurt that I look 30 years younger in SL and can always take a break from creating and go hump my brains out somewhere. It may be virtual but being desireable again even in a virtual world is better then nowhere. A combination of admiration for your skills and lust for your avatar is a pretty heady combination

Do you want Sex now?

Only if you also have some pie!!!!

I had prior experience with creating virtual 3D things using VRML. I built a complete theatre in VRML. I built a true-to-life model of the house where I lived at the time in VRML. But who was coming to look at it? My spouse and a few relatives; nobody else! And my VRML creations did not have human-looking avatars in them, except for a sort of bot I created scrubbing the kitchen sink.

Now I can build things, small ones and big ones, that can be seen by people from all over the world! And for some of these things people even pay me a few pennies.

I started with building a club, but it is slowly growing into a theatre again. And it is all open for people to visit! One day a real theatre performance will take place there.

So nothing was really stopping my creativity, but it gives so much more satisfaction to be able to share it with other people. That gives me extra power to make it beautiful.

This answer I find extremely interesting.

You had no idea that you could be creative - but for some reason, SL inspired you to give art a try even though you had no idea it would be appreciated - where RL hadn't done so. Why do you think that was?

Alright what gives Yumi??

Are you writing a thesis or what?

Experiment in school or what?

Seemed like an innocent question in the forums but now you are beginning to get kind of creepy like a psychiatrist digging deeper and deeper.

Just go back and look at your questions whenever we post something here. Sure doesn't seem like a normal response.

I've been thinking the same thing. It seems odd to ask such an innocuous question, then challenge every answer given.

So Yumi, is there a point to this, or are you just looking for an argument today? If the latter, perhaps Mr. Figtree will whip out his Python for us.

I hope it matches......

And he isnt wearing your panties.

I wouldn't say that I had "no idea that could be creative." I was, after all, a pastry chef for 10 years. I just had no idea that I could use a digital medium to be creative. It's a very different thing from the heavily tactile medium with which I was comfortable. Wedding cakes are a far cry from SL clothing!

Kinda a nice topic for a thread, and I don't sense an impending argument, but I did find myself wondering if there isn't something specific for which we're being "fished" (although if so, I musta guessed wrong about what that might be).

Now... suppose Yumi is trying to distill the essence of that which spurs creativity. On the premise that something about SL makes it happen, imagine if we could discover the magic elixir of the SL muses: maybe we could make the potion more potent in SL, or pot the stuff and port it to other media--like, say, the art school atelier, a scene I always found to snuff out any trace of creative spirit.

That's more or less it, Qie. What I'm trying to find out is - since it seems that there _is_ something about SL that spurs creativity when people join, a) what is it, b) is it in danger (as some people on these forums have said it is), and c) how can we expand it and, especially, ensure new people are exposed to it?

A lot of newer people, especially on the Help Islands, seem to reject the idea of creating their own things out of hand - although these are usually the people who have had it suggested to them in response to the question 'how do I get money?', so it could be that's just their in-built attitude.

I've been running a Show and Tell event for almost two years now, which is specifically so that new folks can be encouraged to display their works and get attention paid to them, but the popularity of these events has declined a great deal recently and - worst of all - there have been more and more cases where later entrants have pulled out because an earlier entrant showed something they considered "better" than theirs, which always breaks my heart because it's the exact opposite of what I'm trying to achieve by running the event. This is part of why I found Oryx's answer was fascinating because it implied that SL inspired him to give creating things _a try_, even though he had "no idea" whether they would succeed or not, which is practically the opposite of the "if I can't win, why play?" attitude those other people were exhibiting.

So it's been suggested that we should restructure the event, and I'm sort of seeing if there's anything I could change that would help inspire people more.

I would think that the true reason your event is losing audience is that we've gone from a world of what seemed like limitless possiblities (always a great inspiration to creativity) where the focus was placed on the "dream it, be it" mentality to a much more commercial/whitewashed world where the emphasis is placed on 'how do I make money" (always a surefire way to squelch creativity).

SL did free my creativity by allowing me to use a vastly different medium then I'd been exposed to previous to coming here. Then it put a number on it and sold it to big business.

Probably it has something to do with the fact that SL gives a place to be creative, either out of curiosity or necessity. I never did any 3d modeling, don't have any graphics programs other than MS paint, have am not a gamer. Owning land in SL gives a reason to look into some of the skills necessary. I don't spend a lot of time on it, and haven't done anything outside of SL, but I'm sure others who may be in a similar situation ae running with it.

I can see how a beginner might feel like thier skills are so inadequate that there isn't much point in trying to learn to build stuff, especially after seeing something like the ballerina sculpt I found in the Greenies House.

http://www.pbase.com/cptinrn/image/83869781

I'm a competent builder but a beginner at using 3D software, and that scupt makes me feel inadequate.

got held up at the NINTH gate?
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my creativity was locked due to low confidence. after seeing some wonderful builds, i kept asking myself how in the S-ELL can i compete with that? then i started taking building classes and fooling around with shapes and stuff, and well eventualy ill get there..

I can see how a beginner might feel like thier skills are so inadequate that there isn't much point in trying to learn to build stuff, especially after seeing something like the ballerina sculpt I found in the Greenies House.

http://www.pbase.com/cptinrn/image/83869781

I'm a competent builder but a beginner at using 3D software, and that scupt makes me feel inadequate. Nevertheless, I have loved creating things my whole life, so I'm going to keep trying to learn how to make sculpts. Even if I can't afford the $7,000 software that was used to make that ballerina.

It's not so much that it was "locked." I design an create in my first life, too. But...

SL allows me to work in a new medium: before SL, any creation I did was strictly 2D.

It has also allowed me to create items that, IRL, would not need to be created (again).

It allows me to create tangible objects without a need for raw materials (aside from texture creation, perhaps)

I can create items beyond the realm of reality: a floating lightbulb or Sims-style crystal to put over my head, for example.

As far as my photography, it has allowed me to explore new camera angles: I can be the most patient model in SL, when I need to be.

Mari

Not sure about SL freeing my creativity, but I do believe that seeing some of the things that other people have created can be extremely inspiring. At which point you can either say "Oh crap, I could never be that good, why bother?", or you can decide to give it a damn good try and have some fun along the way. For me, the fun is actually in learning.

My creativity was sitting locked up in prison, "Life with no parole" said the judge. Then SL was put in the cell next to my creativity and they got to talking. SL had a plan to break on out and it would take my creativity with it. So they sawed at the bars with their toothbrushes for many days and nights until the time was right. SL and my creativity ran free into the night avoiding the hound dogs and the men with guns and never looked back.

Unpaid parking tickets. I left it alone while I went into the Subway for a turkey sandwich and the next thing I knew they booted it. Bad times.

Most of my creativity prior to SL involved language. I love the writing that I do, but it's not typical creative writing and while others in my field might appreciate it, nobody else in their right mind would. It makes me happy, though. For an artistic outlet, I tie flies. It's great, but it's another outlet that isn't designed to impress anyone (other than the occasional fish). I guess SL is the first place where I feel that with enough practice and work, I might be able to create something that someone else can enjoy. So, that's my goal.

Why was it locked in the First Place?
Mostly because i cannot afford the 6.7 Million Dollars Give or take that it would Cost to create some of the buildings IRL that i have in SL. (There is also the issue of Gravity, But that is another problem all together)

Angel.

I've never been locked up. SL just offers new doors to open.

As others have said, SL offers a whole new vocabulary for all types of creativity. I started messing with simple scripts to create unique art that could never be done in RL. I build huge apartment communities without any outlay for building supplies, an engineering degree or plumbing contractors. I've just started building suspended roller coasters that would easily cost a few million each, if I tried the real thing. (Plus, RL can't handle these coasters, since they do not require supports for the tracks...)

Every time I meet another creative person who shows me something new they've accomplished in SL, it sparks a new idea within me.

Where does one get the chance to rub elbows with so many creative people 24/7? How cool is that?

I think Brenda can help you with this...