flickr by abbaca. Title link takes you to more.Access Virus
Alesis Andromeda
Korg Karma
Via Dreamaiden in the comments of this Create Digital Music post:
"Photos are take of the front, sides, and back. These have to be positioned just right, for example, the front has to be straight up and down exactly. The photos are then saved as .bmp or .jpg files and uploaded into SL where they become 'textures.' Then, 'prims' are created. Think of these as 3D physical MB. Like other 3D modeling programs you can create 3D shapes such as a box or ball. In this case, you create prims that are the shapes of the parts of the synth. Then you simply put the texture on the various parts and get it just right. Finally, you link them all together and violá, you have a synth. I recently had someone create the keyboards in my studio - the Andromeda, Karma, and Virus. You can see them on this page.You are right. There are now various music stores that have lots of synths in them and more are springing up all the time. In fact, complete music studios complete with with sound are there too, some quite sophisticated.
Cheers,
Susan Baird
www.dreamaiden.com"
You might remember Dreamaiden from this post.
but you can't actually play the synths, right?
ReplyDeleteAND you can't do cthulu withou nurbs!
ReplyDeleteFirst, we created a supermodelled parametric overmold from the original synthesizers, from which special static 3-D raytraced vectorizations were obtained. Then we overlaid hi-resolution shadings to obtain the right sort of shadowing effects that one might want to see under specific lighting intensities and angles. Lastly, specialized renderings were done of all components to obtain the proper device scaling relationships. Then once this was done, we stuck it on Second Life and smashed the graphics as flat as a frickin' board. Ain't it cool?
ReplyDeleteSecond Life, it's perfect for people without a first life!
ReplyDeleteHere are the lyrics to what she's singing-
ReplyDelete" I wanna singa, about the moon and the June and the Springa..."
>but you can't actually play the synths right?<
ReplyDeleteNo :) The technology is not quite that sophisticated yet. But the follow up question... 'so then what's the point?'... is fair enough. You wouldn't know unless you were there.
It's best to to understand it in context. I remember clearly the day a business person said to me, 'what do I need email for? I have the telephone.' Now of course he has a laptop and does business via email. And remember what the world was like before the internet, broadband and forums? I personally never interacted with people all over the world until I chatted with them on forums.
SL in its simplest form is simply another medium for communication, a clever, creative and innovative one in my opinion. Since you are operating inside a 3D virtual world, it does give you the distinct feeling of being there - interactions with people and the environment are more immediate and interactive. That said, it is still an interface. It doesn't replace anything... it's another medium. I expect that in 5+ years instead of buying a web hosting plan people will buy and present information in a 3D space.
Let me give you a few examples of what I find fascinating about it. A friend I met on an art forum invited me to come see what he was doing. I've never been even remotely interested in virtual worlds, or 3D anything so I expected to go see what he was doing then leave. I was so completely blown away with what I saw that I never left. Let me see if I can describe it.
Remember the prims I mentioned? In addition to creating known objects like synths, you can create anything you can imagine. Now imagine, rather than putting a photo texture on the prim, being able to stream a trippy video on many prims simultaneously. In a huge space, he created a dance floor out of multiple prims, huge towers of curled, rotating sculptures floating in the air, all showing multiple instances of the same video. Add streaming music, particle effects and people, and you have a pretty incredible environment happening.
SL is also a social phenomena. As in RL and on forums, people of like minds and like interests gather in favorite places. Art is one of my interests. While I could search the internet or travel to find artists in various places, in SL there is a scripted gallery kiosk that everyone places at their art galleries. Just click it to find a gallery. It's scripted so when the person responsible for updating it adds a gallery, all the kiosks all over SL are auto updated. Additionally, there are 'groups' that you can join so you instantly send/get notices of gallery openings and events. The point is that in an environment of 5.5 million people, communications like this are streamlined and immediate.
Many artists have ported in their art to SL and present it in very creative ways because again, you are only limited by your imagination. While looking at a Picasso in this manner will never replace seeing it up close and personal, it does provide a valid and much more interesting alternative to seeing 2D jpgs on a web site. Just as Flash revolutionized presentation on the internet, the 3D virtual environment is another medium for presentation. In addition to traditional art, there are many truly creative types of art specific to SL. It's a new creative medium for artists and a way for artists to gain exposure, exchange and collaboration.
SL is a mecca for performing musicians who either MC their recorded music into SL via Shoutcast or perform it live via the same method. Most of those at this point are traditional musicians but there are those who are expanding the boundaries with new music and creative presentation. I was very surprised at the wide and positive reception by the general public of my electronic music in SL.
New technologies are being created daily and now that SL is open source I expect that will only increase. LIke art, there are many clubs and dedicated performance arenas where musicians are getting exposure they would not get otherwise. Of course for the performing musicians, their avatars and the keyboards created are representations of themselves and their stage set up. But again, you're only limited by your imagination (and technology to a degree) in both regards.
I was fortunate to see Long Range perform in SL. They streamed in what I believe is the music from the CD they will be releasing this year. They streamed it directly from their studio in England while also streaming a video of themselves live in their studio. The sound was absolutely pristine. Their stage setting was very creative and representative of their music. They presented this simultaneously in 9 locations in SL. People from all over the world were gathered in these 9 locations to hear their concert.
Another thing I find interesting is that people are able to experiment with subjects they might not otherwise get to. For example, one person I know there in RL is a famous artist. He also loved architecture and wanted to build but has a family and didn't have time etc. to go back to school. In SL, he is known only as a builder. It's clear from looking at his buildings that he is an artist and has talent for creative architecture. Not only is he making a real living building in SL, but he also gets to have the experience of building and expressing his artistic self in another way.
The New Media Consortium, a RL and SL company, have opened the doors for education in SL with their highly successful NMC Virtual Worlds project. Already many major universities have come into SL. There are global classes as well as many other outreach programs going on that are quite sophisticated.
In business, many companies, large and small, are finding new and creative ways to present their goods. SL residents have raised over $41k for the American Cancer Society.... and the list goes on and on.
I have to say that over the last year I've met some pretty talented and incredible people in SL and now they are also my friends in RL. Two friends from RL have also gone into SL. One is an artist who is doing fascinating work he would never have been able to do in RL and another is an electronic musician who is experimenting with video and creative music environments.
Cheers,
Susan