Hiperia3D News: March 2009

News In Shapeways: Their Most Popular Material Cheaper, Sculpt In Bronze, Blender Script
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Reinventing The Wheel: Mozilla Khronos, Another Standard For The 3D Web
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Some news have just appeared about the new project of Mozilla: Khronos, another "open, royalty-free standard" for 3D on Internet.

UPDATE: New info: I have contacted Alan Hudson (Yumetech, Web3D.org) and he said me that they'll be working with Khronos on this.

Khronos will be exposing openglES to ecmascript on a webpage. It's aimed for low level 3D graphics programmers, and not to world or 3D authors, like X3D.

So we're talking of different standards for different things. Good to know.

I can recommend you some external articles this project, to not bore you describing the same as others:

This new project will allow to use JavaScript (ECMAscript, to be more precise) to manipulate the 3D models and interact with the content. The 3D part will be rendered using OpenGL.

As you can see, this is not really new. It is like VRML (that also used ecmascript).

No one needs to invent another royalty-free standard for the 3D web, because it is out there already, and it's called VRML, and now X3D.

Please don't re-invent the wheel, or at least, don't make the same mistakes. Why not just use the VRML or X3D standard? Can someone explain me why?

I can see no reason to start again from the beginning. It seems to me that every 5 years someone invents a "standard" that is used by no one, instead of re-using what is already out there.

Please try to improve first, and if this is impossible, invent. But don't invent the same again and again.

I hope that Khronos doesn't make the same mistake and think in virtual worlds when they do their standard. People want 3D virtual worlds, and also games. For simple visualization, no new thing is needed.

Please don't mix again point of view and avatar, and add some collision detection. These are the the only things that are missing in VRML/X3D spec.

And again, why don't they do a new component or any other kind of extension of the X3D spec and simply provide a decent browser plugin? Can someone understand this?

FunTrench's Eden: Free Game Development Framework For Python Programmers
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Machinima: Reflexive Architecture
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Affordable Software: Optimize Your OBJ And VRML Models With VIZUP
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News Machine Gun: New CG Site, Shops On OpenLife, Blaxxun News, Routers And More
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New CG Learning Resources Site
Realtime Arts, a creative agency providing professional computer graphics production and training services, today announced the launch of Digital Arts Guild, an online source of high quality learning resources for computer graphics artists.

Shops On OpenLife Grid
Opel Life Xchange will offer shops for you to sell anything for OpenLife, including homes, furniture, textures, hair... if you want to sell your items, read this article.

Creating Multi Textured Items for Blaxxun Based Communities
Bruce Lehmann has published this fantastic tutorial (3D Chat Ning Community)l on how to design and use multi-textured items for the VRML worlds created with the Blaxxun platform.

Registration For MetaMeets09 Now Open
A European conference about the present and future of the 3D web: user created virtual worlds like Second Life, Open grids and more. It will be on the Nemo Science Centre Amsterdam, The Netherlands, May 22-24 2009. You can also check the event in the AVW, here.

Linksys Routers From $49.99
Amazon offers great discounts on Linksys routers. If you decide to buy one, try to buy one that offers Wireless-N. This security system can protect your wifi network from bandwidth stealers very well. This kind of routers use to be expensive (mine was $100 at that was a good offer), so this is a very good deal.

New Pandora Device
Check this new mini-computer device called Pandora. It is really small and with quite good capacity.

Bonzai3D In Beta
You can now download a beta version of the new 3D modeler called Bonzai3D, specialized in product and building design.

Design Poses For Second Life
BvHacker newest version was launched this month, and in case that you did not know it, this is a simple but powerful application for designing animations for Second Life.

MixED 6th Exhibition : Painting et Web
MixED will feature 3 artists in their 6th exhibition, opening on march 25: Jean-Yves Amir, Valery Grancher, and Jacinto Costoso. More details coming soon.

PIVOTE
PIVOTE is a virtual learning authoring system for virtual worlds, that was launched recently. Here you can see a video of the scenarios created for St George's University of London's Paramedic Students.

Google Chrome Reaches Version 2.0 And Plugins
Google Chrome 2.0 is out, and includes plugins. Read a list of the new features here, and about the possibility of developing extensions here.

New Female Avatars In Vivaty
Vivaty has added new female avatars. Check'em in their blog.

Alltop 3.0: The Best Of The Web
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Koinup's Machinimas Of The Week: Two Short Stories
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Freeware: Generate Bump Maps With FS Image Viewer
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New Episode Of Our Partner Life On Line: Tibet, Online Sexcapades and Calypso Landgrabs
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Renderosity Moves: 50% Off On All Shippable Items. Bryce, Vue 6, Poser 6 For Mac!
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Koinup's Machinima Of The Week: The Blue Planet
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Second Life 1.22 Viewer is Available Today
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Interview: Steve Cropper, Life On Line Executive Producer and Host
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This week's interview features Life On Line, the new virtual TV show that wants to reflect the enormous diversity of the online experiences of so many people that each day discover a brand new world online, and how we live our lives in the Internet.

Steve Cropper is the executive producer and host of Life On Line, a professional with many years as a broadcaster on Australian TV and radio, that is focusing all his enormous talent to create a stunning show that you can now enjoy in your computer.

- With 30,000 viewers in February, Life On Line has become a mass media for virtual worlds and their online activity. How do you explain the success of the launching of Life On Line TV?

- We were frankly stunned and very encouraged by the performance of the show in the first month. We believe it is due in very large part to the nature of the program, which people seem to enjoy, based on the feedback we get from viewers. Another important factor is the presence of our resident band SpaceJunky, which already has a significant on-line following. We have used our personal networks in various virtual worlds including Second Life, Twinity and Entropia Universe to arouse interest in-world. Andrew Peters has been very busy spreading the word across social networks too, the populations of which totally eclipse virtual world populations. Above all, I suspect our initial success is due to the fact that we have sought as much as possible to address live on the internet as a whole and not get stuck in just one virtual world or just one country. The goal is to have universal appeal.

- The show is presented by avatars. Why?

- The costs associated with producing a program like ours twice a month with real people in a real TV studio, having to bring in guests and cast members from the US, Australia, the UK, Singapore, New Zealand - and anywhere else - is impossible. The costs would be astronomical and the time needed would also prevent our cast from ever doping anything else with their lives. Producing a talk show featuring real people but represented by virtual avatars in a virtual TV studio gives us more freedom than would be possible using the real-world alternative.
- Will the show have similar sections, or will it change from chapter to chapter?

The show has a basic format which includes regular contributions from our cast members and the resident band SpaceJunky. Each show only runs about 15 minutes so there's not enough time for all the cast every time. we will always start the show with Sigmund Leominster's news round-up and we will always have a music act (half the time that will be SpaceJunky). But our other cast members will come on the show on a semi-regular basis. It also very much depends on what viewers ask for. The content of our program is mostly viewer-driven.

- Who are the people behind Life On Line and what can you tell us about them?

- The show makes good use of established and well-connected artists and communicators. Being well known on the internet with considerable distribution power in their own right means that the cast themselves help build the audience of Life On Line in a very real way. In addition to the regular cast, there are also interviews with people making news across the internet. There is also additional material from other parties included in the program from time to time.

Executive Producer and Host - Steve Cropper
The show is the brain-child of veteran Australian TV and radio journalist and communications consultant Steve Cropper, who in 2008 was 'Angelico Babii', host of the LATE SHOW on Metaverse-TV (www.metaverse-tv.com), creator of My-Metaverse (www.my-metaverse.com) and co-publisher of the online news magazine Metaverse-Tribune (www.metaverse-tribune.com).

His style is pacey and energetic but he's not so much of a 'wise-guy'. "Our show is a bit down to earth and homey. We are engaging with people sitting at their computers and whilst we aim to give them a big TV show look, we are also going for a more personal and intimate feel".

Resident Show Band - SpaceJunky (www.spacejunky.com)
One of the best-known band in the virtual world of Second Life, SpaceJunky is a pioneer of the "virtual concert" genre. Although the three band members are separated by geography (one in the US, one in Australia and one in Malaysia), they collaborate and market their music primarily online. They are a real life band with major touring and recording credits to their name and they do perform live and in-person, but SpaceJunky is currently best known as a virtual world band and has been featured on CNN International and various other real life publications. There are always between 50,000 and 80,000 SL members logged on at any given time. The band also has a popular website that scores about 150,000 hits a year. SpaceJunky brings a very big audience to Life On Line.

Social Media - Andrew Peters
Andrew is a prominent blogger in his own right through his site AP Link, which attracts up to a quarter of a million visitors a year. He has a well-earned reputation as a commentator in the business community and the news and entertainment space. Acknowledged as a ‘Social Media Guru', Andrew advises the German digital media company Metaversum about the online marketing of their virtual world Twinity. He is also Marketing Director of the Association of Virtual Worlds, a network of more than 3,000 entrepreneurs and innovators engaged in the development of virtual world technology and content.

Internet News - Sigmund Leominster
Each show begins with Sigmund's news round-up in which he present a snappy summary of breaking news across the internet. Sigmund is another prominent blogger who has built up an encyclopedic knowledge of internet news makers as well as leading issues of interest and importance to viewers. Sigmund has a particular interest in the world's leading virtual world, Second Life and is well-known in there for his blog, ‘SL on SL' (Sigmund Leominster on Second Life).

Off-Beat Reporter - Dousa Dragonash
A seasoned actor and voice artist in the UK, Dousa Dragonash is also the main news anchor for Metaverse-TV News (commonly known as MBC News). One of the first wave of people to approach virtual worlds, Dousa has built up a substantial personal network as well as an impressive television audience in her own right. As Life On Line's off-beat reporter, Dousa presents stories that are sometimes shocking, invariably funny and sure to trigger buzz across the internet. The news she focuses on is designed to prompt a viral affect. The intention is for her items to zoom around the world from email inbox to inbox with people messaging each other saying - "Get a load of THIS!" Like all of Life-On-Line's segments (and indeed the entire show itself), Dousa's material is posted on You Tube, Google Video and similar sites, specifically to draw yet more viewers to the show.

Resident Psych - Dr Roman Candle
No, that is not his real name. Roman is in fact a practicing psychotherapist in Sydney, Australia and an experienced radio presenter in that country. He is a specialist in relationship counseling and treating addictions, particularly problem gambling. Roman responds to viewer mail and discusses a range of psychological issues that manifest themselves online. His first segment ‘Online Escapism is good for you' sets the tone for his future appearances in which he ranges over schizophrenia, relationship break-down from online excess, compulsive disorders, sexual deviance and so on. His segments are supplemented by his regular additions to the Life On Line blog.

Hollywood scandals - Michael Buckley (What the Buck)
Michael has a regular subscriber base of more than 80,000 loyal viewers who love his irreverent, flamboyant scandal show, What The Buck. His ‘real person' segments ditch on the great and the good of tinsel town in a way that would make the most outrageous drag queen go pale with envy.

Our Man In Twinity - Jeremy Snyder
Jeremy is a co-Founder of the German virtual world Twinity. He gives regular reports on the show about happenings there and uses his segment to promote events and competitions in-world.

Our Man in Calypso - John Bates
John heads up Social Marketing for MindArk, the company that has created Calypso, a virtual world. John is an energetic and lively on-camera personality who injects considerable BUZZ into his reports

...And the cast continues to grow.

- How did you come up with the idea of making a show about how people spend their lives online?

- I am a TV presenter and journalist by training and spent the first 10 years of my career in TV and radio in Australia and Britain. And in 2008 I was cast as the host of the LATE SHOW with Angelico Babii for Metaverse-TV. That show ran a year and I was basically all by myself. Although it was quite successful and it certainly taught me a great deal about what works and what doesn't in virtual TV, the show was rather stuck in Second Life and I wanted to make it a lot broader. So last month I launched Life On Line, which replaces the LATE SHOW on Metaverse-TV but is also seen on 21 other websites across the internet including of course Hiperia3D News.

- Do you think that the amount of time that people spend online will be lesser or bigger as time passes?

- The real world media is becoming increasingly obsessed with this question and with good reason. In my country for example, we are seeing Australian households increasingly turning off their TVs and logging on to their favorite websites. One analysis by AAP MediaNet here reported that in the year 2006-7 the average household spent about 12 hours watching TV and about 7.5 hours online. The following year, those numbers had basically reversed. The experience in other western countries is similar to varying degrees. So in my own opinion, I suspect that real world television, whilst still dominant, recognizes that online TV, particularly 'social media' (TV, radio and press made and distributed by private persons rather than media corporations) is getting to be a serious challenger. And the viewing habits of teenagers today shows us how the numbers will continue to shift in favor of the internet. Teenagers and young adults are much more net-savvy and engaged online than their parents. To them it's just normal.

- How do you think that virtual worlds have influenced what people do online?

Leaving to one side game worlds like World Of Warcraft and Eve, the virtual worlds that are based on social networks like Kaneva, Twinity and Second Life have succeeded in connecting people across enormous geographies and social circumstances. These are people who would otherwise be very unlikely to ever connect with one another. Moreover, virtual worlds have served as great enablers, allowing people to experiment in fields that they might otherwise never have encountered. People have started businesses, relationships - and TV shows - The opportunities that has opened up socially, artistically, commercially and even educationally are vast. Online organizations such as the Association of Virtual Worlds for example have been created specifically because the range and pace of change is so fast. And whereas these virtual worlds have existed now for several years, it seems as though we are still at the very beginning of the process - nowhere near the end. On the other hand, it is not El Dorado. There is a darker side to life online and we wish to shed light on that too.

Remember that Life On Line partnered with Hiperia3D News and you can now watch the show from our sidebar, automatically updated as new episodes are launched.

Cheap Software: Convert Your 3D Models With AccuTrans 3D
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Shapeways Launches Photoshaper: Your Photos Into 3D Lightsculptures
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72% Off On DAZ3D Software: Bryce For $27.99, Carrara $25.19, And More!
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4 Free VRML PROTOs Resources
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Freeware: Generate Ivy Over A 3D Model
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Openlife 3DXviewer R16.3 Available
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Koinup's Machinima Of The Week: Zero Hour
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Events: Big Conferences And International Events
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Engage! Expo

Engage! Expo will have as opening speakers: Teemu Huuhtanen, Executive VP, Marketing and Business Development, Sulake (Haboo) and Jack Buser, Director of PlayStation® Home, Sony Computer Entertainment America (SECA).

Remember: registration ends tomorrow!

When: March 10-11, 2009 in NYC

3D TCL Conference

3D Training, Learning and Collaboration (3D TLC) conference. is the leading event for businesses seeking to understand and maximize business strategies using virtual worlds.

When: April 20-21, 2009 in Washington, DC.

SIGGRAPH MUVE Moot

Meet to explore how the virtual phenomenon is changing the way people interact, think and feel in their daily activities. The theme for this meeting is: How do Virtual worlds affect hearts and minds?
http://muvemoot.com/

When: March 3, 2009 from 12pm to 2pm, in New Orleans, Ernest N. Morial Convention Center.

Federal Consortium for Virtual Worlds Conference

Website: http://www.ndu.edu/irmc/fedconsortium.html
This is the main conference on virtual worlds for the government. The conference will be live in Second Life (various locations will be posted on the website), Forterra, Protosphere, 3DXplorer, Vastpark, and ActiveWorlds.

When: April 23 & 24 at the National Defense University (NDU) in Washington DC.

The Virtual World Educators Conference

The Virtual World Educators Conference is being organized by the Greenbush Southeast Kansas Education Service Center and is intended for K-12 virtual world educators.
http://vweducation.ning.com/

When: July 30th - 31st at Pittsburg State University in Pittsburg Kansas.

MetaMeets' 09 European Conference for Residents of Second Life

“Awareness and Getting United” is the theme of this first European MetaMeets for residents in SL. 2009 will be the year to raise awareness for the real value of virtual environments.
Check the event on Myrl, here: http://www.myrl.com/myrl/euslc09-european-second-life-confrence-09-amsterdam-the-netherlands/item/3549

When: 22 May 2009 - 24 May 2009 : Science Museum Nemo GMT + 1. Amsterdam The Netherlands (and Online in SL)

News Machine Gun: Vivaty For Firefox, 3DXplorer 4.04, Video Tuts For SL, Twinity Improvements, And Candies
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Vivaty Now On Firefox
A Vivaty add-on is now available for Firefox. As said in Vivaty Blog, you install it and then you can enter Vivaty, send gifts, edit your avatar, etc from your browser, no matter where in Internet you are. Go and grab the plugin here: https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/10523

3DXplorer
3DXplorer 4.04 has come with lots of new features, that you can read here. Let's highlight some: load time reduced (including progressive loading), save your av login, interconnected 3D spaces that require no more login.

Also, the Online Meeting application has added a planning feature to manage meetings, and now you can create an URL that will only be valid for the meeting time, that may or not be password protected. Also added planned meetings, and meeting history.

To use the new release you don’t need to do anything. 3DXplorer is plugin-less.

Video Tutorials For Second Life
David Miller, Second Life Generalist and multimedia developer, has published a series of video tutorials for building in Second Life in the AVW. You can check the videos in his website too: http://subquark.com/vidtuts/
These tutorials also cover things like filming inside SL and optimization of the client software, like this:

Find more videos like this on Association of Virtual Worlds

Twinity Improves Their Features
Twinity has added the possibility of sending postcards from inworld, and also improved lighting, the voice chat, the help and tips system, location loading performance and many bugs where fixed.

3D Printing In Candies
This is not really a news, but a finding. Here's a way to use 3D printing for something sweet: http://www.candyfab.org/

Mmmm, so sweet 3D... Photo by Oskay.

Twitter Groups For Virtual Worlds
A Twitter Group for Metaverse has been created.

http://twittgroups.com/group/metaverse

The purpose of this group is being a simple way to find other people on Twitter with interest for the following:

"For people interested in creative, mixed-reality, social web, video game, virtual world, mapping, simulation, or 3D projects. Topics: virtual worlds, multiplayer online gaming, serious games, virtual goods, mirror worlds, virtual reality, augmented reality, alternate reality games, ARG, MMORPG, MMO, PMOG, Sony PlayStation Home, PS3 Home beta, Xbox Live, Nintendo Wii Miis, LittleBigPlanet, OpenSim, Unity3D, Just Leap In, There, Habbo, Gaia Online, Sims, Spore, machinima, etc." (Explained in Metaverse Twitter Group)

And if you want another virtual-worlds-related group, also check this other:
http://twittgroups.com/group/virtual

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