I still remember with a smile when, because of a joke I just did at class, several students thought that I was talking seriously, and so, they turned some of their prims to physical... which did for an spectacle of several petals of the flowers they were building, falling to the ground. If there was a teacher able to create such confusion at class... That was me.
During the Expo, I visited the sims around, admiring what everybody had brought to the Expo, and decided that, from the next year on, I would participate too! At that time, my store was really small, because almost all my time was spent teaching. I just had a few classes to offer, not even a single script that was good enough for professional use by other designers. Scripts started coming later, almost finishing 2011.
I participated in 2012, also, teaching at the Expo. Then again in 2013, this time as second-category sponsor. I didn't teach at the time, because the classroom was open only for one school, which I no longer belonged to.
2014's edition is here, and I'm participating as sim sponsor and classroom sponsor (the latter, together with DeAnn Dufaux, from park Place). The classroom has been open this year to anybody that can teach, and of course, I was not going to let that chance go. If I can make that students pluck petals at class... I can make this :-)
Being sim sponsor scared me a little. My store logo shares space with other names such as Dutchie or Maven Homes. High quality merchants... and me. So I put myself to work. I'm well aware that I still am not at their level, not even close, but nowadays I'm confident enough that given time enough, I can reach to a minimally decent result that I won't be ashamed to show. That's how the greenhouse came up, and so my plot looks like this:
The greenhouse took me four days to complete. I'm slow, when it comes to modelling.
The first day I did the windows and doors (with their LODs, physics and texturing), and laid out the base of the build. Then the next day I continued modelling, solving aspects like the roof and the entrance's roof. Next day I started joining pieces, UV mapping and creating the LOD models and the physic models. Last day, I did the textures. I'm not good at texturing, so I'm quite glad that I didn't ruin the model with my crappy texture skills. A so-so texture will make the best of the models, look ugly. I'm well aware of it, and that's my weakest spot in the "creation chain". A spot I hope I can continue to work on.
Anyway... I've mentioned that this year I will be teaching at the Home and Garden Expo. Everybody is welcome to attend, and I'd like to see you around. I will be making classes in voice, so my apologies in advance for my accent (I'm not native; If it's bad when I write, it's worse when I speak.) If you ever wanted to know if I'm a man in RL, my voice may give you a clue about. I won't spoil the surprise :o)
Following, there's the schedule. I hope you will find something interesting, and see you in the Expo!
FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 19TH, 2 PM
LAG: WHAT CAN (ALL) SL RESIDENTS DO, TO MINIMIZE IT?
Format: Voice Estimated time: 60 minutesIf there's something that can ruin our SL experience, that is lag. This doesn't mean that we should think, there's not a solution. There it is a solution to lag, if only each one of us contributes a little bit. In the past, scripts alone did for much of the problem, but nowadays with mesh, there's a new player on the game. Accompany me in this session, where I'll explain about different sources of lag, and what can you do to help minimizing it.
SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 20TH, 2 PM
INTRODUCTION TO MESH FOR CREATORS
Format: Voice Estimated time: 60 minutesSince Mesh hit the SL grid in August 2011, the visual quality of SL has given a big step forward, and nowadays, learning about mesh is a must for all creators. Whether you plan on learning a program (like Blender), or you prefer relying on templates made by other creators, there are several relevant concepts that you need to know about: Land impact, Physics, LODs, AO maps, Materials... We'll talk about all this, during this session.
SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 21TH, 2 PM
ZERO-LAG SCRIPTING TIPS FOR CREATORS
Format: Voice Estimated time: 60 minutesDid you know that you can have several scripting effects running, with no scripts at all in your objects? In this class, we will explain the tricks and tips, which will help you in designing items that will have less scripts... and so, will cause less server side lag.
MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 22TH, 2 PM
(VERY BASIC) INTRODUCTION TO SCRIPTS FOR CREATORS
Format: Voice Estimated time: 60 minutesWhen we want that our items turn on/off lights, change textures, open doors, play songs, animate avatars... We need scripts. Some scripts will be complex, and we'll need from a scripter, or purchasing them, but some other tasks are easy enough, so we could write them on our own. In each case, there are some basic concepts about scripts that we should know about. This session will be devoted to clarify all those basic concepts.
TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 23TH, 2 PM
BASICS ON PERMISSIONS FOR CREATORS
Format: Voice Estimated time: 60 minutesSetting permissions correctly is a critical task in order to ensure that we do not distribute animations, scripts, sound clips, textures... against the license terms of the supplies we purchase. In this class, we'll discuss the basics of the permissions system in SL, as well as several common mistakes that we have to avoid.
FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 26TH, 2 PM
INTRODUCTION TO 3D MODELLING IN BLENDER FOR SL
Format: Voice Estimated time: 75 minutesDo you want to unleash your creativity by bringing 3D models to SL, but you aren't clear about how to go about it? In this class we'll give an introduction to all of the prerequisites and necessary steps we have to follow, using as an example the open source program Blender.
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