Second Learning

All Pictures in this blog entry were taken at Dream Gardens Arboretum. A location with, as my mom would say, "Pretty peeps." Visit them and help their traffic numbers!

Have you ever been in the position where you suddenly realize that you need to change clothes? Is it somewhere that you cannot chance even the slightest moment of nudity (which may happen if you just drop a folder onto your avatar)? For example, a PG sim filled with AR-happy individuals? Then I've got the answer for you.

Introducing my dressing booth. Want to make your own? It is a 2 m tall cylinder with a 1 m X and Y size. Texture it however you'd like. Attach to spine. Or if you are not a builder, see the bottom of this post for how to get one, free of charge.

Here is Viv Perrin, our loveable EduCube photographer (with her awesome Windlight), and I suppose she should also be called "model" because she's in more pictures than I am. Hi Viv. Everybody wave.

Viv is going to change her clothes for you. But before you get all excited, reread the title of this post.

The first thing that Viv wants to do is locate her Dressing Booth in her inventory, right-click it, and choose Wear.

Now you won't be able to see Viv anymore. And, for that matter, you won't be able to see what she's wearing, which is the point. You cannot tell if she is wearing nothing or anything or just the Dressing Booth. And you cannot get ARed for being a non-human character, in this case "The Cylinder". So you have essentially mastered the Dressing Booth in just one step.



But there are a few useful tricks to help keep the dressing booth in place until you are ready for it to go away.

First of all, you are limited to using your inventory to add or subtract clothing from your outfit. Trying to drag a folder onto your avatar may result in the Dressing Booth disappearing before you are ready and exposing naughty-bits in places you shouldn't be exposing them. Or ruining your big new-outfit reveal. Or any other embarrassing situation you could imagine.

Clothes all have to be handled by locating the item, right clicking, and making use of two inventory commands:



Add to Outfit puts the clothes on/replaces whatever you are currently wearing that is the same clothing layer/has the same attachment point.

Take Off Items does what it says. It removes those items from what you are currently wearing.

You can use either of these commands on whole folders. If you Add to Outfit the folder/outfit you want to wear, and Take Off Items the folder/outfit you no longer want to be wearing, you have essentially done the same thing as the "Replace Outfit"/drop a folder on your Av command. However, unlike that command, you are CERTAIN that your dressing booth will stay in place.*

* Unless you are attaching something to your spine with Add to Outfit in which case it will replace your dressing booth.

So how is Viv doing? Let's look:



The last step is simple, detaching the Dressing Booth.

And with that, you've changed clothes in public without nudity. :)
(Click on the picture to see it in a larger size. The Dream Gardens Arboretum looks amazing.)

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How do you get an (EduCube) Dressing Booth? Well, for right now you have to IM Jasmin Loire in-world. She'll happily drop one on you the next time she is on. However, if you wait long enough she'll eventually put one in her "Freebies for Newbies" vendor.

Labels: clothing, tutorial

This is a timely post, happening to coincide with not one, but two forum posts asking how to do this. (And yes, I'll crosspost this link back there.)

The solution to this, doesn't really work out on a newbie budget as it requires you to have 50 L$ in the bank. So you may want to use the script buried in this post if you aren't up for all that camping/survey filling-outing.

That said, TP on over to this store and along their back wall is an object called "Lock Camera" available for 50 L$. Buy it.
Viv took the above picture using the Lock Camera object just to show that it works and keeps you from having to log in an alt.

To use your new camera lock object you first need to wear it. By default it attaches transparently to your left pec, but you really can attach it anywhere you'd like.

You have two options ... you can either activate the enclosed gesture (and deactivate all the default "Dance..." gestures (because they'll interfere) or you can type a chat command.

The first step is to put your camera into the position you are going to want to take your photo in. Focus on the background. Set up your shot. Disregard where your av is.

Then it is time to lock your camera. Either press [F10] if you are using the gesture or type "/311 cam" (without the "s) if not. Your camera will lock in position and let you know by issuing a line of chat that only you can hear, confirming your camera lock.

After that, the movement keys will reposition your avatar to wherever you'd like.

But let's say that now that your av is positioned, you don't like the shot? You can use [ALT] and the mouse to reposition your camera independent of your avatar's movement keys. Cool, huh?

Well worth every Linden. WELL WORTH.

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From the Desk of Viv Perrin

If you are using Windlight, I have the sun settings set to 8:30 am in this picture. I find that gives me the best lighting. That and having an av wear a facelight.

Labels: tutorial

Let's say that you are at a club or a dance party. There is a dance machine/ball/something that everyone has clicked on and they are all doing the same dance at the same time looking pretty much ... well ... the same.

And if you are one of them, you may be okay with being the same.

But let's say you wanted to be different. Guaranteed, at least one person in the venue is wearing a Chim (a Chimera) which is a transparent sphere dance machine that others can join in on.


Press [CTRL] + [ALT] + [T] to make everything transparent turn red. Look for avs who suddenly have hazy red spheres on their heads or backsides. Click one of those hazy red spheres. Agree to let the chim animate you. Press [CTRL] + [ALT] + [T] again to turn transparent back to ... well ... transparent.


That's it. You now stand out from the crowd.

To stop dancing, type "/99 stop" into chat (without the quotation marks).

Just a quickie tip :)

Labels: tutorial

I think the SS Galaxy is quickly becoming my favorite place, so I sent Viv over there to photograph it for me. Of course, she wanted the credit for the incredible find of the Bamboo Garden so she put herself in every picture. Cheeky photographer.



First, a quick recap. The SS Galaxy is a three-sim long cruise ship that sports amazing builds and excellent textures. As a builder, I have a long way to go until I match the quality of this build. On top of that, the ship sports plenty of content to keep you enthralled. And if that isn't enough, just pick up a copy of their on-board events (new list every month). If you click the link above, you will find yourself rezzing on the forward part of the ship, however the main entrance is in the back.

A few feet up from the forward entrance is the Bamboo Garden Japanese Restaurant. In fact, it is so close that you can see the maneki neko from your rez point.

(See what I mean about amazing texturing?)

If you use the Bamboo Garden SLURL, you actually won't rez in the ship's corridor, but will start out already inside the amazingly peaceful Japanese build.

I love the little touches such as the zori, the garden lantern, and the woodblock print. Also, in this picture, you can see the sushi bar. If you go closer you will be able to see the amazing texturing and prim work that went in to creating a realistic looking sushi bar. So realistic that I requested sushi for dinner. Yum!

At the sushi bar, you can buy sushi from the vendor to the back of the bar. "Why would I buy sushi?" you ask. The answer is that these sushi pieces are unique, superbly built, and offer some variety from the traditional free textured cylinder.

There is also a tea-room, complete with tea set in the corner. It can seat seven. Though it is not nearly as texture-efficient as my japanese tea scene.

And there is a sushi-room filled with incredibly delectable delights. Both the sushi boat and the sushi platter give out free pieces of wearable sushi (you get to choose what you want to eat). Wearing the sushi starts you in an eating animation. To drink there is a choice of hot green tea or sake. And don't forget the amazing finishing touch of soy sauce.


And finally, if you are looking for a backdrop for peaceful and beautiful photography (hint: kimono makers ... this is useful to you) there are the areas in between the rooms which are filled with lush and peaceful greenery. The bamboo is Hart bamboo, and I'm sure that she'd approve of how her bamboo has been landscaped. :)

And let us not forget my favorite fish species: koi. In my opinion, every Japanese build should have at least one, if not more, koi and this build has their fair share.

Labels: location

Last night, the Forum Cartel hosted a formal Un-Valentines Dance.

The Forum Cartel are the folks who hang around SL's Resident Answers forum (you cannot access it without verified payment info). They pooled their tier and donated it to a group of their creating and built the Forum Cartel hangout. If you go there, eventually someone else will show up, and just like on the real forums, these guys are usually very helpful.

That said, the invitation said:


Formals or Zoot Suits? Aaah! Even though the invitation said "optional", I figured that I must be able to do it.

But before I did, I sneakily dropped by the party. It was before our live DJ had shown up, but the party was already in full swing. I made my green mini-map dot be in a different location from the cluster, but cammed in.

And what did I see? Too many female(ish) avs for the number of available male(ish) avs.

As a very taken RL woman, I knew that whoever I danced with would be all in good fun. In other words, nothing romantic or even remotely romantic about it. So I figured that I'd do my part for gender balance and come as a male avatar. Which, coincidently is normally much harder to do but this time was much easier.

I had a male kit (shape, skin, hair) in my inventory that I'd been collecting for just this sort of occasion (get your own Jack in a Box for 1 L$). And since I'm not normally male, I didn't mind at all that I wasn't going to look as stunning as the female avatars, because all I was there to do was get some of the gowned female avatars off of the sidelines and on to the dance floor.

I TPed off to the SS Galaxy: Queen of the Sagittarian Sea (which is an amazing build and much deserving of exploring in its own right). I headed directly to their Zodiac Ballroom (which again is a stunning build in its own right). There, they have two stunning gown (sets). The one from Blaze (remember how Viv drooled over Blaze?) is free but you can only look like the image. The other one, from Matahari, comes with a variety of customizable options for making it look the way you want it to look.



But the main attraction is the tux on the Blaze sign. Free. A free tux. From Blaze. It was mine faster than you could say, "I wonder if I'll look good in gold."

Then it was off to EduCube Headquarters where, in the privacy of my own temporary skybox, I changed into my male avatar. I convinced Viv to snap a picture of me and her as male-me and female-me ... both in the same tux. Isn't it stunning no matter what the gender of its wearer?



My female-hair, while very not free (150 L$) came from Sirena and had two styles, depending on whether or not I was wearing hair sticks. Well worth the hard-earned money. Here is an image of me with the other style (on left).

Where'd I get the money for such fabulous hair? Well, I warned you that I was paid for a previous tutorial. I was paid enough for the hair :)

It turns out that with every Blaze gown that is purchased from the main store, you get a transferable color-matched shirt/vest/tie clothing item (they call it a vest) for your sweetie to wear as part of his or her tux, provided they already have the jacket and pants. If your sweetie grabs the tux from the SS Galaxy, then the jacket and pants won't be a problem.

Or perhaps you are a female avatar who doesn't mind going to formal occasions in a tux? See if anyone around has a Blaze gown and no use for their tux vest. You can then be amazingly stylish in it for free.

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!! ~ Some Pictures from the Evening ~ !!

My RL boyfriend who is in control of the avatar Lupus Yokosuka, usually plays large amounts of World of Warcraft and avoids Second Life like the plague. He'll even be busy washing dishes or folding laundry, when I ask him to come in-world. Well, since I pointed out how important it was that he log in to even out the gender balance, he logged in and tangoed me around the dance floor for a bit.


^^ Thanks honey. The gown I'm wearing was cobbled together from the skirt of the Blaze gown offered next to the tux, and the top of the LaynieWear Lavender Hibiscus Dreams gown (which wasn't long enough of else I would have worn it by itself). I tossed in some free gloves that I found at the Tete-a-Pied Fleur sim (my skin is TaP as well and available for free to those who are 30 days old or less), and a resized/tinted ribbon belt made by Jen Shikami (from Seven's Selections; landlord of the fabulous Flotsam Beach).


This story is actually being told out of order, because I hadn't realized how amazing I'd look as a female in a tux until I was dancing with Madhu. She had seen me around before and knew that I was a female and told me that she swoons for females in tuxes, so could I change back? And so I did. Which is what led to the pictures above of Viv and myself rocking the tuxes. Thanks Madhu! Go on with your blue self!

This is Jasmin Loire signing off and dancing the night away!

(more pictures than you'll know what to do with)

Labels: clothing, news

Want to take the Japanese Tea Scene class but the times are bad? If contacting me to change the time of day is too much effort for you (or if you absolutely cannot attend a class on the weekends) then perhaps the boxed Class-to-Go is the answer for you.

Conveniently located on the wall just beside the landing point in Crackerbox Palace's Classroom #2, you can find my Class-to-Go vendor.



Or perhaps you feel more comfortable buying the same product from SLExchange?

Advanced classes are 200 L$, Intermediate classes are 100 L$, and Beginner classes are 50 L$.

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Interested in helping me test out some new classes? I've got a few that just need some trial runs before they appear. Join the EduCube group or the EduCube Notification List by Wednesday. Trial class notifications will be made then.

Labels: news

Buy From OnRez | Buy from EduCube Headquarters



This microphone was created as an assignment for a class that I'm taking about making sculpties. Our assignment was to create a rock, but in my classic style, I took it one step further. I give you the tools to ROCK, you bring the STAR.

The microphone comes with a built in pose, which holds it in perfect position from your mouth ... not too close, but not too far. And the price tag on this microphone is not too high, either. Only 5 L$!

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And just for you Second Learning blog readers, I have a gift:

^^ Your very own microphone mesh texture to use in whatever creative way you would like.

Labels: educeducube

Whenever I teach I have way too many things going on at any one time to remember to take pictures of my students. Luckily, I also allow any folks who are considering being teachers/want to be teacher helpers to assist me (they get a seat up on the platform and get to one-on-one IM with a student who may be affected with any manner of SL ills and so need some catching up).

One of my most faithful helpers, Garlande G., snapped some photos for me, and thus starts a photo album of the Japanese Tea Scene class. All students and helpers are welcome to contribute to the photo album. I have one in-world too. I just love looking at happy learning!


^^ Click for the whole scrapbook.

Labels: news

Buy From OnRez: Yes Copy, Yes Transfer | Buy from EduCube Headquarters



Toad was created as an assignment for a class that I'm taking about making sculpties. Our assignment was to create a mushroom, but in my classic style, I took it one step further. Well ... he is a mushroom after all (^_^).

If you click on him, he thanks you for your heroic efforts, but reminds you that the princess is still in yet another castle.

Toad is not too large, and not too small, sporting a 1 m diameter. The shadows that you see in the picture are baked in, meaning that no matter what viewer and what lighting choices you have, he'll always look his best. And his price tag is not too high, either. Only 5 L$ for either version. That's cheap enough to buy one for yourself, and one for that special plumber in your life.

Labels: educube