Secondcast #35: “Purple Pants”

Johnny Ming hosts a live Secondcast with co-hosts Lordfly Digeridoo, Cristiano Midnight, and Cory Edo. The group models the entries from the “Get Philip in your Pants” contest. Special guest Koz Farina joins the show to talk about BlogHUD.

We had quite a turn out and the party went over six hours! Thanks to all that joined us and thanks to Koz for giving all attendees a free BlogHUD!

SecondCast Episode 35 [70:03m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

This entry was posted on Saturday, September 30th, 2006 at 5:03 pm and is filed under Cory Edo, Koz Farina, SecondCast, Technology. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

11 Responses to “Secondcast #35: “Purple Pants””

Lizardbeth Lulu says:

October 1, 2006 at 10:16 am

I’ve always wanted to attend these live tapings, but I can never find listings. Are they only notified to secondcast group members (which I just joined)? Or are they totally impromptu? This of ALL shows I’d have love to catch live. Hot Phillip pants gallore! XD Can’t wait to listen.
MacHarborGuy says:

October 1, 2006 at 1:35 pm

FYI, the Portable Media Expo is in Ontario CALIFORNIA, not Ontario Canada. So no need for a passport.
Johnny Ming says:

October 1, 2006 at 6:46 pm

Lizardbeth, we gave somewhat short notice on this event. I’ll try to schedule them a week in advance in the future.
Melissa Yeuxdoux says:

October 2, 2006 at 10:24 am

“Heaven is a Place on Earth” was recorded in the key of E major.
Hiro Apogee says:

October 4, 2006 at 12:31 am

It really is worth it to make sure you go check out one of the tapings. It was one of the best events I’ve been to in SL so far.
matthew says:

October 4, 2006 at 7:56 am

were do i go to see images of the event?
johnny says:

October 4, 2006 at 8:52 am

You can see the pictures on SL Universe over at:
http://www.sluniverse.com/pics/Snapshots.aspx?type=tag&tag=secondcast
3pointD.com says:

October 5, 2006 at 8:49 am

SecondCast #35: Marathon Pants…

Check out the latest SecondCast, in which most of the ‘casters (I was absent with the flu) do stuff like try on pants from our “Get Philip in Your Pants” contest, and chat with a live audience in Second Life. Special guest Koz Farina …
Koz Farina interviewed on the SecondCast about the blogHUD « kosso’s braingarden says:

October 5, 2006 at 11:52 am

[...] Come and listen to the Purple Pants episode of the excellent SecondCast. [mp3] This was also broadcast live in-world for another 5 hours after the show! I was invited on to talk about the blogHUD mainly, but we ended up covering up alot of ground. Thanks everyone! omg! I can’t believe I didn’t post this before. I’m been mad busy before, during and since the Podcast & Portable Media Expo. Now recovering still, after another trans-atlantic, pan-american trip. [...]
SeconLife Video Feeds » Blog Archive » Interview: Cory Edo of the Electric Sheep Company says:

February 27, 2007 at 9:36 pm

[...] Cory Edo will be known to many of you. If she isn’t her work surely is. As a member of the MDC Electric Sheep Company, Cory has worked on many public projects, and has also been interviewed on Secondcast. Even though she was officially on vacation, she generously gave me a little of her time to answer some burning questions. More after the jump! How did you come to be with [ESC]? Cory Edo: Well Makaio and I had our own development company back at the end of ‘05 called Tiny Seadog. We did mostly inworld stuff but a few RL projects as well. When ESC approached us about joining up, it was just getting to that put up or shut up point where I’d have to set up a business license, taxes, all that stuff, which I dreaded doing. So this seemed like a good way to be able to just concentrate on building and texturing and letting someone else handle the administrative aspects … plus tracking down the jobs. How did you come to be with [ESC]? Cory: Well Makaio and I had our own development company back at the end of ‘05 called Tiny Seadog. We did mostly inworld stuff but a few RL projects as well. When ESC approached us about joining up, it was just getting to that put up or shut up point where I’d have to set up a business license, taxes, all that stuff, which I dreaded doing. So this seemed like a good way to be able to just concentrate on building and texturing and letting someone else handle the administrative aspects … plus tracking down the jobs. And it’s just grown from there; we’ve been pretty lucky that we hooked up with such a forward thinking and professional company. Cory and Makaio’s lovely home Yes, they are arguably the premier MDC in SL to date. How many others there do what you do? And Makaio, I assume. Cory: Hmm lets see … we recently went through a hiring spurt and also brought on a lot of contractors … I think its about 6-8 full time and about twice that for contractors. Sometimes it’s hard to keep up anymore, especially with the different aspects of the business: management, event coordinators, project managers, software dev, etc. How have you adjusted to working with others on a build, as opposed to doing it alone? Cory: Luckily I got in a lot of practice with Makaio and we hit a groove really early on … he builds and I texture … working with a larger group which changes from project to project is really just an extension of that. ESC is very good about putting together teams that work well together, and whose strengths are suitable for the particular project – that makes it much easier. You end up giving out a lot of mod rights, but that’s about it. The project’s not yours in the end anyway. The L Word build Cory: True, it’s a job for a client and they’re the ones who own it … it’s strange though … for SL press the project is still usually seen as an ESC thing or an MOU thing. In the RL press the dev companies don’t get nearly the same coverage, which is understandable. Right; the inference seems to be that virtual things either just happen on their own, or that they’re easy to make. Cory: True, plus the fact that a lot of creative or design work happens behind the scenes, no matter what the medium. You don’t see the name of the company that designed GM’s website, for example. Right; this has always been the case with television commercials, for example. The only company I know that makes commercials is Chiat-Day, and that’s only ’cause they do Apple’s stuff and I’m a huge Mac-head. Cory: SL is unique to that because we’re either all developers or content creators or otherwise exist in this microcosm/world aspect. This great country was founded by the Creators! Cory: Haha we’re all artists here, to some extent or another Even if it’s just making your avatar the way you like it. So you’d describe your working relationships with ESC employees as happy? helpful? like a family? Cory: Absolutely so – I’m terribly pleased with everyone I work with, even as we’ve expanded to the size we have. It’s a great combination of professionalism and drive. Drive is really important. Cory: We all work crazy hours to pull off what we do. Far beyond what I’ve seen people do in a more traditional work environment. It helps I think to be a part of something that you’re building from the ground up, and that everyone feels passionate about … makes it not seem so much like work. Is that how ESC picks its projects? Passion? Cory: I think we try to go for what we feel will be a good fit in SL – projects that push the envelope, give to the community, or otherwise will benefit the company in question beyond an initial press release. We’re all learning as we go of course, but there have been a lot of lessons in the past year. I think very highly of the AOL Pointe build. AOL Pointe Cory: So do I everyone on that project did an awesome job. It was pretty intensive and probably one of the most intensive projects to date, but I think it shows. Were you on a particularly tight schedule? Cory: Unfortunately I wasn’t on that project, so I just got bits and pieces … I know I didn’t see Rez and Endira (the lead builders) for about two months though. Wow … what were you working on at the time? Cory: Mostly smaller projects here and there … some stuff that’s still under NDA, some stuff that we don’t have a schedule on releasing yet, but also working more on one-offs like avatar creation. There have been some Aloft Island updates that kept me busy for a week or two in there, plus iVillage tour hosting. I have a huge respect for people that do events in SL … it’s tiring! Not just builds for you, then. Cory: Nope, been stretching out into avatar creation, some animations, and trying to get myself to the next level on texture creation, which is my first love in SL. Good textures can make or break a build! Cory: I helped wrap up the IBM Codestation that just opened too, so that was the past month of my life It’s such an arcane art. Cory: It really is … it’s so hard to find good information on creating textures for game use. I think the professionals guard their secrets closely And yeah, textures can really be the difference between an average build and a mind-blowing one. She had me at the edge of my seat I wanted to ask you if you get to pick the projects you’d like to do. Cory: Unfortunately the project schedule doesn’t generally allow it, but they do try and see if we have any major objections to it or if we feel we wouldn’t be the right person for the job. I have gotten first dibs on a few things luckily, so that’s nice. So, when designing for SL, in general, do you have an aesthetic philosophy? Things to do/not to do? Cory: Oh gosh absolutely – more in a sense of do/not do things really, things that we try to make sure we do to put out a really professional project. Most of mine are texture rules, just smaller stuff that adds up. In a sense it’s a lot like designing websites, but we’re still learning the rules. Well for textures, things like making sure your offsets and repeats are correct. I’ve started doing more texture mapping, like putting multiple textures in the same file and then offsetting them for the right effect to decrease load. More things than the real game industry does, but its learning it from the outside and through trial and error. You have to think about usability for the person seeing the project for the first time more than if you’re creating for your own fun. That can be tough, I’ll warrant. Cory: Well, it’s not the fun part usually Maps and tutorials and thinking like a first time user can be hard. Especially when you just want to go nuts artistically! What works from an aesthetic standpoint might not work from a usability standpoint. Do you think that there’s room for all the current, and likely upcoming MDCs? Cory: Given the amount of work coming in currently, I think so … I’m constantly turning down side projects or contacting other people who might want the extra work, and THEY’RE booked too! I worry that we’re going through a bubble right now, just like the Internet’s early days. Cory: If the bubble does pop, I think that the whole metaverse concept will be more firmly ingrained, so even if SL isn’t the platform that ends up the universal constant, I think enough people are getting the skills and experience here to make the transition. I don’t see really any others out there that offer what SL does. Cory: Not yet, but hopefully soon there will be … the ones I’ve heard about are all still in the whisper stages, but it’s more than there was this time last year. And LL taking the open source route I think puts them far ahead of the pack. All it will take is a better UI. Cory: Yep, exactly, and maybe better voice. I have a huuuuuge list for the UI Ooh, do tell! Cory: Haha most of it is from a building standpoint … a UI for new users or for a more specialized setup would be vastly different. Honestly, would it be so hard to put simple graphic tutorials on their website? Cory: Oh mans a LOT of things would be helped with simple tutorials. When I first joined, there was still that PDF floating around, and I read every word before I logged in. And even then it was out of date … Dunno why good documentation is always so rare. Cory: Haha because its a pain to do And it really is an art in itself. Well, this is true, but for guys like me, it’s kind of a passion of its own. And given that their current one sucks, they could easily make it a long-term project, or even outsource it to someone. Look with fresh eyes, ,etc. Cory: Oh absolutely. They have enough on their plate just keeping the grid up and running though … I can see why documentation is on the back burner. Yeah, like you said, outsourcing it would be the best option. Invest a couple grand, get it done, make it so you can update it as you go. Does ESC do work on other platforms, like There? Cory: We’ve done some work on There.com, the Virtual Laguna Beach platform … that’s really geared towards an entirely different audience than SL. My favorite part of the Laguna Beach sim Are the building tools so different? Cory: Well, from what I heard from the devs on it, yesssssssssss … big time. There’s not nearly the amount of flexibility that SL has. And given what they had to do to set it up, they were given much more access to the game setup than the average user. The graphics design girl that worked on it traded stories with me … she couldn’t wait to get to work more in SL after that experience. Cory: Not to talk smack of course … it’s just There isn’t set up to allow a regular account to modify its surroundings so extensively. It would be like doing a private contracted job in WoW I imagine. People keep talking about living quarters in WoW … I don’t see it happening. Cory: You know, I’m going to out myself and admit I’ve never been in WoW … not that I don’t have interest in it, but I’m afraid it will suck up completely what free time I do have left. You’re not wrong. Cory: Me joining SL was a complete anomaly for me. This is my first online MMORPG thingie whatever it is. Yeah … I’d probably be intensely frustrated if I did try something else at this point. You’d feel really locked down. Cory: For me, SL is all about the creativity, its the reason I joined … if that wasn’t available, it just wouldn’t hold my interest anymore I don’t think. I used to be pretty big on console games back in the day and now I can’t even concentrate on one for more than a few weeks. I’d rather be building or working with friends or exploring in SL. There’s the whole other level of knowing the people that create everything you see here. What would you love to have implemented that would make work a lot easier, or better? Cory: Oh god – biiig thing: thumbnail images for textures in your inventory. Ooh! Cory: Better/easier organization. I’d like my skfjhkgfjd inventory windows to stay closed when I close them, but that’s more of a bug fix haha! They keep opening? Cory: A more robust mod permissions system so we don’t have to constantly set group/next owner perms when working on a multiperson project. Yeah, no matter if I close them and then exit inventory, the next time I open it they’re all open again. Oh, THAT bug. Chillin’ Cory: Yeaaaah. The latency bug for texture application … kills me. This new rotation bug … yeah, its mostly bug fixes at this point. Actually, let me get the email … one sec. Clearly, I’ve opened a can of worms. Cory: When you upload sound/texture/animation/snapshot, have the option to choose where to save the file (file path, create new folder to save in) as opposed to the default folders. YES! Cory: Have a Details view where it shows you the name of the item but also its date of creation/save, creator. For Snapshots have it say where it was taken. Seriously, you’d think that’s obvious. Cory: Pie menu view that shows # of items in your inventory by folder? (pipe dream) Nice dream. Cory: Right-clicking a folder would let you choose a color for the folder icon, or an entirely new icon for visual organization. Aaaaaand: Subsets for linked groups: link set A and set B separately. Then link them together into set C. When Set C is delinked, it will delink into linked set A and set B again. Can (should?) be an option, possibly a check box in the edit menu to define this linked object as a set when linking to other prims/linked sets. So, not like you’ve been thinking about this for a while. Cory: Haha we keep a little list and add to it as we go, usually when one of us IMs the other and goes GOD I WISH … Yeah, inventory organization is huge. Cory: That’s really the biggest problem, and the biggest time waster. You have to be so organized when you’re working on multiple projects. And god knows when you’ll need something again, so it makes culling your stuff hard. My hard drive is organized well for my texture work, but it’s all goobered when it comes to SL. We chatted for a little while longer, then I took off to track down another interviewee. Cory, thank you so much for taking the time to talk with me and answer my impertinent questions! [...]
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March 30, 2007 at 8:49 pm

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Secondcast #35: “Purple Pants”

11 Responses to “Secondcast #35: “Purple Pants””

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