Come check them out here: http://slurl.com/secondlife/La%20Galleria%20II/154/149/27
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| Linen Slipper Chair and Travertine Set-24 Prims |
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| Brocade Slipper Chair and Travertine Set- 27 Prims |
http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/La%20Galleria%20II/189/129/27
I love the idea of effortlessly increasing a home’s living and entertaining space by adding one of these new sets to your terrace or patio! They would even work in a breakfast area or sunroom!
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| Bronze and Glass Outdoor Living Set- 29 Prims |
This set is COPY, which gives you the option to arrange the set with as many chairs, tables, and benches as you like.
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| Who doesn’t love wine and cheese? |
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| Another choice for centerpiece |
And for al fresco entertaining, the Bronze and Glass Mesh Patio Dining Set…
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| Bronze and Glass Patio Set- 16 Prims (not including food that rezzes) |
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| Ham Sandwiches |
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| Croissants |
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| Wine and Cheese Plate |
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| Love orchids! |
Other options for table settings include muffins for 2 or 4 or Waffles for 2 or 4.
Let me start at the beginning. (And then I will tell you what prompted this post.)
When I first came to Second Life I noticed that everything was huge compared to my avi — rooms and stores were cavernous. Doors were twice as tall as I was. Doorknobs came up to my shoulder. And I was 6 feet tall!
And after a bit I realized why this was — rooms and doorways built to scale would trap the camera behind them. This is because — unlike most other video games — the Second Life camera default is angled high and at quite a distance from the avi. Hamlet Au published this image from Resident Evil on his blog here.
This is from Penny Patton, quoted on Inara Pey’s blog here.
Camera placement is important. In the videogame industry this is common wisdom. Game developers spent decades experimenting, improving and pretty much perfecting the art of camera placement in 3D videogames.
Unfortunately, the SL camera does not take advantage of any of that experience. As a result, the camera sits way over your avatar’s head, angled down. Not very immersive or engaging. More like you’re watching a character from afar rather than interacting with the world through them.
This has also affected how we build. It’s common knowledge that avatars are generally oversized, often close to 7 or 8′ tall, some pushing almost 9′. And yet, the environments we build and explore are larger still, often fully double scale compared to real life. 5m high ceilings instead of the more typical 2.59, 20x20m rooms instead of 10x10m or 5x5m rooms. We need to build so much larger to compensate for SL’s camera.
Above left, Penny shows the SL Default camera position; on the right, the “Over the Shoulder” position. The SL default is like having a kite flying in the air behind you, and it keeps getting stuck in doors and walls. I keep my camera even closer to me, it just feels more immersive and natural.
So everyone built around the high trailing camera — rooms were built huge, so furniture was built huge, so avis were made huge (though they still usually looked too small for their surroundings). And for most people this was no problem. Just make everything big so the camera would not get trapped.
However, we are now in the Age of Mesh, and prims/ Land Impact is dramatically affected by the size of objects. You can cut a lot of prims / Land Impact just by shrinking your furnishings or house a bit. Or better yet, when you buy these things, buy them to scale to begin with. And when things are smaller and take fewer prims, that means you can do with less land, and less land means less tier.
The fix is easy — just adjust your default camera angle and distance so it is closer to you and not so high up. Instantly, your camera is not bumping into things anymore. Plus it just feels so much more natural, more like Real Life.
The future of Second Life is for things to be created to scale. Making everything huge to accomodate a dysfunctional camera angle just doesn’t make sense when it costs so much in Land Impact.
Here are some instructions for adjusting your camera angle to a more natural position — you can play with the numbers a bit to suit your preferences, but this is a good starting point:
Instructions with pictures can be found on Ciaran Laval’s blog here.
Also, Penny Patton has a free HUD you can wear to adjust your camera angle: https://marketplace.secondlife.com/p/Camera-Control-HUD/164404?page=1
What prompted this post?
My brand new house, the San Marino (you can see pics in a previous post), has one review now. The reviewer gave it two stars — she said it was beautiful — but the bedrooms were “too small”. (Never mind that it can be seen inworld, never mind that it can be stretched larger, never mind that adjusting camera angle would solve the problem, never mind that I include camera angle instructions with the house!)
This is me standing in one of the “too small” bedrooms, with my camera close behind me:
Read a discussion about this post here: http://community.secondlife.com/t5/General-Discussion-Forum/Cut-Mesh-Prims-by-Changing-Your-Camera-Angle/td-p/2054145
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| Bombe Burl Chest with Monet Landscape |
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| Always classic, a vase of roses. |
The Burl Bombe Chest set includes the chest, vase of roses, brass planter with Shefflera, and Monet Landscape painting. All together the set is 13 prims.
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| Sconce |
Many extras included, but no furniture.
Below is a slideshow and pictures.
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| Back of house |
The San Marino includes two versions — one with marble balconies, and one with lower prim wrought iron balconies. In addition, you can modify to one of two versions to better fit your avi. Prim count ranges from 330-397 depending on your version and size.
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| Detailed arches |
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| Dining |
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| Kitchen |
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| Living |
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| Living/Study |
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| So pretty! |
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| Sitting Room |
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| Master Bedroom |
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| Bath |
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Read more about the San Marino on the Marketplace here.
Just in time for Summer, La Galleria is pleased to introduce the newest additions to the mesh wicker collection!
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| Tan Wicker Floral and Glass Hostess Set |
This Tan Wicker Set makes hosting a casual brunch or lunch effortless! This set has options for place seating for two or 4, and choice of muffins, waffles, croissant or sandwiches. Or, of you have decided to move to the living area (see below), clear the table and set with a pretty vase of flowers. All this for 17 Prims!
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| Tan Wicker and Floral Outdoor Living Set |
This set comes with everything pictured, for only 34 prims!
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| Ceiling fan with on/off feature and light. |
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| Tan Wicker Armchairs |
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| Tan Wicker Loveseat |
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| Tan Wicker Chaise |
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| Daisy Centerpiece |
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| Tulip Centerpiece |
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| Orchid Centerpiece |
Be sure and check out the entire wicker collection here.
With plenty of seating and a coffee table that rezzes a variety of flowers, magazines, and appetizers for guests, this La Galleria Exclusive Set is the perfect addition to any patio or balcony. All this for 34 prims!
Choose from a cheese plate, candles, two magazine options, and either a daisy, tulip or orchid centerpiece.
Also be sure to check out the White Wicker Hostess Set on the previous post, if you’re also interested in an al fresco dining experience!
The kitchens come with two different countertop texture change versions* — Amber or Black Marble — are modular, easy to modify, and have many different accessories, so you can customize to your kitchen’s size and prim count. Refrigerators are not linked and can be placed at either end of the kitchen or elsewhere. Freestanding cabinets and fireplace (not visible in picture) are not linked so may be placed anywhere.
Top cabinet doors have glass panels and open, and new specular and normal materials have been applied (visible only with a materials-enable viewer).
The basic kitchen with furniture and appliances is about 90 prims; fully loaded with accessories, add about another 120, depending on which you choose to use.
The picture below shows various places to Right or Left Click in order to animate, rez, or turn things on and off in one part of the kitchen (these yellow indicators rez with the kitchen and may be deleted whenever you like).
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| Click to enlarge and read labels. |
* The Ebony and Cream kitchen does not come with texture change counters.
La Galleria 