A Sad Tale

~ pamelagalli ~ 8 Comments
On the right is a loveseat I made. On the left is one that has been given out for free across the grid. Go ahead and click (twice) to see details.

 
Notice anything?  Now I am not saying they are identical because the mesh is not identical.  But under copyright law, that really doesn’t matter.  If someone downloads my mesh, takes it into some 3D program, and changes it a bit — or even changes it a lot — or just makes a copy from scratch — it is still IP infringement. 
A friend was visiting and noticed the two sofas side by side; she suggested I slide one sofa over so they occupied the same space.  I tinted mine yellow so you can see which is which. Here is what they look like:

Amazing, isn’t it? A near perfect match, down to the piping on the cushions and the front of the arms.
In cases like this I often hear people say “Oh that came off the internet, there are tons like that on the internet.”  Well in this case, no there are not.  Here is a search of “leather sofa” : https://www.google.com/search?q=leather+sofa&hl=en&client=firefox-a&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&gbv=2&prmd=imvnsr&source=lnms&tbm=isch&ei=_n6wT8bwMsXY2QX6ytDpCA&sa=X&oi=mode_link&ct=mode&cd=2&ved=0CJABEPwFKAE&biw=1908&bih=1233
If anyone sees a loveseat/sofa that looks like mine, let me know. Because I have never seen one. The loveseats were not “both modeled after the same RL source” because I did not use one.
Am I wrong for saying “I know my work. This is my work.”?  Some think so. What I think: It is wrong to take credit for the work of someone else, and worse to sell or give it away. 
A natural question is, how would you prove something like this in court?  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Substantial_similarity
“Substantial similarity is the standard developed and used by United States courts to determine whether a defendant has infringed the reproduction right of a copyright. The standard arises out of the recognition that the exclusive right to make copies of a work would be meaningless if infringement was limited to making only exact and complete reproductions of a work”  
UPDATE:  After due consideration of the fact that picture of my sofa appeared several times in the mesh forum where the maker of the copied sofa and I post, I am willing to give the benefit of the doubt that the copy may have been subconscious.  Certainly it is a copy, but there is no way to prove intent. I did contact the maker in IM first, and when I never heard back from him, I drew a conclusion about his motives. I don’t think it is an unwarranted conclusion but there remains the possibility of unintentional copying, and so that is the premise under which I will operate. I will not file a DMCA; the maker of the copy can decide the right thing to do.
ETA:  There is someting in Intellectual Property Law called Subconsious Copying; there is also the psychological phenomenon called Cryptomnesia

Mesh House Sneak Peak

~ pamelagalli ~ 1 Comment
I have been working for several weeks on my first mesh house (not counting my mesh skybox, which was a sort of mesh test build that turned out rather nicely).

I still have QUITE a lot more work to do on it, but here is a sneak peek of the front (wait until you see the inside!):

AN ADVENTURE INTO CONVEX HULL AND MESH by Jazzy Lupindo

~ pamelagalli ~ Leave a comment
Jazzy kept me updated as she relinked her house to save prims — and in the process I got valuable feedback about what I need to include on my Homeowners Page instructions for the process.  Jazzy graciously agreed to share her experience here:

Hello to all you Pamela Galli fans! I purchased the Rose Manor home from Pamela several weeks ago. I have had lots of questions regarding different functions of my house. Pamela has been so helpful, always getting back to me right away.

        When Firestorm came out with an update, my fireplaces went bonkers and were jumbled. I contacted Pamela and she suggested having the sim restarted.  During our conversations about this, Pamela gave me the url to her blog to read on mesh.

While I was there I also read her article on lowering LI (Land Impact) by changing linked, unscripted, and non-sculpty prims to Convex Hull Physics Shape Type. This option is on the Features tab in your edit window. I decided to try it on my house and other items on my land. It was kinda hit and miss at first. I had to unlink the windows from the rest of the house, then I linked all the windows back together.

 The reason for that is they have scripts in them and to get them all to work at the same time they had to be linked separate from the house. then I had to unlink the doors from the house. These are all easy enough functions to perform. But, I forgot that the sculpted items had to also be unlinked. So I went back through the house and unlinked any sculty items.

Then I realized I couldn’t walk through the doorways. HMMM? So I contacted Pamela again. I’m sure her patience was being tested by then with me haha. [Editor’s note: Nope!] But, she explained that Convex Hull when used will fill in openings such as doorways. So, I then proceeded to unlink the surrounding doorways and wall pieces.

Yeah, I know it sounds like alot right? Well, I kept going and discovered the roses were sculpties. So I unlinked them and the numbers went down. If you try to change a sculpty to Convex Hull it about double the prims. Very good lesson for me. So, after all that was said and done, and I soft linked the house and took a copy, I saved 77 prims! It was well worth the effort! I only had 125 prims left now I have 202! Amazing, huh?

          On this little adventure I also got a look at the mesh dining sets and living room furniture and bedroom furniture Pamela has made from mesh. Awesome! Looks so real! I was really kinda against mesh at first, thinking I was being forced into accepting it whether I liked it or not. But, OMG! I can see so many good things about mesh now. Fewer prims, much more flexibility in building. I’m sold!
          
Thanks Pamela for all your help and the information you have shared with me!

                         Jazzy Lupindo

What is Live Chat for?

~ pamelagalli ~ 1 Comment
I have a customer who bought a lot of things from me inworld — none from a scripted vendor, all objects or boxes — who received none of them in her inventory. Or at least she sees none of them. These were bought from two different sims, and I have had no other reports of problems, so pretty sure the problem is with her inventory. When I have given her a replacement of one item, twice, she had the same problem. We have both contacted Live Chat, to ask them to just look in her inventory and see if the items are there or not — and fix the problem.

Support told me if she contacted them, they could check her inventory. However, when she did that, she was told to file a ticket, which she did, but she is understandably eager to get the things she bought. She owns a sim; I own four, and yet Live Chat seems only to be able to say File a Ticket.

Here is my attempt, at the end of my second call to Live Chat, to find out what Live Chat IS for:

You: Tell me this — what is live chat for?
BethA: I understand your frustration and I know this is not the answer expected. But I am unable to assist with this matter. Please review the link provided and await reply to your support ticket.
You: What sort of things does Live Chat address?
You: What types of problems?
BethA: I am sorry, but I am unable to list all the issues Live chat is able to handle. For information on troubleshooting and help, please visit the knowledge base and search for solutions to issues as they arise. If you are unable to locate a solution, please file a support ticket.
You: Okay well then tell me one type of problem that Live Chat addresses
You: Because I don’t know
BethA: Was there another issue I can help you with since we have addressed the issue that brought you into chat today?
BethA: If there isn’t anything else I may assist you with, you have a great day! Bye!
If you need additional assistance, please feel free to contact us again.
This chat has been ended by the operator.

Excuse me?  It’s a pretty simple question.  Is it a secret?  Is there ANYthing that Live Chat responds to?



The Truth About Mesh

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A customer wrote me the other day, saying how much she loves my things — but is everything I make from now on going to be mesh?  After all, since Phoenix became mesh-enabled I have had a new mesh release every week.  She was wondering because she “still is not understanding this mesh” — and she is not the only one.

Before I tell the answer I gave her, let me explain as clearly as I can about mesh rezzed objects — not worn mesh like clothing and avatars, which I know little about.

First, understand that everything in SL is actually made of mesh, whether regular prims or sculpts — and mesh is just a bunch of triangles.  If you change your viewer to Wireframe mode, you can see that this is true, as in the pics below, one in regular view and one in wireframe. Yes, even a regular prim cube  IS REALLY A MESH (made of 24 triangles)!

This August “mesh” was introduced — by that is meant, generic mesh, the kind that is used in all games, and not some special limited type, like prims or sculpts. Without getting all technical, using this mesh means nearly infinite flexibility, without the limitations of sculpts, and also means you can often do more with fewer prims.  
Some facts about mesh objects rezzed (and not worn):
1) You can modify mesh as you would any sculpt — scale, tint, texture.
2) Unlike sculpts, and like prims, mesh can be created to have up to 8 different faces that can be textured and tinted differently from one another.  For example, these two doors and two drawer pulls below are all one mesh object, but have different textures applied — I could also tint the doors or pulls separately from each other, even though they are one mesh object. 
3) Mesh doesn’t use a sculpt map; it is not made from regular prims; it cannot be created inworld.  It is made in a 3D program and imported into SL.
                                 THE BEST PART: MESH AND PRIM COUNT / LAND IMPACT
A customer (one who had been happily buying mesh products) had build her own house, entirely of regular prim cubes.  I told her to go into her (mesh) viewer’s Edit > Features Tab and change the Physics type to Convex Hull instead of Prim. Instantly the prim count went from 173 to 87.
How?  Because now there are now TWO PRIM ACCOUNTING SYSTEMS IN SECOND LIFE, and you can choose which one you want to use for each object. The new term for Prim Count is Land Impact (LI), which means “how many prims are actually deducted from your total available in About Land”.  It is almost certain that many of your objects can be reduced in LI like this — but many others can not or can even double in prims — you have to know how to tell the difference, which is not as complicated as you might think, because:
Jenni Darkwatch has written a complete, SIMPLE explanation HERE.
Try it yourself with a mesh viewer:  Rez two cubes and link them. Check the prim count — it will say 2 (2) (the second number is the Land Impact or actual prims counted against your parcel total).  Now go into the Features tab and change the Physics type to Convex Hull — voila, one prim!
Bottom line:  Anything made entirely of regular prims (except torii/donuts) and unscripted, try making Convex Hull.  Huge objects, however, can have a much higher prim count.
Consider this:  Every sculpt mesh must have exactly 2048 triangles, whether you are making a mountain or an olive. 2048 is way too many triangles for some things, too few for others. It’s like baking a cake when you must use exactly one cup of sugar in everything — too much for some things, too little for others. For the new mesh, you can use only as many triangles as you need, keeping the prim count/Land Impact as low as possible.
For example, the two doors, drawers, and pulls in the mesh pictured above has a prim count of one.  No way could I have made those with a prim count of one with anything but mesh.
                                                        ***************
An informative blog post explaining mesh is HERE.
So, the short answer to my customer’s original question is that most of what I make from now on will be made of mesh or a combination of mesh and regular prims. For 3D artists, the ability to make much more detailed 3D objects is just too irresistible. It’s like, once you discover Legos, you are not going back to Tinkertoys.  
For a fuller explanation of why I am a mesh supporter and some explanatory pics, read my blog post HERE.

Why I changed my mind about mesh…

~ pamelagalli ~ 2 Comments

I was very skeptical that mesh would improve Second Life — and I still have the same reservations, mainly about the relative ease of importing ripped models, compared to say, sculpts, which only exist in SL. I also did not want to have to learn Blender — well, I wanted to, but had serious doubts about my ability to do so at more than a basic level.

It’s just that now, for me, the pros are outweighing the cons.

The first of these is the ability for everyone to cut prim count (now called Land Impact or LI) by 40% not only with mesh items but with  unscripted items which are made entirely of regular prims (except torii/donuts) — and sometimes even with sculpts and/or scripts.  How?  Using a mesh enabled viewer, select the item, go into the Features tab, and change the physics type to Convex Hull.  Try it first with two plain cubes – two linked cubes set to convex hull = 1 Land Impact (or Prim Count).

Second is that for the first time, I can actually choose almost any furniture design and not only make it with a reasonable prim count — I mean Land Impact! — but do a far better job of making it look exactly like I want. Artistically, mesh is simply irresistible!  I never want to go back to trying to make sculpts and prims look like real furniture. Making mesh things is just too much fun (well, when not beating my head against the Blender wall), and my things just look way too good!

Mesh has done for SL content what Windlight did for the environment — and yes, unfortunately, some computers may not be able to handle it.  And that is NOT because mesh is harder on viewers than prims or sculpts, because they are definitely not — it’s the viewers themselves that just seem to require more processing power, no matter what they are rendering.  Hopefully later versions will be faster.

I don’t know if this honeymoon will last — how long before the grid is flooded with thousands of ripped models? But for now, I am glad that SL just got a big boost in quality. Here are some pics of some of my mesh sets: