Girl(s) On Fire

Hi Everyone,

How are you all doing?  I’m very well thanks.

The reason I post this is to comment on the recent performance and the making of the Girl On Fire video that will be linked in this brief summary and edited by Lat.

Ffirst, the making of the routine was a lot of fun. The hat-throw itself was an SL dance at first, not from the adorn point-of-view but the throw itself.  Lat (Yummy) has done it before for the demo videos for everyone to learn from.

It was a subtle change from the original sword throw, to actually use it in a routine performed live at The Wolf Theater.  Lat will cover all the aspects which I used in this routine so I won’t go over them as I know she is quite eager to do it.

Learning new things can be time consuming and to implement them into something thats original or that has not been done before is even harder to do at times while at the same time associating it with dance.

But the point is, it can be done.  And the more complex you make a routine the quicker you feel gratification in the work you have accomplished,

If someone asked me to sum up the complexity of it, most is pretty easy.  The hat, being the trickiest part of it all, really didn’t take long to do, building on the previous sword-throw.  So, as the thrower is now, a few hours is all I need to make something throwable. That includes rotation, velocity, and distance.  Anyone can do it but it takes time to learn so best of luck to everyone!. Oh I forgot the link

Watch the video: Girl(s) on Fire

SarahRho Huntress

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Yummy here.

The preparation, creation,  live-performance thru the making of the video conjured up a books-worth of ideas, thoughts, and emotions, but I will try hard to pare down my thoughts and be as concise as I can.

First and foremost this is the first effort and results from a person not only new to the Artiste but new to SL show-dance as well.  This routine prioritized learning and using features of the Artiste  over any other routine-creation-criterium.  It is also the 1st live-show ‘throw’.

This effort shows some of what CAN be accomplished when a person:I think we have 

isolated key factors  required to become proficeint in the Artiste way of life.

1) sets aside a LOT OF TIME to learn,

2) PRIORITIZES learning and mastering tool-skills over performing and other distractions,

3) acquiring almost DAILY ONE-ON-ONE tutoring, and

4) really WANTS IT and BELIEVES in the RESULTS

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Is all the effort worth it? I often ponder and wonder that.  And even when answered, I realize the answer will be personal. What is worth it to one might not be worth it to another.

So, that is a question I cannot answer. Only a person like Sarah who has gone thru the ordeal can answer.  I can never be “new” to the Artiste experience.  I repeatedly asked her on several occasions and she always answered in the affirmative.  Proof may well be in the pudding as she seems to have an unending craving for more Artiste feature-knowledge, experience, mastery, and practical application. Her enthusiam remains at an all-time high always trying to top her previous endeavors..

The focus on what has been done here should be placed on the mastering  of intermediate and advanced Artiste skills in a relatively short span of time by a relative new-comer… more so than polish of a final product as she is new and should be allowed the time to grow and mature like all of us have had.

Tha Artiste is not an easy product to learn much less master but now I know that even with a new person and a reasonable amount of time…it CAN be done...with extreme sacrifices

Many of the accomplishments are visually apparent.  Many will have significance only to those familiar with the internal machinations of the Artiste. 

I will list the techniques that I identified in this performance:

1 – Dance-Sequencing
2 – Group-Dancing
3 – Cane-Adorn
4 – Group-Cane Adorn
5 – Hat-Swap (head-to-hand)
6 – HatThrow (Thrower) (1st live use in a show)
7 – Compound-Palette design (Fire Particle and Thrower)
8 – Sit-2-Sit
9 – Group Sit-2-Sit (Relay)
10 – Multiple Movers
11 – Lower
12 – Raise
13 – Extendibles (Extractions) (Phoenix) (1st live use in a show)
13 – SetRez
14 – SetSwap  (HUD-sequenced control
15 – AutoCam design  (1st live use in a show)
16 –  HUD sequenced Curtain Control
17 -  Rez Object  (Palette)
18 - Kill Object (Palette)

18 down, only 182 more to go.

Lat (Yummy) Lovenkraft

Artiste Complex & Compound Rotations: Artiste Answers Its Second Challenge

See the Video >>> Artiste Complex Compound Rotations

I have had about 4 people in my ear recently over the topic of independent compound linked rotations 

So, I have added 2 simple new Palette instructions to help facilitate implementation of more interesting and challenging rotation scenarios

I don't claim this to be rocket-science from a scripting pov. Just an added convenience for performers..

The following video, first-half, shows the Artiste's rotation-while-moving ability first presented to the public at the Extravadanza Exodus event when I turned a 25-seat barge into a Palette.

Then in the second-half, I incorporated that feature (rotation-while-moving) ability, first presented to the public at the Extravadanza Exodus event, into the new link-specific spin features. I show a side-view and an overhead-view so you can see the relationships.

In the video:
There are 4 linked prims linked to a root for total of 5 prims.
Each link is started and stopped independently
The half-dome spins around its Z axis
The rectable spins around itz Y axis
The cylinder spins around its X axis
The yellow blimp on top spins around X, Y, AND Z axis.
The root Palette slowly rotates around its Z axis while moving along a diagonal path.

A few things to note:
1 - You can control local axis of spin per link
2 - You can control speed of spin per link
3 - While spinning, the linked items ALSO rotate around the root-palettes chosen axis of rotation. You could look at it as local-spins combined with a global rotation.

4 - Each linked prim can be started independently
5 - Each linked prim can be stopped independently
6 - Not only are the linked prims rotating around their own axis and around the root prim axis but they are all moving along a path with the root while it is rotating.

7 - These actions are controlled via autofx from the Artiste Performance HUD.
8 - And yes, you could increase complexity by adding particles effects to the links

9 - The linked prims in the example are scriptless BUT...they could be Palettes in and of themselves and have their special abilities...almost 100 Palette features. (a few would conflict).. this would be where your creativity could come into play. Sky is the limit. 

And on a related note, the Artiste Thrower already has the ability to move while rotating that adds additional functionality in the way of gravity-based as well as target-based movement with rotation: as seen in this video: The Artiste Thrower

The Artiste MasterPiece

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What is the Artiste MasterPiece? 

It's a feature of the Artiste Performer Series that allows a performer to stitch "middle" segments of multiple dances together, simply put. The idea being to skip over unwanted beginnings.

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It is in response to the most requested feature for SL show-dance. A project I started many years ago. (I gave up twice before seeing a light).

It makes starting an animation in the middle a reality. It requires sequencing the dances together which means pre-planning where dances start and stop. Thats what the Artiste Peformance HUD now does. (It cannot be done manually on-the-fly).

It does NOT require that all dances begin at the same time!

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It does come with a few caveats, but ones that are tolerable. 

Technical Caveat A: No. of Dances
The current version allows for 15 dance segments to be pieced together up to 30 seconds each of which only the 1st segment cannot start in the middle. (A future release may allow up to 29 dance segments). 

A dance segment can be: 
  1) a whole dance, 
  2) a dance that starts at the beginning and ends before the end, 
  3) a dance that starts in the middle and plays to its end, 
  4) a dance that starts in the middle and ends prior to its end.


Technical Caveat B: Start Position
You cannot skip more than half of a dance before starting - meaning if a dance is 30 seconds long, you cannot start it beyond 15 seconds into it. If a dance is 20 seconds long, you cannot start it beyond 10 seconds into it. (I may relax this restriction  in a future release)

Technical Caveat C: First Dance Limitation
Cannot  start the 1st dance in the sequence in the middle.

Technical Caveat D: No. of Dancers
Current version only allows for one dancer. A soloist. (A future version may allow for up to 9 dancers depending upon demand.)

Technical Caveat D: Build-Up Delay
It also requires a build-up delay upon which you must mask out the dancing by delaying opening of the curtain or some other solution. The more segments and /or the further into a dance segment you skip, the longer this build-up-time. Think of a build-up as a fancy dance-cache that you don't want the audience to see.

Technical Caveat E: Dance Reusability
You can NOT use the same dance more than once in a MasterPiece if it is named the same. SO if it is mod, then change its name before reusing it, else your results will be unusable.

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And not to steal any of Aura's thunder, nor to overstate the obvious, you must be very very accurate with the information you provide the MasterPiece on its notecard, especially total length of dance.  


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When will it be released? Well technically it is available now via an interim HUD GOLD release upon request, but officially it will be part of the upcoming and final Artiste release (since that's what everyone else is telling me it should be). The PLATINUM release. When?...soon...next month of so.

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Format of MasterPiece Notecard (one entry per Dance-Segment max of 15:

Dance Number
Dance Name
TotalLength of Dance in Seconds and fractions (MUST BE ACCURATE)
StartAt (Number of Seconds into dance to START playing)
StopAt (Number of Seconds into dance to STOP)
PlayFor  (used only if stop-at is zero in which case StopAt is ignored).

Example: 2 | *Cry me a River | 24.20 | 6.7 | 14.50| 0

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Some  history leading up to the MasterPiece

Playing Several Back-2-Back Animations

Starting an Animation in the Middle


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And now I turn the discussion over to Aura Fitzgerald (auricrose) who was generous, persistant, and meticulous enough to make a very noteable video as well as chronicle her ordeal, illustrating  the trials and tribulations of 'thinking MasterPiece'. 

SEE THE VIDEO ==> MasterPiece Video

She presents this dilemma and phenomena with unabashed forthrightness. 

I also wish to thank Sterling Randolph (photobug9000) who conceived of the method for explicit video presentation of the intricate timing. You may have to watch it more than once to fathom whats going on.

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When Yummy first tried to explain the process of MasterPiece to me it was very baffling.  Given that she was essentially trying to re-write the laws of SL physics, it was probably the equivalent of trying to wrap your head around time-travel.  How far we have come in the (probably) 18 months since then.

I will reassure you that once you grasp the principle it all becomes a lot simpler. I am going to talk to you here about the testing process and what I learned from it and I will leave the technical discussion to Yummy although I will refer to some of the caveats that come with the process.

2015
Once the prototype MP unit was ready I went away to put together a simple routine with which we could test the MP.   I used a set of 4 ballet dances, being that ballet is made up of formal moves that can be more easily identified rather than free-form dance.  The plan was to alter the length of two of the dances, one at the beginning and another at the beginning and end.  Of course the trick is finding a suitable transition point where you are not too far off center to move from one animation to another. (see caveat 1)  I used a mixture of ballet dances from different makers.

Within a week we had a model that worked, as far as we could see. The bits of animation I did not want were pre-played at the beginning and the animations were played in shortened form.  

 After that there was a hiatus while other developments were happening with The Artiste and I had to wait until Yummy could incorporate the MP into the Artiste HUD for proper testing.

2016
I got my first HUD with built in MP.  Testing could commence again!

The information from the prototype was loaded into the HUD with animations and away we went. At this point everything is still being checked by eye and seems to work.  

1 | *Cry me a River | 24.20 | 0.0 | 24.20| 0
2 | Ballet-1_copy | 23.66 | 6.5 | 17.2 | 0
3 | Ballet-2_copy | 22.70 | 2.0| 22.70| 0
4 | My-BALLET-21 | 29.77 | 0.0 | 29.77| 0

This was my original layout. Animations 1 and 4 would be played in full, either side of 2 which has cuts at both ends and 3 which is cut at the beginning only.

I started to think about how the MP would be used in performance.  The pre-play of unwanted bits has to be masked. They are played in reverse order before the first dance starts, so with a short section like this you can wait to raise the curtain until the first animation starts to play (see caveat 3). We were now ready to film the sequence in full and in its altered form as you see in Sterling's video.  However this was where it got interesting...

I decided that if it was to look like a completed sequence it should really have a pose at the start and finish:

1 | [Black Tulip] Snow Dancer #10| 5.00 | 0.0 | 5.00 | 0
2 | *Cry me a River | 24.20 | 0.0 | 24.20| 0
3 | Ballet-1_copy | 23.66 | 6.5 | 17.2 | 0
4 | Ballet-2_copy | 22.70 | 2.0| 22.70| 0
5 | My-BALLET-21 | 29.77 | 0.0 | 29.77| 0
6 | [Black Tulip] Snow Dancer #10 - Mirror| 12.00 | 0.0 | 12.00

(see caveat 2)

MP started fouling up.  It really didnt like the pose at the beginning. Our filming started to show discrepancies in the timing of dances.  I removed the beginning pose and it seemed to recover. 

 We filmed it again and compared the the versions.  Something was still off.  Now we all know that even if an Animation Maker tells us the time of the animation, it can sometimes be slightly off. I decided to replace one of the dances to see if this was the case.  

1 | *01_Ballet| 22.70 | 0.0 | 22.70| 0
2 | Ballet-1_copy | 23.66 | 6.5 | 17.2 | 0
3 | Ballet-2_copy | 22.70 | 2.0| 22.70| 0
4 | *Cry me a River | 24.20 | 0.0 | 24.20| 0
5 | [Black Tulip] Snow Dancer #10 - Mirror| 12.00 | 0.0 | 12.00 

I won't bore you with how many combinations we tried, but every time we filmed there was still a discrepancy and most with the 3rd and 4th animation not playing correctly.  We were getting very frustrated. We had now been testing for nearly 6 weeks on and off.  

The MasterPiece is started by an *autofx command.  1,MASTERPIECE=play

While we had been filming the last version, I had started to think again about the practical use of MP.  A routine is generally made up of more than 4 animations. Adding in more animations as well has having more animations with changes will  lengthen the time at the beginning that you will have to mask.  This is something that you are meant to use SPARINGLY.  It is NOT meant to be used with a multitude of dances.  Please consider here how incredible this is that we can do it at all!  Do not take it for granted, please.

So my thinking was this, that the MP would be a command like the 1,PLAY_SEQ=1 and so why could you not move from MP to seq and back again?  That way MP would be reserved only for those dances that were to be altered.  We finished another night of filming and disappointment and I went to bed with it on my mind.  I couldn't sleep and the thought was still there.  As with most things, if you give the mind a chance to relax and reflect an answer will come.  

I split the routine into two.  
this was now the MP notecard:
1 | *01_Ballet| 22.70 | 0.0 | 22.70| 0
2 | Ballet-1_copy | 23.66 | 6.5 | 17.2 | 0
3 | Ballet-2_copy | 22.70 | 2.0| 22.70| 0

and on the *sequence 1 notecard:

*Cry me a River | 24.20
[Black Tulip] Snow Dancer #10 - Mirror | 12.00

*autofx:
TRACE,on
1,MASTERPIECE=play
2,PLAY_SEQ=1
END

I added up the times of the dances and used those to create the *events timings. For some unknown reason, SL balks at going back to a full, unchanged animation once the preceding animations have been tinkered with.  This way we could bypass what was happening.  The event time is calculated by adding together the FULL time of all dances on the MP notecard. As I use ELAPSED time, I then added the 5 seconds from event 1.  We know that timings in SL are slightly elastic, so I added a second onto that time to be sure.  Once you can see the break between the MP ending and the Seq1 beginning you can easily work backwards to trim the time to where you want it precisely.  The great thing is, once you have the MP in place these alterations are only to events so you can do a quick save from the first menu while you are figuring it all out.   No having to reset the HUD and re-Build. 

The other beauty of this method is, it reduces the pre-play  time considerably.  From 29.7 seconds I was now down to 15 seconds, therefore less to mask.

N.B.  Using palettes to adjust for movements from center: I did actually implement this at one stage but decided to omit it from the final video.  Not exactly a caveat but please remember that as the dances are coming from the MP notecard, it is not as easy as when the dances are on the *seq NC. They have to be triggered from *autofx and that means painstaking timing of the moves.  Oh yes. Pain...


Caveat 1 = you MUST use looped-dances of identifiable length - as precise as possible - otherwise it will not work properly

Caveat 2 = Animations/poses in the MP cannot have the same name.  You either have to use a mirror, load the dance twice, and rename it...if that is possible.

Caveat 3 = Masking the pre-play of unwanted animations will mean that you have to time carefully where your music starts, where the dance starts and when you open the curtain!  Not impossible, just takes some thought.


Have fun and please remember, yet again...less is more!

FREE - The ArtisteSimplePoseball

FREE - Artiste SimplePoseball

While I assume most veterans have something they use to pre-position dancers, it occurred to me that some newbies to the dance world might not. So keeping in the holiday spirit, I am offering a gift to the Dance Queens communities newest members. 

It iis a very basic poseball that has a single pose in it that you can replace with your own.

1) When you sit on it, it goes invisible
2) You can adjust your height using the PgUp/PgDn keys
3) You can change the hover text
4) It is Mod/Copy so you can change its color, size, and shape
5) You can change the animation.
6) FREE updates for life for it.

Happy Holidays to All 

Yummy

As Easy as ABC

Watch our video Christmas card HERE

Our last show of the year at Sinner's Burlesque turned out to be a very special one. Every act was performed using The Artiste. 

Skye has took up the baton only a week ago and used her sequencer for the dance routines.  Sanne has been using the Silver for a long time now for sequencing but she has upgraded to the Gold and did her first palette fade on part of the set.  WTG girls!  I am sure we will see some very creative ideas in the coming months and its very thrilling.

Even though I have now been using The Artiste for 3 years (where did the time go?) it's still a buzz to try out something for the first time and get it right.  This time it was the new ABC feature of the Advanced Mover System.  It meant that I could divide the 5 of us up into 3 groups, each with their own sequence.  I chose not to use dances as I thought there was enough going on in the routine already. Instead I wanted to add an accent that would be memorable and so chose poses as a highlight in the dance where it fitted the music.

On the stage we are placed in a subtle V-shape with myself at the point.  I am assigned the A position which in this case was the lead.  Skye and Sanne, either side of me were assigned to B and Pepper and Yummy took C.  

I could have used different poses for each sequence but I had been demonstrating an idea to Yummy, during testing, involving timing offsets.  So instead of differentiating with movement the groups are each offset slightly in time to give a "Mexican Wave" effect.

My polar bear is a palette..in fact he is two palettes, one for the body and one for the head, so that I could get him to shake his head.  As he wasn't going to do that for very long I just used ordinary movements rather than repeated motion.  This also allowed me to make the moves slightly different each time so it had a more natural look.  The quips from the polar bear were just me going "Hang on, what am I doing..penguins are South Pole..."

We did also have a Santa in a sleigh zooming across the sky in the live performance but someone *coughs and looks a bit coy* forgot to send the palette back home between takes :P  *shrugs*  It happens!

Oh, and in case you are wondering, the music was originally from the cast of Glee...but we had to make it sound a bit different for upload so Sterling did his magic.  Just think Penguins, not chipmunks...

I was really pleased with the choreography on this piece, it all fitted together really nicely and I just love the little shoulder shrug just as they come out of the poses.  

So, THANK YOU to everyone who has supported Sinner's and promoted The Artiste in 2015. There is so much fun yet to come and we can all share it together.  I am just thankful to be a part of it all and to be surrounded by such amazing people who inspire me.

Special Thanks to:

Yummy for being such fun to bounce ideas around with..the inside of your mind is my Disneyland!
Sanne and Skye for letting me boss them around on a deadline and being such great fun to work with :)
Sterling for being patient with me and so creative and just...well Sterling!
MJ, Nancy and Zed for flying The Artiste Flag at MJ's Burlesque and letting me perform with them!
Kat Feldragonne for her promotion of The Artiste on her blog and elsewhere :)
The "Sexy Brits" for their incredible support at shows...always love having you guys there!


And many thanks to all of you who have watched our videos, visited the blog, read the FB posts and so much more.  I may not have named you all but your contribution is every bit as valued.

Happy Holidays and a Merry Solstice to all of you and here's to a very exciting 2016.  The best is yet to come!
Much love to you all,

Aura x

Artiste Performer GOLD - 2015 Series Available

Sale days are couting down towards the end of December 2015.

 I have provided detailed features lists for all of the packages for those interested. I had one inquirey so i assume others may have as keen of an interest

Option #1:    $5,000L   - A-50 -  Features List 

Option #2:    $7,500L   - A-75 -   Features List

Option #3:  $10,000L   - A-100 - Features List  

Option #4:  $25,000L   - A-250 - Features List


Feel free to contact Lat Lovenkraft directly.
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I've Got A Rocket...

"I'VE GOT A ROCKET..."

I've Got A Rocket VIDEO

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Sometimes an idea comes along that you are burning to do and it just seems like its going to be a superhuman effort to pull it off.  Thanks to more  forward-leaps  in the development of The Artiste this year, I managed to make this one a {virtual} reality.

The idea for "Rocket" first came about  a couple of years ago when Jemma showed me a stage set that she had built with the "Sillywet" built into it.  The "Sillywet" is essentially just two prims linked together using transparency, which through a glitch of SL creates a silhouette image of the avatar.

I begged her for the stage, fired up with ideas of what I wanted to do with it, but it then sat on the shelf for a long time.  I periodically brought it out and looked at ideas again, but at the time the Artiste was not far enough along to accomplish all the things I wanted to do.

Eventually it was ready, with the first incarnation of Yummy's rezzer, which allowed a transition fade between one set and another.  It was all set up to go at the Artiste Venue but then other priorities took precedence and once again it was put away.

Although the transition between the sets in this video is done with camera fade, it gives a good representation of what it would have looked like as a live piece.  

Specific techniques:

Avatar mover:
Use of the palette mover to direct the avatar from behind the "Sillywet" and to the middle of the stage.

Doors and Lights:
Originally, the opening of the doors and the on/off switch for the down-lights was controlled with a separate HUD built by Jemma to go with the set.   By the time I put the routine together we were able to move doors and have the lights not only going on and off but flickering, by replacing them with palettes. The doors are on a simple MOVE command and the lights have a flicker and an on/off.

Planting the bomb:
Unfortunately this is one area where things have not caught up to us yet.  There are not sufficient subtle animations available to cover every eventuality of motion so I had to settle for a mere suggestion with a crouch. The mover palette was used to adjust for height differences in the avatar between the dances and the couch animation.

The bomb is detached from her hip by strip function and then appears on the floor in front of her.  The front of the bomb on the floor is an animated palette texture and the bomb "appears" with show/hide.  It then slides across the floor and bounces off the barrels (palette move).

Noxious fumes:
The "bomb" triggers a reaction with the "toxic" material in the containers and the "fumes" are particles from palettes, triggered by *autofx.  The one point I would have changed was the rising "green screen" which was meant to be the level of fumes rising up from the floor but perhaps a fading screen would have worked better. Our fearless astro-girl has adorned her gas-mask by this point and then by adorning a tunnel particle stream she teleports out of the doomed ship.

Safely back on board:
I took a copy of Jemma's set and redesigned it to make the interior of another ship, which was the target destination for the teleport.  In the live setting there was a fade between the two sets at this point, using the rezzer fade ability, so the two sets were aligned with each other for a smooth transition.  Our heroine gets to do her celebratory dance while we see the first ship in the window behind her shortly before it explodes.  The "ship" was a textured palette against a moving background. which then used fade/hide to "vanish" and had triggered particles to announce its destruction.

There were quite a lot of subtle effects used to create one routine.  I ended up with 10 palettes in all and it took a lot of planning and tweaking.  I think all the effort was well worth it from the feedback I have had from people who have seen the video.  

Many thanks to Jemma for the use of her set; to Yummy for answering so many technical questions and to Sterling who filmed and edited the project with a real vision and made it something really "awesome-sauce" as Jemz would say!