Setting up SLOODLE ( 1st Attempt )

Having a spare hour, I had a fiddle with getting SLOODLE up and running on our college MOODLE server. Our very supportive IT dept ( see they do exist ! ), adding the SLOODLE patch and sending prim passwords back and forth, and generating the Notecard needed for the sloodle_config.

Setting the SLOODLE objects up in SL had a few teething problems. With the generic startup set, giving a few errors, when I was trying to get the two worlds connected.
Finally, I ended up rezzing the Avatar Registration Booth from the SLOODLE toolbox, manually updating the notecard in that, and trying to register the avatar with that....
Success!!!!

Then got the Chat Logger up and running, with the Moodle Course Chatroom.



One thing I found, ( and this is probably only my experience ) - I needed to reset the SLOODLE objects manually to get them to work, after they were rezzed by the SLOODLE toolbox.

Anywho - off to find some willing test subjects.

Upping the Ante

Its been a while since I've blogged about the Digital Media courses activities within Second Life.


2nd year project, starting of with an SL based sketchbook.

Now a new academic year, and the course moving to new facilities on the Blenhiem Walk Campus, we've decided to jump in deeper with Second Life as part of the course.

Previously, we had rolled out SL as a more tentative venture, using it via Personal Development and Critical Studies - so we could explore Digital Cultures and Emerging Technology. We were very fortunate to also have a project with Penguin, that allow both staff and students to see the Vocational worth of Second Life.

Now the course is into its 2nd Year, we have Specialist Pathway modules in both Moving Image and Interactive Presentation.

For both of these modules, we decided to have a Second Life based brief, they could choose to undertake. The modules started on the 9th Nov.

Interactive Presentation

The Team brief is to create an Art Gallery within Second Life, which can be used by the other students and potential Artist in Residence projects.
The students have to consider curation within a virtual 3D space, the different forms of media that can be shown, how avatars can navigate, explore and engage the work that will be shown, as well as creating signage for the space. Upon this they will create an intergrated CSS template for a Ning based community and Blog.

It is hoped out of this brief, that students can explore and reflect on the differences of Flash or Web based Gallery and information presentation, with this 3D variant. As well as engaging with Social connectivity aspects of both Second Life and web communities like Ning.

Moving Image

The brief is to create a 2 minute Machinima presentation, to promote the Design for Digital Media course's presence and activity on the Collective's Second Life Island.

Hopefully, through this brief both the creative use of machinima can be explored, but tempered with a corporate sensibility. My gut feeling with more corporate presence within Second Life or similar (PS3 Home or There), there will be a new skill set needed for this convergence industry, and I hope this brief starts to address the portfolio needs of graduating students into this industry.
Also the cross-transferable skills back to video production, still means regardless of it being either traditional video or machinima - the students still has to go through the experience of production management, communicating with cast and crew & editing of footage.

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With the 1st Years, we've had the opportunity of creating a new 10 credit module called 'Digital Cultures and Technologies', a half practical and theoretical module.

This has given us an opportunity to have a more course wide engagement within Second Life. The project set is called 2020, where we ask the students to design a poster to communicate what they speculate could be future digital ( or other ) experiences, commodities or technologies.

These poster will then also uploaded into Second Life, as part of a display - in the new art gallery the 2nd year's are building.

As part of the module, we've had a seminar on Avatars, which allowed practical play via Second Life.

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All of these projects will run up till Christmas, which we'll hopefully make open to the public. ( though actually the islands always open to the public, so you can pop by and see work in progress - so excuse the clutter - we're a sandbox, not a polished marketing tool.)


Some of the activity that's been blogged by the students...

http://parkinsonliam.blogspot.com/2007/11/second-life-galleries.html
http://fionnualamurphy.blogspot.com/2007/11/new-shiny-work-area.html

As a team, Liam and Fio, have initially created a 3D sketchbook to house both there research and idea development, and a place to try out building prototypes.

( which actually reminds me, I get a few IM's saying that there's seems to be little happening on our island... actually a lot happens its just tends to be up at 500 ms )

here's some posts from the 1st years, after playing with avatar creation for an afternoon.

http://markscrit.blogspot.com/2007/10/second-life.html
http://myworldmylifemytime.blogspot.com/2007/10/second-life.html
http://rockbigdave.blogspot.com/2007/09/second-life-at-uni-we-work-d.html
http://digitalbreak.blogspot.com/2007/10/second-life.html

It's also sparked some critical response,

http://critwall.blogspot.com/2007/09/scary-life.html

Using Second Life to support Moving Image specialism on Design for Digital Media.

Moving Image specialism.
Moving image covers all time / screen based work, from live action Video production to 3D / traditional Animation. Projects could include title-sequence design, music videos, short drama and documentary productions.

The production of moving image work using Second Life, other MMO's or Video Game Engines is called Machinima. The practice of Machinima can help re-inforce the practice and theories of professional moving image production, could be used as a form of advanced animatics within a larger moving image production; as well as being a moving image medium in its own right.


A Whale of a Tale, - Angrybeth Shortbread 2006

Transferable skills that can be gained from creating Machinima

Storytelling and Structure
Without a story / narrative / structure / concept , as a starting point, then the machinima will have no co-herent sense or meaning. In the act of creating a machinima, the student's have to work out what they are trying to communicate to the audience, and develop appropriate scripts or storyboards. Dramatic structure and character development can be deeply explored with this technique. As Machinima has very little costs ( well once you have the kit that is ... ) a student can try alternative shot setups and sequences, and explore how they impact on storytelling and meaning.

Shot Compostion / Camera Movement
The camera controls within the Second Life client, are sophisticated enough to allow a student to explore shot framing techniques both moving image and also virtual photography. Lens effects ( field of vision) can be explored to a degree. Scripted objects allow tracking and craning sequences to be explored ( without the considerable cost and health and safety issues that happens in real life ). Focus, exposure techniques and smooth zooming effects are several areas that can't be explored with Second Life machinima at present in realtime.
With the recent addition of dynamic lighting, some exploration of lighting techniques can be applied, especially low-key / chiaroscuro lighting effects. Though shadows at present can't be cast by objects or avatars.

I've slowly been building learning material for shot framing using machinima here. --- link

Post Production
Second Life has no inbuilt tools for editing shots and sequences created in Second Life. Footage will either be recorded directly to the hard-drive of the computer or onto video tape ( if using video-output from the computer to a video deck ).
Editing the footage would need to be done in programs like eg. Final Cut Pro, Adobe Premiere, or Avid. This allows a student to engage with industry software whilst editing the machinima footage into a fine cut for presentation. Working with machinima footage captured via software, also allows students to explore quicktime compression.

Sound Design
The above example machinima 'whale of a tale' is entirely post-produced sound design, with sound effects synced in the post-production software. This technique, allows students to explore foley sound effects, added dialog replacement, and music compostion. Sound can be generated within Second Life, 10 second samples can be triggered, looped or synced with animation gestures. Streaming audio eg. Mp3 , can also be played into the land plot.
For students focusing more on traditional animation techniques, sound - especially dialog would be pre-recorded before animation would be generated. The mac client quicktime output is mute, so to record sync audio at the same time, the video deck option is the best solution. Alternatively using a piece of software like Soundflower can capture sound running through the sound card.

Art Direction / Production Design
Set design, costume design, props, location can be explored with Second Life. The content creation tools within Second Life can build all the assets required for machinima production, re-inforcing the students understanding of 3D modelling techniques ( that in themselves are cross-transferable to Games Design ). Combined with Shot compostion, genre styles can be explored. On a more management level, exploring Second life user created content for adequate assets, like clothes, props, and even locations, allows the students to explore the professionalism and responsiblites of roles like location manager, as well as co-ordinating a budget.

Directing
One distinction between machinima and 3D animation, are the characters ( avatars ) are controlled by other people online. This requires the machinima maker or team, to think of stratagies to co-ordinate a group of people in front of the camera synchronously. Also having to co-ordinate others, means the team have to break down the production into a schedule giving pragmatic experience of time-project management.