It is with great discontent that I write this blog post today.
My good friend, Stephen Venkman, has been turned away by Linden Labs for his proposed art exhibition at this year’s SL5B celebration. The reason? Portraying Second Life children in his artwork.
Venkman has long been a parent in Second Life, along with his partner (and another terrific friend of mine), Kimberly Mirabeau. Both are respectable, well established artists in the community. Venkman continuously provides his Flickr stream viewers with cherished glimpses into his Second Life, which includes his four children.
The following images are just some of what were submitted by Venkman to be shown in his exhibition at SL5B (more can be seen on his Flickr stream):
http://www.flickr.com/photos/stephenvenkman/485783560/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/stephenvenkman/1196854938/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/stephenvenkman/2370931063/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/stephenvenkman/2371325102/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/stephenvenkman/2370404377/
I see nothing wrong with any of these. As a matter of fact, I see a sweet, honest, genuine portrayal of family life in Second Life. It is because of Venkman’s wonderful family and his fantastic stream of family imagery that I was inspired to build my own family. I now have a beautiful daughter (Kylei Benoir) and a fantastic fiancee (Belmakor Pintens), without which my Second Life just would no longer feel complete.
I sincerely and whole-heartedly feel that Venkman’s family photos should be allowed in SL5B. In a world where bestiality, slavery, BDSM, rape, and murder are all entirely possible, to disallow wholesome photos of a parent and child is simply repulsive.
Thankfully, other friends of mine, Shoshana Epsilon, Sue Stonebender and Baron Grayson are all backing Stephen, 100%, as are all of us, his friends and family.
Shoshana Epsilon has donated her space in the SL5B exhibition to protest the alienation of child avatar with adult avatar portraits. Details may be read here, and for those of you who don’t wish to click an extra link, the details are as follows:
I want to donate my display to a protest. If you have any clean and wholesome family-type RL pictures that YOU OWN ALL RIGHTS TO, please send them to me in-world. I will heavily moderate the pictures, so not all pictures will be allowed. I expect good quality art pictures that are wholesome. Credits will be given to the photographer.
Sue Stonebender and Baron Grayson have submitted a call to action to the Tryst group, and are accepting action from anyone willing to submit it. Full details may be read here, but the action request itself is as follows:
ACTION REQUESTED:
Create a notecard to show your support for fellow Tryst member, Stephen Venkman, to be sent to Linden Lab as part of a petition by Sue Stonebender. Your notecard should include:
1) Notecard Title: supports Stephen Venkman’s family exhibit at SL5B
2) Notecard Permissions: Modify - no / Copy - yes / Transfer - yes
3) Notecard contents: an optional message to Linden Lab in support of Stephen Venkman’s “Family” exhibitSend your notecard to Sue Stonebender before the end of the day, Thursday, June 12th, 2008.
REASON FOR REQUESTED ACTION:
Linden Lab will not permit the display of any pictures depicting child and adult avatars in the same shot to be displayed in exhibits at the SL5B celebration, and is therefore refusing to permit Stephen Venkman to display several of the pictures in his exhibit celebrating “Family” in the Second Life online community.
I would greatly appreciate anyone willing to take action on this issue to do so. Of all the things that could be excluded from the SL5B art exhibitions, Venkman’s wholesome, beautiful, and CULTURAL display of family in Second Life is most certainly not one of them.
Thank you for reading, and for those of you who choose to do so: thank you for taking action.
Hey everyone!!! So I’ve decided that naming my sales group “Ryker’s Beckonings” and having it be a group that only *I* can send notices out in is kind of malproductive. SO… I have created ANOTHER group… meant for any and all designers to join, to advertise SALES in their store!!!
I’d like this group to become a place where any and all designers can go to announce sales they will be having in their store — and not just the conventional sales! Secret sales, treasure hunts, anything of the “get something at a discount” nature.
TO JOIN THE GROUP AS A DESIGNER:
If you’d like to join the group as a designer and have the right to send notices, please drop on me (Ryker Beck) a NOTECARD with your avatar name and the store you represent, as well as what you sell. You will be given permission to send notices ASAP after the notecard is received. This will hopefully be a great way for designers to get word out about their store sales!
TO JOIN THE GROUP AS A SALE HUNTER:
If you’d like to join the group with permission to send notices, and you are NOT a designer, but a SALE HUNTER… drop a notecard on me with your name and why you’d like to be a sale hunter. You MUST give me a reason behind wanting to be a sale hunter (i.e. you frequently hunt out sales on blogs), otherwise I will be unable to grant you the ability to send notices. After I review your request, I will notify you of permission to send out sale notices if you are approved! The same rules apply to you: please ONLY SEND OUT SALE NOTICES and *BEFORE* you send them out, make sure you have checked the backlog of notices to be positive that the sale notice hasn’t been sent yet. A sale is great! But 15 notices on the same sale is not. Ya dig?
TO JOIN THE GROUP AS A SHOPPER:
Simply join the group! It is open enrollment. :) Sit back and let the sale notices come to YOU!
NOTES & RULES:
This group is ONLY FOR SALE NOTICES. Please do not send out any notices about new releases from your store (unless they are of course, on sale!).
REQUIRED for NOTICES: Please write all details of the store sale and attach it in a notecard to the announcement. DON’T FORGET to include a LANDMARK!!! If we don’t know where to go, we can’t spend our lindens at your store. So include a landmark!!! *wags finger* Pictures are also welcome, but not necessary.
This group is NOT for LAND SALES of ANY KIND. Do NOT send land sale notices.
**ABSOLUTELY NO SPAM** If you spam, you will be removed and banned. No questions asked. I will understand resent notices due to forgetting the notecard (we all do this from time to time), but I will not tolerate “COME BUY THIS LAND NOW!” or “COME RENT THIS STORE NOW!” notices. They are annoying and do not belong in this group. Do not send them. Thanks.
**IMPORTANT NOTE FOR RYKER’S BECKONINGS GROUP MEMBERS**
The Ryker’s Beckonings (Rykerized) group will be DISBANDED and all members will be ejected by next weekend. Please LEAVE the Ryker’s Beckonings group and JOIN the Sales Consolidated group! Hope to see you there! :D
The lovely Annyka Bekkers has outdone herself this time around!
Not only has she produced a skin that is beautiful, and liiiiickable (*wink*), but she’s also answered virtually every single one of my skin-creator prayers. It’s like she just reached into my itty bitty heart, pulled out my every piss-and-moan and did exactly what I begged for.
I’d like to introduce you to Tuesday from Blowpop (SLURL, Blog)!
The specifics:
Creator: Annyka Bekkers
Shop Location: Fuzzy (SLURL)
Price: $950L per makeup (4 skins) / $2850L per makeup fatpack (16 skins)
Tones Available: Vanilla, Cream, Honey, Caramel, Cinnamon, and Cocoa
Other Notes: This is where we talk about my dreams… Does everyone remember how I complain so much (I know you do) about pubic hair and eyebrows? It’s a pet peeve of many people, and creates contempt in the hearts of skin lovers everywhere. Well… we all know that Annyka is spectacular about offering options with eyebrows/pubic hair colors. With Tuesday, she’s taken it the extra step… the skins are all pubic hairless (*ohm nohm nohm*) and she is offering two underwear layers for both brown and black pubic hair options. Need hair? Throw on the underwear! That’s a sentence you don’t get to say everyday! And the eyebrows… each skin you purchase will come with your choice of brown or black eyebrows. Like freckles? She covers that too! Each makeup comes with and without freckles. My god, I love you, Annyka.
While you can see the dozens of makeup options available on her blog, I’d like to say that the Aden series in Honey is definitely my favorite.
Top down! The face is beautiful. Absolutely stunningly beautiful. So beautiful, in fact, that I made a shape to go with it (face pictured above). It’s simply stunning. The details are magnificent in their couture-level hand drawing (HAH, I love that phrase :P), and the lips are excellent, as they have been in Annyka’s previous releases. The nose shading seems to get exceedingly darker as the skin tone changes (it’s PERFECT on Vanilla thru Honey, but seems to get just a touch too dark on Cinnamon thorugh Cocoa), but that’s really my only nitpick. The eyebrows are much softer than those from the Mellie 3, which makes me very happy. *sighs happily*
The entire torso is spectacularly well done, I especially love the belly button and collar bone which are both EXCELLENT. The nipples are fantastic for being hand drawn, and the highlights on the chest I absolutely LOVE. They add just a little something different; that extra touch to make the art your own. Know what I mean?
Like I stated before, the genital region is hairless and beautifully done. The detail is spectacular close up, and with the added pubic hair (not pictured) for you hair lovers, it looks very tasteful. Again, there are two pubic hair color options offered with each skin purchase (brown and black)!
The legs and feet are very nicely done, with just the right amount of highlighting on the knee caps and shins. I especially love the toes, which are a big step up from the toes I normally see. I’m so glad to see so many skin designers taking extra care with this particular body part… the one that is SO HARD to get right. I applaud you all. Really, I do. The future of feet in Second Life (TM) is bright indeed!
The hand detail is excellent, especially the fingernails and knuckles. Speaking of fingernails, another thing I wish some skin designers would do (and this really is just pure conjecture) is create glove layer nail polish for their skins. Or a glove layer fingernail cover up for those who purchase prim nails. Just a thought. /endrandommusing
I LOVE the ass on this skin, especially the highlighting on the cheeks and above the crack. Those of you that know me, know that I have this strange sense of pride about my butt, and I love ANY skin that makes it look good. The lovely Tuesday is no exception. In fact, it may be the rule. Look at that ass! :P And that little mole on the left cheek? DETAILS DETAILS DETAILS! Love it.
The shoulder blades are SPEC-TAC-ULAR. I am deeply impressed by their detail and flawless lighting. The back in general is just very soft and touchable (lickable?) and even the elbows are wonderful in their detail, with those little creases on the patch of skin.
I would highly recommend these skins to anyone (especially the Honey line!). The fact that these skins come with pubic hair OPTIONAL just made my entire day. My little skin whore heart is all a-flutter. *bats eyes* Run, dash, hop, skip on over to Blowpop and grab some demos and a few skins while you’re at it! You won’t regret it.
The crane above (notice tiny Belmakor *squee!*) was from a free pack of items… 187 items to be exact.
Visit Bel’s blog to read the full details and see more items included in the package.
Every Photographer should have these items! *They’re perfect for set building, well textured, and just plain awesome XD XD XD* Just a quick note for all you photographers out there who are always on the prowl for useful props!
Change of plans!!! My daughter’s friend has *so graciously* offered to host the brush zip file for me! Because of this, I’ll be able to leave the brushes up for download longer. :) Thank you so much, Phil!!! New download file is here!
Just thought I’d throw that disclaimer out there before I started explaining.
I’ve zipped up every last one of my Photoshop brushes and uploaded them to my web host. Don’t ask me why, I actually have no idea (it took 2 hours to upload them all). Considering every brush in this zip file can be found on Deviant Art, some people may just consider this “eliminating the need to browse”. However, I often get asked where certain brushes can be found, etc. So… to better answer that question, I will simply give you a direct link: you can find them all right here (you *MUST* right click and SAVE to download the zip from my blog).
I am sure by now, most of you know the drill. You should unzip this zip file into your Adobe/Presets/Brushes folder. The zip file contains sixty-two (62) categorized folders of “types of brushes” (what can I say? I’m a hyper organized freak — it’s a flaw). The categories include such gems as:
Abstract
Coffee (rings/stains)
Clouds
Eyelashes
Fractals
Grass
Glowies
Hair (pieces and drawing)
Lightning
Mist
Moons
Smoke
Space
Sparklies
Stars
Tears
Water
Wings…
…among many others. It is nearly 1 gig of brushes uncompressed, so be sure that you have ample space on your hard drive.
Instructions for Use (click for larger photo):
Change of plans!!! My daughter’s friend has *so graciously* offered to host the brush zip file for me! Because of this, I’ll be able to leave the brushes up for download longer. :) Thank you so much, Phil!!! New download file is here!
First thing you will need to do is unzip this folder into your Brushes presets folder in your Adobe Photoshop directory. This folder is generally located here: C:\Program Files\Adobe\Adobe Photoshop X\Presets\Brushes. When you unzip this archive, you will see 62 folders, each titled appropriately, unzipped into your Brushes presets folder.
Once you’ve done that, open Photoshop and follow along!
1. Click on your Brush tool in the menu bar on the left side of your screen.
2. Above this menu bar, you will see a small icon of the brush you currently have selected, with a small arrow to the right. Click on that arrow.
3. By clicking on this arrow you have brought up a list of your available brushes, and a slider bar called Master Diameter, among other things. To the right of this “Master Diameter” slider is another small, circled arrow. Click this arrow.
4. A list will expand. Now, you’ll notice that this list is quite huge, and undoubtedly consumes your entire screen. In the very first column of this list, there is an option called “Replace Brushes”. Click this.
5. A window will open allowing you to browse to your newly installed brushes. Browse to your Presets/Brushes folder, where you will see all 62 folders that you just unzipped. Open one of these folders and select any brush set you like. Once you have selected one, click the “Load” button. This will replace all of your current brushes in the list with the newly selected set of brushes.
“But wait! How do I get my default list of Photoshop brushes back, Ryker? You know, the one with the hard brushes, the soft brushes, and those annoying leaves that never go where you want them to?”
6. To reset your brushes to the Photoshop defaults, Repeat steps 1 through 4 above **HOWEVER** — instead of choose “Replace Brushes” from the list, choose “Reset Brushes”. This will reset your brush list to the Photoshop defaults.
I hope this isn’t too confusing! Happy downloading!
PS: I’m sure a filing system which is intuitive to ME, may not necessarily be intuitive for YOU. Hopefully, all of the folders in this file will be easily labeled enough that you’ll be able to find what you’re looking for. Enjoy!
While shopping with some friends at House of Heart yesterday, we ran across an avi who was wearing a -stunning- hair style. Being the hair fiend I am, I simply had to A. do my research on the creator, and B. get my ass over to the shop to buy it.
I would like to share not only the hair style I ran to this store to buy, but also a couple of extremely cute clothing items available for purchase there as well: namely, the tights and shorts in the picture below (details on teh outfit are under the picture… you know the drill!). The shop’s name? Shop Seu (SLURL).
After doing my research, I found a few blog posts on the glorious world wide web that mention Shop Seu. A few of them, should you choose to read up yourself (and I would…and have!) can be found at Fashion Victim, Soigne, and Linden Lifestyles.
While hair color selection is pretty sparse in Shop Seu (SLURL), the ones that are available are positively stunning. The hair in question that I simply -had- to have??? The sexy long hair in black… available for only $170L. Happy shopping!
Top: S.Y.D. - Brown Plaid Outfit / Basic Tank Top
Shorts: Shop Seu - Short Pants in Brown
Tights: Shop Seu - Taitsu Taight in Red
Shoes: Urban Bomb Unit - PornStar Xtra Hi-Tops Multicolor v2
Necklace: House of Heart - SoHo Necklaces in Gold
Hair: Shop Seu - Sexy Long Hair in Black
Eyes: MADesigns SOUL Eyes in Pale Grey
Skin: Celestial Studios - Vogue Skin Vamp/Enchant in Bronzed
I am such an ass!
There. I just thought I’d get that out there, up front and personal. I suck. Hard. Why, do you ask? For waiting this long to bring you this skin review. Siddean Munro of SLink (SLURL) released two LOVELY sets of skins back on April 25th, and I am only now getting around to blogging about them. Forgive me, Siddean!!! Real life took over for a few. *sadface*
With all of that said, I’d like to introduce you to Cate and Madison… the beautifully designed skins made especially for all your skin collection needs (click the small shot for a larger photo).
A few details for those who don’t wish to read further (I know you exist!)…
Creator: Siddean Munro
Shop Location: CG Heart (SLURL)
Price: $800L per makeup / $2400L per fatpack (6 skins)
Tones Available: Milky, Fair, Sunkissed, Coco
Other Notes: These skins come with a hair-base brow shaper, but only one eyebrow color option. I do so wish that skin creators would go the way of Eloh Eliot (and other skin creators since) and offer a wider variety of eyebrow colors with their bald hair bases… I don’t know about everyone else, and I know this is purely a matter of opinion and all, but… I really don’t like bright red eyebrows when my hair is raven black. Ya dig?
Let’s work from the head down with this one.
I’d first like to point out that I don’t believe the ads that were made for these skins do the faces justice. It is actually quite pretty… at least on my shape (pictured: Cate in Sunkissed). I do so love the lips, but I know that the glossiness of them is pretty hit or miss with a lot of people. The philtrum is not overly pronounced (I’m never going to stop using that word, Winter!), and the eye lids are shaped nicely, with just the right amount of crease above the eye. I kind of feel like the eye shadow is just a touch too harsh on some of the makeups, but that again is just a matter of opinion. The ears are also rather nicely done, however the skin tone is only slightly more pink than the rest of the skin. I urge you to try a demo out yourselves, because as I said… the ads for these skins do not do the faces justice. Don’t judge a book by its cover! The remainder of this review will focus mainly on the Cate skin in Sunkissed.
The torso of this skin is lovely, with some very nicely shaded abs. There’s a spot just below the belly button where the highlight is just a tad too pronounced, but other then that… god, I wish I had definition like that in real life! If you look closely, there’s even an added little touch to the breasts of these skins… VEINS. That’s right! Someone has FINALLY taken the time to add veins to their creation… and I am MADLY in love. Say it with me people: details, details, details! This is what sets you apart. And they’re not just on the breasts, oh no. These little signs of life exist all over this skin… subtle in some places, more pronounced in others; but we’ll get more into that in a minute.
The nipples are quite lovely and actually sit rather unobtrusively on the breasts. For some reason, I am rather impressed by how nicely they blend with the skin tone, something I know is hard to do with photosourced nippular areas.
The hands… brace yourselves. The hands (and wrists) not only have spectacular fingernails (offering nail polish soon, perhaps?) but they also have some of the best vein detail I’ve ever seen on any skin in game. I. Am. In. Awe. To be perfectly honest, I looked at the wrists and top of the hands and my jaw hit the floor. It’s not too blue, not too subtle… to me, it’s just right. I *love* this detail. Thank you so much for this, Siddean. And seriously… how about that nail polish?
I’d like to say that the va-jay-jay of this skin get the Ryker Beck seal of approval in that, while small, it’s beautifully done and quite seamless. The pubic hair is pretty unobstructive, and not overly bushy — something I tend to see all too often. And considering my blatent love for the bald Brazilian, for me to say that I love the pubic hair on this skin… says quite a bit. The inner thighs are also virtually free and clear of any harsh shading seams, which I LOVE… there’s nothing like looking at a perfectly beautiful skin and then you spread your legs and BOOM… a giant shadow seam right in the center thigh. It greatly pleases me to announce that this skin suffers not from the dreaded Triple S (shadow seam syndrome).
The legs, feet, and knees of this skin are in a word… wonderful. The toes themselves should be plastered all over the Second Life forums with a title like “the way they aught to look”. I am always so very happy when skins have lovely feet… a feat that is so rare to accomplish with the current avatar model. There’s only one real thing I see with the legs that strikes me funny… and that’s the shading on the knees. It could just be me, but they look a little… dented… with the shadow in the middle of the knee cap. Know what I mean?
My favorite part, the back and booty of the skin, is really the only part of this entire skin that I have an ounce of beef with. The butt, in my opinion, needs further detailing in the “crack” area. Clearly photosourced, but not nearly dark enough, which in turn negates some of the realism of the skin. I could be wrong, but I really like my crack shading to be a much darker tone than the skin. Other than that… I really love the back details, right down to the shoulder blades and the highlights at the base of the spine. Beautiful work! That’s some serious muscle definition… like it was chiseled out of stone. Lovely.
To sum up… these skins are definitely worth the trip to, at the very least, try out a demo. At $800L a piece, I just find it hard to believe that you could go wrong with such fine craftsmanship. I must admit, I am rather excited to see future releases! Do keep me in the loop, Siddean!
Now, before I close out this post, there is one more thing I’d like to mention about SLink (SLURL)… and that is that there are some FANTASTIC boots lurking in that store. Sculptie, leather, and several colors available at $300L a piece. They’re so good, that I just couldn’t go without giving a proper mention to them. Click the photo below for a larger view. :) Ryker, out!
Correction: Apparently, these skins are all hand-drawn, therefore making my above comments about photosourcing moot. Wow! I am impressed. :)
I just love furniture designers in SL. Really, I do. If it weren’t for all of these spectacular builders, dreamers, creators, texturizers… we just wouldn’t have all of the nifty-cool-awesomtastic stuff we have in SL today. I mean, could you imagine if people like Barnesworth, Devon, Antonia, Raul and countless other content creators didn’t exist? You know… the guys that have become such a staple to Second Life culture that it’d be like something was missing without them.
Well, in addition to the previously mentioned furniture builders, I’d like to add two more to the list. Prad Prathivi and Rrishanna Regina of PRrim Design (SLURL).
Aside from the fact that these two are simply rotten with talent, and their furniture is to DIE for… they are also selling… wait for it… scripted sex beds for $600L. That’s right, I said it. While I am pretty newbtastic when it comes to SL sex, I do know people that would jump on these beds in a heart beat, no pun intended. They’re GORGEOUSLY textured, the above picture being just one of many examples. It looks so cozy looking that I just want to jump right in. Prad also informs me that he is working on a modifcation that will allow changing the duvet texture. How is THAT for modification! *drools* That little tidbit of joy should be finished by tomorrow morning, provided Prad is not inebriated by sunrise (happy birthday, Prad!).
In addition to his omg-slex beds, there is also a ton of living room furniture as you’ll see both above and below this paragraph. There is even some nicely done oriental furniture, with very strong red, black and white colors in them… which I find to be perfectly stunning. Prad, if I ever build a dojo or a Japanese set, you’re my man!!!
So, ladies and gentlemen of the jury… PRrim Designs. Head on over there!
PS: OH! And since I’ve been getting SO SO many requests for information about the skybox in my previous post… it is the Lodo Loft by Ravish Tyne and can be purchased for $1500L at this location! It is sold copy/mod and can easily be modified to be bigger than what it is (as you can see in my post… I actually modded the box to be four times its original size). The window scenery can be changed to various cityscapes (I am rather fond of Paris, but also available are Prague, London and Glasgow, among others) and the box itself is just fantastically done. Enjoy!
Recently I became “homeless” in SL for various reasons — sometimes people just aren’t who you think they are. And because of this, I found myself in need of new land, and a new place for myself and my daughter, as well as anyone else who may come along, to lay our heads.
I spent most of yesterday evening decorating the new house — and it was some of the most fun decorating I’ve ever had!
Most of the above pictured items (with the exception of a few “touches” like lamps and such) were obtained from Cubik Circle, a furniture store by Flickr’s very own Raul Crimson! Visit his store here or his blog here. I was looking for something very colorful — cheery. We can all use a little cheer in our lives, right? All of Raul’s pieces are just wonderfully modern, and add a vibrant touch of life to any room. Truly talented, this man is. :) And Raul… I don’t think you know just how much I truly thank and love you. :) *big hugs*
All of the above pictured furniture can be obtained from that funky, styling, insanely fun lady Antonia Marat over at Artilleri Home. Visit her store here or her blog here and pick up some of these things… they’re RIDICULOUSLY cute, and my home wouldn’t be a home without them! I especially love all of the attention to shading Antonia provides, especially to her rugs. God is in the details!!! And Antonia, my dear, you rock HARD at that! Isn’t that little Tiki bar KYUTE??? Oh. My. God. *stares*And I imagine all of these fantastic retro pieces will be used in set building in future photography efforts to come!
All of the items pictured above can be obtained by CORN Furniture by Devon Fischer. I have recently discovered this store and given my pension for texture, light, and shadow — this place should not be missed. Their items and attention to detail are INCREDIBLE. If you find yourself needing an extra added touch of realism — head on over here. Visit the store and see what I mean!
The kitchen is a very important part in any home, and since discovering Depoz Celebrations by the fantastic Mash Mandala, I’ve become addicted to having the perfect foodie items in all of my SL kitchens. The placemats on my table are all scripted and will rez breakfast, lunch, dinner, dessert, and various drinks for your enjoyment. The textures are FANTASTIC — the best I’ve ever, EVER seen for Second Life food. The refrigerator, toaster, breakfast griddle, pots of soup on the stove, tray of fruit and cookie plate (as well as a coffee pot and tray of hot chocolate you can’t see) are also ALL SCRIPTED — and will give you their respective food items. I’ve had so much fun with Mash’s stuff, that I seriously can’t contain myself when I go to his store anymore. It’s just crazy how kid-in-a-candy-store I get when I find fun, new things to play with that make me so, so happy. :D Thank you so much Mash for creating such awesome stuff. Visit his store, and see it all for yourself!
The kitchen set itself came from my absolute favorite kitchen furniture shopping spot — Ramos Designs. As well as the fantastic lines of kitchens, they also produce damn near everything else under the sun — including some wonderfully built houses! I’m also quite partial to the living room furniture in this store — lots of poseballs to play with! :D Visit it here! The table set is, again, from my dear Raul Crimson over at Cubik Circle Furniture. :)
All photos are raw, straight out of windlight with no post-processing save for a few crops here and there.
Again, 99% of the items mentioned above can be found in these places:
Cubik Circle by Raul Crimson (SLURL)
Artilleri Home by Antonia Marat (SLURL)
CORN Furniture by Devon Fischer (SLURL)
Depoz Celebrations by Mash Mandala (SLURL)
Ramos Designs by xTrojan Ramos & Susan Ramos (SLURL)
Have fun shopping! :D
I was informed yesterday after my review was posted that there has been some hoopla concerning Beauty Avatar and Minnu’s skins (DMCAs filed, suspicions arising, etc). While I read about said hoopla on Gogolita’s blog several weeks ago, I was under the impression that it had been resolved considering the comment made by Miabella Foxley, a Minnu representative I believe.
Now, I have actually never purchased a skin by Minnu Palen — however, out of my own curiosity, I did stop by this morning to pick up a demo and do a little comparison of my own. What can I say… I’m naturally inquisitive. Here are my results and an objective opinion on a sheet of controversy.
We’ll begin with the most obvious starting point: the face. Both skins will be compared in their natural makeup option, both in the tan skin tone available (Beauty Avatar’s will be Nemesis in Bronzed and Minnu’s will be Gen4 in Tan). Click on the shots to view the larger pictures, if you like!
My avatar has always had a rather “distinct” face. It changes, dramatically, 90% of the time, whenever I wear a new skin - as I’m sure most do. But rather than do a split screen comparison, I’d rather post a full composite of both faces, side by side, to demonstrate the obvious difference of each:
Aside from the (in my opinion, obvious) difference in faces, there are also subtle details to consider when comparing these two skins. For example, the philtrum (again, thanks, Winter!) on Minnu’s skins is almost the reverse of the one on BA’s skins … Minnu’s is notably narrower at the ends where BA’s is notably wider. The detail shading and highlighting I believe speaks for itself here, as well as on the bridges of the nose where BA’s extends further towards the forehead. The eyelid crease is only slightly higher on the BA skins, and the lip shading and detail — clearly different. The only real similarity to the face that I can see clearly is the painted on eyelashes — which could easily be a free-for-all photoshop brush (considering I have several of my own which I use for photography). To be perfectly honest and objective here, I believe the lips is where these kinds of suspicions arise — if I am not mistaken, Minnu was one of, if not the, first to have such pronounced and defined lips, dating all the way back to her Gen1 line. I can think of several designers whom have adopted this characteristic since then, and each time I see it I can’t help but wonder how many people’s eyebrows perk up at the thought that a scandal may have been born. Let’s continue to the rest of the skin though, shall we?
Here is another view point of the face and head, with the ears clearly in view (and notably different from each other).
The only similarity I can note in the upper abdomen and breasts is the muscle group shading, which is hardly grounds for suspicion. I myself have photoshop brushes that I’ve created with similar abdomen shading, which I use to add details to clothing that I make. Same goes for the shading under the breasts. The nipples are clearly not the same though both are obviously photosourced; the collar bone is much more pronounced in Minnu’s skins than it is with BA’s, and overall the BA skin is much smoother.
The abdomen, again clearly different from each other. The navel on the Beauty Avatar skins is larger and softer with a tiny beauty mark to the upper right side whereas Minnu’s is the traditional supermodel small-as-a-button navel. I do not believe the genital area needs any comparison, as you can probably see for yourself that they are clearly different.
The knees and legs — the knees at first glance look similar in their shading. However, upon further investigation (and I am sorry that I didn’t take the time to make an animated gif) by placing each pair of legs on top of each other and comparing them that way, I’ve found that Minnu’s knees are actually positioned differently on the legs — they are much further inward than are Beauty Avatar’s. Another subtle difference is on the Beauty Avatar knees — there are small muscle shade lines on the outside sides of each knee cap, which are not seen on the Minnu skins. The feet and toes — obviously different.
Another striking difference I noted was the elbows seen above — Beauty Avatar has virtually no elbow detail, whereas Minnu has a clearly defined skin patch of elbow detail.
Last, but not least — the entire backside. As we can see, Minnu’s shading and details are much more pronounced where as Beauty Avatar’s skins are softer and smoother. The bum highlighting is further up on Minnu’s bottom whereas BA’s highlights are more centralized. Both bum details appear to be photosourced in my opinion, however BA’s deeper shading appears to be focused more towards the lower half of the crack, whereas Minnu’s is much more pronounced in the center.
After reviewing both skins, I really must say — I just don’t believe that they are similar enough to raise suspicions, or even to support the claim that they are Minnu “inspired” (inspiration has many names — photosourcing alone, in my opinion, counts as “inspiration”, and as everyone has seen — nearly all skin designers do that). If I had to make a claim that Beauty Avatar’s skins were inspired by anything, my first judgment would be based on the feet and genital areas alone and would point to Eloh Eliot’s PSD files, which is, if it is true, perfectly acceptable. God is in the details, and using Eloh’s skins as a jumping off point to begin creation is fine for any creator, as is clearly stated on her blog.
No, what I think we have here is a new skin designer who has entered an already tense world of content creation. The good comes with the bad, I guess. But as Miabella stated on Gogo’s blog, people will shop based on quality — and I will gladly be visiting Beauty Avatar again.
/endopinionatedpointofview
