Neighbourhood of Note: Rustica

Things have been quiet on the surface at Cloud Party but there is much activity going on behind the scenes.  Maxwell Graf has been busy making the Rustica cloud island look amazing!  Here are some shots:

Milestone: First user-Created Skin for a Human Avatar

Fritz Meier shows us the very first user-created skin in Cloud Party, and tells us about it.

Fritz, in his own words:

" yes i did the skin last night, my first ever

i just had front body texture from arnold [Schwarzenegger]

so i put the front body also on the back :D "

Fritz also did the super-size eyes, cigarette and lip piercing; they are all one attachment.  We have got to get him to create tutorials for the rest of us clueless newbies.  This is amazing stuff.  He is becoming CP's resident King of Skins.

Dance With Me

The amazing Fritz Meier has done another of his animated skeletal ballet dancers, this time two paired up in a small display at the Beginner Zone (Location: https://its.cloudpartytime.com/#-15.7,66.4,-0.2,0.3_2000 ).  He also did the upside-down man with the animated pattern in the background.

I have got to find a video capture program that I can use within Cloud Party.  Still pictures alone just cannot give a feeling of how perfect this little art installation is.

UPDATE: Fritz tells me he has also put a bigger, neon copy of his skeleton ballerina on display at the cloud island called Virtual Holland (Location: https://its.cloudpartytime.com/resources/AcbFMaGmB.jpg ). It will be there long after the ones at the Beginner Zone have been automatically cleared away.  Here is a picture of it (It is a bit hard to see against the night sky, best to visit it in person):

Neighbourhood of Note: Meiló

Meiló is the name of the cloud island owned by Sameiro Sousa, and there are three portals into this wonderfully topsy-turvy world.  First is the garden on the upper level, where Sousa has installed some beautiful and airy artworks:

Nearby are some supersize chairs surrounded by overgrown foliage, gaily painted with flowers:

The home portal takes you to an upside-down house on the bottom of the island, stuffed with fabulous art!

And finally, the Underworld portal takes you a colourless vantage point to see the whole of the underside of the cloud island, completely with ghostly trees and faces:

An amazing work of art, the whole island is bounding in creativity.  Well worth a visit!
Location (Garden): https://its.cloudpartytime.com/#-32.7,-14.3,0.2,-0.9_2166

List of Video Tutorials for Cloud Party

This purpose of this post is to gather together all known video tutorials for Cloud Party.  You can also get this list by going to Library Island in Cloud Party, entering the library and clicking on the video monitor (Location is: https://its.cloudpartytime.com/#-9.4,-8.4,4.5,1.5_2156 ).


By Brookston Holiday:

June 19, 2012: How to upload and apply a texture to a mesh:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DQKbq1aAsmQ


By Alexis Lightus:

June 24, 2012: Blender to Cloud Party tutorial:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aqn6ftZDCeY


By Lilli Thompson:

June 21, 2012: Custom skeleton Cloud Party:
Video tutorial of how to upload custom animations and skeletons in Cloud Party.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4i4Elkvd2PY

June 21, 2012: Create a custom emote in Cloud Party:
A walkthrough of how to create emotes in Cloud Party.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ldCf4N-pQ3Y

June 21, 2012: Make a Cloud Party Costume:
Video tutorial of making a costume piece in Cloud Party.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rfutSbzeCiQ

June 22, 2012: Make a Cloud Party dress:
Video tutorial for making a simple dress in Cloud Party.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u9Ij43FfuuQ

June 25, 2012: Maya controls for Cloud Party rigs:
A description of the Cloud Party Maya rigs and how to use them.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1rVb801a2VQ

June 29, 2012: Cloud Party Textures, Materials, and UVs, part 1:
How to get textures onto surfaces in Cloud Party and a description of basic UV mapping in Maya.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-qrk5BHU-kg

June 29, 2012: Cloud Party Materials part 2: Normal maps, specular maps, and surface types
A description of the material parameters in Cloud Party, including how to use normal and specular maps.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i3fZqYhpyQA

July 1, 2012: A description of how to do simple UV mapping in Maya:
Tutorial explaining how to do simple UV mapping in Maya in order to make dresses in Cloud Party.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YXfGIsuVGMs

July 2, 2012: Cloud Party Multiple Materials:
Video tutorial on when and how to use multiple materials in Cloud Party.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ISqB-sUyUXU

July 2, 2012: Custom skies in Cloud Party:
A video tutorial on how to set the lighting and sky on your private island in Cloud Party.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0_jS74xiOQ0

July 3, 2012: Painting skin weights in Maya for Cloud Party garment creation:
This is a video tutorial on how to use Maya's paint skin weights tool to adjust the skinning on your Cloud Party.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hHNEFFPaZ-w









More to come!

Twenty Items to Look Forward To

For my 51st post to this blog, I wanted to share a list of twenty things to look forward to on Cloud Party:

1. The release of the redesigned male avatar skeleton and shape;
2. The release of the redesigned female avatar skeleton and shape;
3. The ability to give items from one avatar to another (I think we should mark that day with an annual celebration of giving items for free to each other in Cloud Party, much like Christmas);
4. The launch of the marketplace, along with the --
5. Launch of the materials permissions system (copy, modify, transfer, etc.);
6. First men's clothing for sale;
7. First women's clothing for sale;
8. First outrageous avatar for sale;
9. First outrageous hat for sale; 
10. First vehicles for sale (car, plane, boat, whatever);
11. First island shapes for sale;
12. First trees and bushes for sale;
13. First homes for sale;
14. First furniture for sale;
15. First dance animations for sale;
16. First chair with a built-in sitting animation for sale;
17. First coffee cup with a drinking animation for sale;
18. Creation of the first alien (non-human skeleton) and --
19. Its associated animations;
20. And the first stores in Cloud Party!

Fritz's Multicolour Skeletal Ballerina

Fritz Meier has put another of his animated creations on the highest point of Beginner Zone for all to see and appreciate.  This is a dancing multicolour ballerina, wonderful to behold as it goes through its paces:

Thank you for your gift, Fritz!  Hurry down to see it before it gets taken away in the regular clean-up of the Beginner Zone... Location is here: https://its.cloudpartytime.com/#-32.9,-80.2,29.9,-2.9_2000

Meanwhile, Over at Spiffy Pasture....

...there is art from two familiar artists plus one new one!  Patrick Moya has added a whole scene of art in the public park across the street from his museum, and has also added a section behind his house to display more paintings:

Location: https://its.cloudpartytime.com/#45.1,-14,-32.5,2.7_2113

While next door, Lollito Larkham has set up a small Easter-Island-like stone head to guard his front door.

Location: https://its.cloudpartytime.com/#-14.1,-2.6,-34,1.5_2113

And artist Artistide Despres has new sculptures erected in the public park on either side of the pavilion, art which is echoed in the artist`s home:

Location: https://its.cloudpartytime.com/#59.7,132.3,-33.9,-0.1_2113

Artistide has also added onto her house, with a small gallery of photographs at the ground level.

All wonderful work, worth a trip out of your way to go see!

Utopia Revisited

Claudia222 is still hard at work on her intriguing private island called Utopia:

And Artistide Despres has erected a cubist statue of a woman at the Beginner Zone:

Art is just popping up all over Cloud Party! :-)

Neighbourhood of Note: Artee's Cloud

Artistide Despres has been re-imagining her cloud island, Artee's Cloud!  I particularly like the moths attracted to the moon, and the silvery, shimmery trees.

Come visit Artee's Cloud and explore: https://its.cloudpartytime.com/#15.2,-32,1.4,0.4_2177

Neighbourhood of Note: Spimescape

Spimescape is a virtual island defined more by what it lacks than by what it has: No grass.  No sky.  No organic material at all apart from a few white crystals growing from the ground.  It's a cross between Hello Kitty and a sterile laboratory,where everything is black and white and barcoded:

Fritz's Pulsating Sculptures

Fritz Meier has been busy creating pulsating sculptures, both at the Beginner Zone and at his neighbourhood of Shiny Bay (https://its.cloudpartytime.com/#24.2,-13.2,-32.5,-1.3_2106):

How are these made?  Fritz tried to explain but I didn't get it, something about custom animations on a custom skeleton.  He's so far beyond me in this area of building it's as if he is talking gibberish to me :-)

Latest News from Sam

Still here.  Have been spending some time working on my Maya skills and some time chatting with other Cloud Party residents at the Beginner Zone, where most of the action is.  Some news from this evening's conversation with Sam Thompson, regarding future developments in Cloud Party:

- They are probably going to switch all the skin's black underwear to nude, "doll style".
- Once they get the marketplace up they're going to release the basic body parts as a package.
- They are planning to add sliders for adjusting the skeleton scales; the sliders just adjust the skeleton, which both the body and clothes are skinned to, so clothes will still fit.
-  They're still trying to figure out the best solution for implementing high heels.
-  They already have a new male body that they're pretty close to pushing live. It's mostly minor adjustments, but designers may have to reskin shirts that are tight-fitting. (We were forewarned about this eventuality.)
- Yes, there will be a new female body but they can't say yet how much change they're looking at. "Mostly in the face I think".


Thanks Sam!

Mooo!

Real Burger has created a yellow cannon that shoots cows.  Mooing cows! :-) Come see it at the Beginner's Zone: https://its.cloudpartytime.com/#-8,9.9,0,1_2000

Neighbourhoods of Note: Moya

While so many people are working on developing their private islands according to their dreams, French artist Patrick Moya is working so quickly his self-named island that he makes the rest of us look as if we were standing still!  He already has the major part of a large gallery erected, showcasing his works.

Rather than building up into the sky, Moya is building his museum underground, with at least three levels full of his colourful, cheerful paintings and installations:

Definitely worth a visit!  The URL to take you to the main-floor entrance to the museum is https://its.cloudpartytime.com/#-12,-1.2,0,0.8_2172 .

Neighbourhoods of Note: Texelated

Texelated is a cloud island owned by Jesse Thompson, here are a few pictures of what's going on there: