Luna Lunaria^✦ @lunalunaria

I am fully self-taught, and being a designer and a portrait artist in RL I have used graphics-intensive software for some time. Most of what I make are large architectural builds that are mostly prim with some mesh components mixed in, some of which I make in Blender and some that I either buy outright or source with commercial licenses. By choice, no part of my builds are sourced from Opensim, not because they're aren't great builders here, but much of what I find has questionable provenance, so I avoid the issue entirely. If an online 3D modeler has already made an excellent mesh component that will fit my larger vision, I'm not going to waste time trying to perfectly duplicate their work just to be able to say I made every little part of something. My cinema for example has over 3000 parts, 95% of which are my own prims, mesh, and textures, but it also includes a few very nice art deco pieces I purchased.

In Second Life I was able to source the few components I needed from stores there, but when I came to OS a few years ago none of that infrastructure existed and I had to start over from scratch. I had to learn Blender, mesh, materials, basic scripting, sounds, and others. My skills took a significant leap forward, and while it was all a very steep learning curve, I've never regretted it. There are so many creative areas I haven't yet stepped into, and there are so many OS artists I totally admire like my friend Cherry Manga. I respect anyone in OS who tries their hand at making anything. As for me, I love creating and stretching my talents, and I am very grateful for those loyal patrons who make it possible for me to keep doing what I love.

As for the TGA Discord group, I joined just for the camaraderie and to offer help wherever I can, which has already happened. I'm sure others will share information and tips that I will find helpful in my own work. I haven't seen any standards being mandated for anyone, just a fun collaboration mostly among those working with avatars and avatar accessories. Those are beyond my purview but interesting to follow. I'm glad I joined :-)

I like this idea. Would the Accord be only for avatar and and avatar-related accessories creators, or would those of us in other fields also be included?

Love all the soft whites and that tiara is beautiful :-)

Thank you Rosemary :-)

I love this genre and I stream it on my regions. Wolf Territories has DJ Illusions who not only plays it but also creates original pieces. AMV and Stark also have occasional events with this music.

Nice work, I look forward to visiting. I stopped by your regions today but I dont think this one is open yet

Thank you :-)

If you're placing the address in your map, use this address: login.friends-grid.com:8002:Coral Cove

Thanks Marianna! Playing with the glass/diamond look is fun :-) I used my basic silver pbr texture with high reflectivity and some transparency to achieve the effect on a statue.

Hi Spark :-) PBR is rewarding but will take you a little time experiment with to get comfortable with it.

Note: As Marianna mentioned below, your grid will need to have already been updated to version 0.9.3 or to the comparable Dreamgrid version before PBR will be available for you to use there.

Here are some links to get you started that were helpful to me.
My work with PBR started like many with trying to make a mirror. That taught me the basics of what to look for when editing materials in the the viewer. This is the video that got me started: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DvTukP_A91o&list=PLIyBt3CA...

This link will cover the basics about PBR in Second Life, and by extension Opensim. Use it as a reference as you go along: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DvTukP_A91o&list=PLIyBt3CA...

Here is a great place to get free materials and assets you can upload into Opensim: https://www.blenderkit.com/

And finally you will need a program to pack the pbr textures into a file that Opensim will be able to upload. I use this free program that's very easy to use just on your pc: https://aiaicapta.in/gltf-packer/

And of course you can always message me here for more info. I'm usually here in the evenings or during the day during my work week.

@Jerralyn Franzic Here's the same shot with a pbr viewer, high graphics, and full draw distance. https://gyazo.com/7a11ddf4eb8c10c631f2458a73f409a6

Yes, those are the original textures which I left intact for people still using non-pbr viewers

That Egyptian ship actually flies

My next stage of transformation :-)

One of the many reasons my home is here

Nice work :-)

Mirrors are fun and you don't need ultra graphics to see them

Love this grid

Lovely lighting effect

Love these morning shows

All of my Opensim content has had materials for years and I advertise it regularly. Now that I'm transitioning to PBR, I'm keeping all those original blinn-phong textures intact for those who are unable to upgrade to the PBR viewer and those whose grids or graphics are unable to support it.