Virtual Development

Originally uploaded by HatHead Rickenbacker.

Development begins. Here I am posing with the scale model after laying some foundations, building a bridge and creating a quick 30 meter stained glass dome.

From the stained glass dome I also made a gorgeous stained glass patio umbrella. They will certainly be be sale at the site.

This exercise has allowed me to get some reference. It is going to fit lthough is about 17 meters higher than I wanted - for inworld security reasons, not aesthetic design - but such are the shortcomings of Second Life.

The complex is still without a name but will be open on the inside, allowing for multiple event configurations.

The main hall will be surrounded by balconies and hanging gardens.

Underneath is a water system replete with marine life, shipwrecks and other secret treasures.

Development Planning

Originally uploaded by HatHead Rickenbacker.

My good friend Louis Landon aka Louis Volare in Second Life has bought an island and we have connected them together so that we can create venues that can host over 150 avatars at an event.

Here is a working scaled down model I built to work out the archtectural concept. It is huge and the model doesn’t show the hanging gardens and other finishings yet.

Other developments for the sims will be designed first with this method for sure. 3D scale modeling is an excellent method for working out large scale designs - just like real life.

The difference here is that I built this virtual model from scratch in a couple of hours with other people present, who offered real time feedback on the design.

Suicide bombers, evil shape shifting aliens, mind probes, intergalactic treaties and spoiled children…

Following the deadly suicide attack on the USS Truman, Jack comes face-to-face with the mastermind responsible for his wife’s death but will he go too far in his interrogation and break intergalactic law? Well, as long as we are all safe….

Extra special guest star cameo appearances!!!

This animation was done in iClone. iClone rocks.

A quick video journal of the wildlife on HatHead I & II islands before development begins. The ground level of the HatHead islands are open, peaceful natural spaces populated with virtual marine and terrestrial wildlife.

As in real life, animal habitats are about to be destroyed by encroaching virtual land developments. I had already interfered with the sea turtle’s migration route during the installation of the anandra Gallery island entrance.

This was also an interesting experiment from an educational perspective for, after creating and populating a natural world, I know firsthand what development will do to the ecosystem.

This concept would make a cool educational project, where the students create a detailed virtual world for endangered species and then examine the impact of development and other threats to the ecosystem.

Filming this virtually was kind of like what I imagine filming nature in real life to be like: mostly waiting around. Some of the creatures’ behaviours could not be so easily modified on the spot, so I had to track down and follow animals to try and get a good shot, often missing the best ones.

Lastly, I got a Mac a week ago and this is my first all Mac machinima; more of a test with no fancy camera moves or nothing yet but still putting some Mac into Machinima.

May Flowers

Originally uploaded by HatHead Rickenbacker.

Soon as May hits, the flowers suddenly get bigger.