Second Life: What Makes Us Human Competition

What Makes Us Human posterThe dynamos at Uni of Western Australia have launched another great competition for content creators in Second Life. Having had the pleasure of judging some of UWA’s great art / sculpture competitions in previous years, I have no doubt this one will be another cracker. Here’s the full details via the UWA in SL blog:
A UWA 3D Creation Challenge:
What Makes us Human?
 
UWA Encourages you to Create a Model, Animation, or Simulation that reflects What Makes Us Human at a Cellular, Organ or System Level
December 1st 2013 – February 28th 2014
Prize pool: L$268,750
Open to Everyone
You be the teacher!
Models that simulate and models that stimulate! Your models can be interactive!Imagine riding a blood corpuscle through a three storey high heart, watching from “inside” the brain as an aneurysm bursts (a “stroke”).
OVERVIEW
“What Makes Us Human?” is an event run by UWA and sponsored by the School of Anatomy, Physiology and Human Biology as well as the School of Physics. We encourage you to create a model, animation or simulation that reflects what makes us human at a cellular, organ, or system level. We encourage you to create fairly accurate or representative creations or models that can be used for teaching. The aim is to enable others to learn anatomical, histological, developmental and/or physiological concepts about the human body from your work.
Entries can be submitted anytime between the 1st of December 2013 and the 28th of February 2014. Entries should have no more than 300 prims. There is no limit on the number of entries you can submit. Entries will be displayed at the UWA Virtual Gallery.
HOW TO ENTER:
Fill out the Creator’s Notecard form (available from the entry drop box, or create a new notecard with your name, the title and description of your entry, a bried bio (optional) and your rl city location (optional)) and include it with your entry. Be sure to include your name and the name of your entry in the filename of the notecard.

Place the model in the contest entry receiver at UWA Gallery HERE http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/UWA/64/132/250:

  • Select your item from inventory while holding down the CTRL key
  • Drag the file from your inventory to the contest entry billboard prim.
  • The outline of the billboard should turn red. You may then release your mouse button and your entry will be deposited.
  • Do the same with your Creator’s Notecard.
  • Mod/copy perms are appreciated, so entries can be displayed via temporary rezzers. This will allow for a greater number of prims/land impact for individual entries, if mod is not possible copy is adequate
If you have problems with the receiver drop the model into the inventory of FreeWee Ling (UWA Curator of Arts) or Jayjay Zifanwe (Jay Jay Jegathesan: UWA in Second Life Founder & Lead) along with a note card stating the name of the model/animation/simulation and the creator.
SUGGESTIONS
Histology (convey the microscopic structure of human tissues)
Nervous System: What are the various representations of different types of neurons?
Integumentary System: What are the structural differences between the layers of epidermis (skin)?
Muscular System: Examine structural differences and/or similarities between skeletal, cardiac, and smooth muscle cells.
Anatomy (convey the gross structure of human body parts) & Histology
Embryology & Foetology: What are various stages of embryonic and foetal development? Perhaps look at the transformation from embryo to foetus.
Anatomy
Skeletal System: What are the components of the human skeleton?
Present the anatomy of various types of joints.
Physiology (convey the processes that enable the human body and its components to function):
Nervous System: What are some of the neural pathways that enable us to perform day to day cognitive and motor functions?
Circulatory System: How does blood circulate through our body to meet the metabolic needs and maintain the normal function of cells/organs/and bodily systems.
Anatomy & Physiology
Circulatory System: How does the heart operate, and what are its different chambers and valves?
Histology, anatomy, and physiology are disciplines that go hand in hand. It is only natural that you may construct entries that draw on more than one of these disciplines in order to facilitate the learning of concepts.
Furthermore, you could also think outside the box. You can portray/convey the difference between normal features and functioning, and the abnormal or dysfunctional.
Other topics could include representations of anatomy, physiology and histology pertaining to the following systems:Digestive, Endocrine, Exocrine, Immune,  Lymphatic, Reproductive, Respiratory, Urinary, Visual
PRIZES:*
1st L$81,250 (~$330 USD)
2nd  L$62,500 (~$255 USD)
3rd  L$37,500 (~$150 USD)
4th  L$18,750 (~$75 USD)
5th  L$12,500 (~$50 USD)
Anatomy Special Prize: L$18,750 (~$75 USD)
Histology Special Prize: L$18,750 (~$75 USD)
Physiology Special prize: L$18,750 (~$75 USD)
Total Prize Pool = L$268,750 (~$1,090 USD)
*(Prizes will be awarded in Linden Dollars. US Dollar equivalents are shown for reference.)

Contest Entry Rules (ESSENTIALS):
  • By submitting an entry, you agree to allow the University of Western Australia to use your model/animation/simulation for teaching and learning purposes, and for promotion of UWA’s programs.
  • Maximum land impact for any entry is 300. Mod/Copy perms are appreciated so we can rez/remove entries on demand, however, if mod is not possible, copy is appreciated.
  • Size is not technically limited, but may not interfere with other exhibits or activities on the sim.
  • Script lag, light or particle emitters, or sounds should be confined to the area of the entry.
  • Contact FreeWee Ling, curator, regarding any special requirements such as orientation, media parcels, environmental needs, etc.
  • We encourage the submission of all-original work. If any component of your entry is the result of rendering work that has originated from another author, whether or not it is under copyright, you must have permission to use it and acknowledge the original author of the component.
Judging Panel:
Professor Stuart Bunt (Anatomy)
Professor Geoff Meyer (Histology)
Assistant Professor Gavin Pinniger (Physiology)
Jay Jay Jegathesan (Founder & Lead – UWA in Second Life)
FreeWee Ling (UWA Second Life Curator & Designer)
Teresa Clune (UWA APHB Contest Administrator)
ENTRIES CLOSE FEBRUARY 28th 2014
Cranial nerve models, like the one pictured in the competition poster, can be viewed at the University of Kentucky’s Cranial Nerve Skywalk in Second Life. To teleport there, click HERE.

Project Sci-Fi: Enter Your Machinima

The team at University of Western Australia continue their amazing virtual worlds work, hosting the machinima section of a huge undertaking called Project Sci-Fi:

WD Project: Sci-Fi Film Challenge (Australia) 2013 is a Competition run by Screen My Shorts Inc in collaboration of WD (S.E.Asia Ltd). We invite entrants of all ages, cultures and ability to submit original creative digital content and win a share of the AUD 10,000 (L$2.28 Million) cash and prizes (with at least AUD 1,500 / L$230,000 reserved for Machinima), and have their works exposed on the international stage.

Here’s the teaser trailer:

If you want to enter, check out all the details over at the UWA in SL blog.

SLCC 2011 Wraps Up: how about some machinima?

The Second Life Community Convention is over for another year and there’s certainly a lot more to it than the Linden Lab CEO keynote. Self-proclaimed ‘God of Machinima Reporting’ Draxtor Despres, has done a nice job of summarising the vibe and feedback of the weekend.

Enjoy:

Also – check out the great wrap-up on the SLCC site.

If you attended yourself, did you come out the other end psyched as well?

Paisley Beebe calls it quits

Virtual worlds TV host Paisley Beebe has announced the cessation of her long-running show Tonight Live. Citing the need to devote more time to her newly established physical world business and family, Beebe won’t be making any further shows. I asked her why:

Oh I hate farewells, I’m no good at them…I always stuff it up. Happy to just transition quietly 🙂 sort of…

It’s a shame to see new mediums like this disappear, and it also emphasises how they’re still a long way off being a financially viable option if you’re needing actual income. Have a read of Paisley’s farewell here. For some reminiscing, you can view my 2008 interview here or a 2011 one I wrote for ABC Technology here.

UWA’s third machinima challenge: what a field

The University of Western Australia’s active presence in Second Life continues with a vengeance. I was lucky enough to be asked to be on the judging panel for the MachinimUWA III: Journeys competition. The panel this time includes director Peter Greenaway and you can view the full list of judges at the bottom of this post.

Fifty pieces of machinima were submitted, with the only requirement being that they featured the UWA’s Winthrop Clock Tower at the beginning or end of the piece. One notable absence was a machinima from an Australian entrant: are we that bereft of machinima makers?

Each judge was required to choose ten favourites from the fifty entries. For what it’s worth, here are the ten I chose:

LASLOPANTOMIK YAO (Barcelona, Spain) – Beginning of Knowledge and of Sorrow

SODA LEMONDROP (Monterey, California, USA) – The Journey

TUTSY NAVARATHNA (Frenchman in Pondicherry, India) – Journey into the Metaverse

HYPATIA PICKENS (Rochester, New York, USA) – KAPHD

ERIC BOCCARA (Velp, Netherlands) – Juroney

BRACLO EBER (South Africa) – Journey to the Top

FUSCHIA NIGHTFIRE (Dorset, UK) – Take the Road Less Travelled

HUGO KRELL (Madrid, Spain) & Soriana Breda (Soria, Spain) – Proyecto XXY

Proyecto XXY from Soriana Breda on Vimeo.

OONA EIREN (London, UK) – Onward & Upward

Onward And Upward from oona Eiren on Vimeo.

VERUCA VANDYKE (Arkansas, USA) – Escape

You can view all 50 over at the UWA in SL blog

If I had to pick an overall favourite it’s hard to go past Eric Boccara’s Juroney. Congratulation to the eventual winners, which will be announced on the 22nd May at 6am SL time. Also, much kudos (again) to the UWA team who continue to show their dynamism and passion for virtual worlds creativity.

List of judges:

JUDGES
1. Peter Greenaway (RL) – Acclaimed Director
2. Professor Ted Snell (RL) – Director, Cultural Precinct, The University of Western Australia
3. Jayjay Zifanwe (SL) – Owner of The University of Western Australia (SL), Creator & co-host of the UWA 3D Art& Design Challenge
4. Yesikita Coppola (SL) – Official Machinimatographer for UWA 2011
5. Laurina Hawks (SL) – Joint Reigning UWA MachinimUWA Champion
6. Raphaella Nightfire (SL) – Snr Writer Best of SL Magazine, Owner Sanctorum Gallery (SL)
7. FreeWee Ling (SL) – Curator, UWA 3D Open Art Challenge
8. LaPiscean Liberty (SL) – CEO AviewTV and UWA Media Advisor
9. Nazz Lane (SL) – Journalist and Author
10. Rowan Derryth (SL) – Art & Design Historian; Writer for Prim Perfect Publications
11. Apollo Manga (SL) – examiner.com Writer & Novelist
12. Dr. Phylis Johnson (RL) – Media Professor, Southern Illinois Uinversity, Author – Machinima: Aesthetics and Practice (a.k.a, Sonicity Fitzroy, SL Virtual Journalist)
13. Lowell Cremorne (SL), Owner & Editor-In-Chief, The Metaverse Journal
14. Mal Burns (SL), Metaverse News Aggregator and Broadcaster
15. Paisley Beebe (SL), CEO of Perfect World Productions TV
16. Flimsey Freenote – CEO of Metamix TV (Mixed Reality Television)
17. Rhett Linden – Linden Labs
18. Bradley Dorchester – Joint Reigning UWA MachinimUWA Champion
19. Dousa Dragonash (SL) – COO Metaverse Television
20. Cristina García-Lasuén (RL) Aino Baar (SL) International Curator, Art Writer, Founder & Owner of Open This End group
21. White Lebed (SL) – Former Lead of Burning Life Art Department, Director of Special Projects @ UWA

Between Worlds: a Second Life machinima

This post originally appeared over at our sister site, Metaverse Health

There’s not a lot to add to the great description provided by the creators:

“Between Worlds: A Journey of Hope” is a machinima produced by Panacea Luminos of NY HealthScape (USA) filmed and edited by Aliceinthenet (UK) and written by Skylar Smythe (Canada).  The inspirational piece is a story of cancer survival and accessing health information, supports and friendship in the virtual world of Second Life.   We invite you to visit: http://tinyurl.com/3esr334 to view the film and encourage your feedback and comments.

There’s four parts, which you can see below:

Flickr Gettr and Second Life

Draxtor Despres has created a machinima on a great Second Life installation that takes the Gettr functionality on Flickr and merges it into an underwater Second Life installation. Have a look for yourself:

Here’s the direct teleport link

‘Pimp your virtual worlds site’ 2011

With the growth in virtual worlds, there’s been a parallel growth in people writing / podcasting / creating content about them. Whether its Second Life, Entropia, Blue Mars, OpenSim or anything in-between, we want to hear about it.

If you have a blog / podcast / machinima you’re mighty proud of, then post a link in the comments so everyone can check it out. It also gives me a great opportunity to add new sites to our links.

So pimp away!

UWA’s third machinima contest

Make machinima? Want to win half a million Lindens? Then read on:

MachinUWA III: Journeys (3rd UWA Machinima Challenge – 2011)
http://uwainsl.blogspot.com

We are happy to announce the 3rd Machinima Challenge put forth by the University of Western Australia (UWA). The theme is simply ‘Journeys’. We hope you are inspired by this to create many wondrous works as you have been through the years!

PRIZE POOL: $L500,000 (at least)
1st Prize $L100,000
2nd Prize $L70,000
3rd Prize $L50,000
+ L$280,000 in other prizes

WHAT: MachinimUWA III : Journeys

WHEN: Submissions are open between NOW (Feb 2011) till 1st May 2011

THEME : The theme is ‘Journeys’. What the journey is, will be left to the Machinimatographer. A journey through Second Life. A journey of self discovery. A journey within. A journey from SL too RL, or vice-versa. A journey through space, through time, a journey of hope, a journey of despair. Your own journey, or a journey by someone else seen through your eyes… or… through Second Life in 80 Days, whatever you can imagine.

MAJOR RULE: The most important rule is that the journey must either start or end at this location. Winthrop Clocktower at the UWA Main SIM. Winthrop Clocktower is the heart of UWA both in RL & SL. Apart from this, feel free to film anything, anywhere. You may use props at the location, or maybe want to change the footage later during the post process, this is up to you, as long as the clocktower is still recognized. http://slurl.com/secondlife/University%20of%20WA/109/213/25
􀀂

LENGTH: 4 – 6 minutes is recommended, but this is not a hard rule. The joint winners of MachinimUWA II were under 2 minutes and over 15 minutes respectively.

All prize winners will receive an exclusive MachinimUWA Trophy. All machinimatographers in the challenge will receive a specially designed medal of honour. Both designed by Laurina Hawks.

Shortlisted entries will be displayed on the University of Western Australia (UWA) Second Life Blog. http://uwainsl.blogspot.com

Winner will be announced by the 30th of May 2011 at a special gala function.

Method of Entry & Other Info:
* Load the Machinima anywhere, preferablly youtube or vimeo, and provide the link to Jayjay Zifanwe, White lebed and Laurina Hawks
* The length of machinima referred to above is only a suggested maximum, and will not be enforced nor cause entries to be disqualified
* Please acknowledge the lands or significant artworks and individuals you feature
* If you need to rezz (blue screen etc) on the UWA SIMS, contact Jayjay Zifanwe, White Lebed, FreeWee Ling or Laurina Hawks

Closing Date:
* Midnight 1st May 2011. Allowances on the closing date will only be provided IF the machinimatographer has contacted and explained the reason for the need for additional time prior to the closing date.

JUDGES
1. Professor Ted Snell (RL) – Director, Cultural Precinct, The University of Western Australia
2. White Lebed (SL) – Former Lead of Burning Life Art Department, Director of Special Projects @ UWA
3. Jayjay Zifanwe (SL) – Owner of The University of Western Australia (SL), Creator & co-host of the UWA 3D Art& Design Challenge
4. Yesikita Coppola (SL) – Official Machinimatographer for UWA 2011
5. Laurina Hawks (SL) – Reigning UWA MachinimUWA Champion
6. Raphaella Nightfire (SL) – Snr Writer Best of SL Magazine, Owner Sanctorum Gallery (SL)
7. FreeWee Ling (SL) – Curator, UWA 3D Open Art Challenge
8. LaPiscean Liberty (SL) – CEO AviewTV and UWA Media Advisor
9. Nazz Lane (SL) – Journalist and Author
10. TBA

Some Interesting Locations Across the UWA SIMS
(you’re welcome to use any part of UWA in the Machinima – this is IF you would like. No advantage will be given for having a lot of content featuring UWA locations)

The UWA Sunken Gardens (replica of RL)

The UWA 3D Open Art Challenge Galler

Area displaying the works that were shortlisted for the Grand Finale of the UWA 3D Art & Design Challeng

The Square Kilometer Array
(Biggest land based science project in the history of mankind)

UWA Visualisation Research Area

* Special thanks to Eliza Wierwight for creating the wonderful poster for this challenge

Disclosure: I have been asked, and accepted the invitation, to be a judge of this competition.

Beautiful Kate – US Release on DVD / On Demand Video

Just a quick note for our US readers. You may recall last year we were pretty excited to play a small role in the movie called Beautiful Kate. Set in rural Australia, stars Rachel Griffiths and Ben Mendelsohn have a scene involving Second Life being used in a very normal way – as a social outlet.

The DVD of the movie is now available in the United States. If you’d like to help this site a little, here’s our Amazon purchase link, otherwise most DVD retailers will be stocking it. Amazon are offering a live streaming option as well.

As far as the Second Life component – you can read most of the details here.

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