RFL Clothing fair how and why, part 4 ....................

Breezes Babii talks to Aradhana Voight sponsor of the New Delhi sim at the clothing fair:

Bree: Please tell our readers how you became involved in the sponsorship.

Aradhana: Being an participant at earlier versions of relay for life i stayed in contact with Nevar. I sympathize with his cause and offer my help when needed.
When Nevar was mentioning this years theme for the Relay for Life i was more than excited to be part of his idea this year to represent the Indian themed sim New Delhi. i was happy to hear that he wanted to include Indian fashion into Relay for Life

Bree: What are your goals for the future.

Aradhana: One of my goals off course is to participate in the next Relay for Life.
My main goal is to be the starting point for shoppers that are looking for Indian or Indian-inspired designs. I like to broaden my scope and dress avatars from head to toe. That is one of the reasons why I started my skin line, another reason is that i like the challenge to use new skills for designing items for SL.

Bree: We all strive to make this the very best Clothing Fair and want to show your designs to the fullest possible extent. Please tell us how you got started with your designs and such creative textures, and delightful stories on releases.

Aradhana: Mashooka means female lover or muse in Hindi. I choose this word to describe the feeling i wanted for my clothing. Something sensual beautiful and elegant. I started because i was looking for fashionable Indian clothing which were not available in 2006. I had a very clear idea about the look i wanted to have in SL. I made my avi’s shape and was reaching a specific style. So i decided to give myself an unique look and started to learn about designing. After my SL friends convinced me to sell these Indian clothes. Thats’s how Mashooka Designs started.
I get my inspiration for textures from what i see in RL, when i shop or watch an Indian movie. When I think of a name for a design, i imagine how and where someone would wear my design. That get the story started which i sometimes publish on my blog (www.mashookadesigns.com) or in the store.

Bree: The build of your shop and the exquistite textures that make us want to enter the realm of  your world
Is there a special wish you have for the the world of Second Life

Aradhana: I wish that SL will stay the platform for virtual worlds. I makes a great meeting point for people all over the world, and i like the idea that you can use this medium to make new friends for life.And what i find special about SL is that people also bring the SL into RL by support each other in RL too, like Nevar.

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Today in SL Newspaper

In Main News, we have a few word from fashion designer Luna Barak, whom is behind the Milan sim at the RFL Clothing Fair. In Design, we look at the M Fashion Spring Collection. And in Extra Extra, Gemma Cleanslate and Bixyl Shuftan report on the kickoff of Relay for Life.

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RFL Clothing fair how and why, part 3 ....................

Luna Not only sponsored a sim but also Built the Milan sim with her representation of the Galleria, one of the most striking builds at the RFL clothing fair this year, here Luna tells us how she got involved:


My involvment with the Clothing Fair comes after the one with Relay For Life. 
In my first days in Second Life I discovered by chance about this organization  through clothes I bought, and I just loved the idea to have the opportunity to give my little contribute to the Cancer research, and in general to use a gaming tool, like SL, for something so important for all the human beings.
Then when I started designing clothes it came natural to keep this connection hosting RFL vendors in my shop.
On october 2009 I eventually have realized the project to build my sim, Fantavatar, and during the inauguration of it I have met two wonderful people: Nevar Lobo and Amethyst Starostin. A while after we first met they contacted me and asked if I would have been willing to collaborate to the Clothing Fair, building the Milan sim, I did accept enthusiastically this opportunity to actively participate in a great event as it is.
The Clothing Fair is a great event under many aspects, it gives chance to clothes designers to promote their works and their skills, to meet other designers and exchange creative ideas, gives chance to people loving the fashion field to be updated in what is going on at the moment, gives chance to socialize through the many related events that will happen during the Fair - but most of all, again, gives the chance to all of us to contribute to something so vital for everyone like the Cancer Research.
I have been so lucky to never been directly involved in this diseases in real life, but  it doesnt need to be under an hurricane to know hurricanes are better to be avoided, and if it there is a chance that it can be done - avoiding it - then it is a good idea to support those that are trying to find a cure, and help those that are trying to fight it back every day. 
The Clothing Fair will be a great fun event aimed to a good cause, my hopes is that these kind of events aswell as the number of people supporting them in anyway - from organizing, building or just attending - will grow exponentially in Second Life, and I am just glad to be one of them. 


Luna Barak

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Happy St. Patrick's Day

Happy St. Patrick's Day from the crew at Second Life Newspaper

Don't forget to check out places like Dublin to have some holiday-themed fun.

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RFL Clothing fair how and why, part 2 ....................

The RFL Clothing fair is a big event in any SL calender and, getting involved more and more each year, I see how much hard work and dedication go into this event.
Much is accomplished by builders, organisers, designers, models and many many more BUT none of it would be possible without the help of the people who sponsor this event and each day I would like to give each of them the opportunity to tell us why they feel the way they do about this event in particular, what motivates them and what they hope to achieve.
Breezes asked each to answer a few of those questions and the replies are varied and interesting I hope they inspire you as much as they do me. Dana


Constanza Amsterdam From Slapt.me sponsors of the Rio Sim:


My wishes for the Fair are to raise even more awerness then we did last year and that everyone involved has a great week.


In February 2008 i lost a very close friend to me to cancer in SL after having to fight hard against it and also in RL in my family we are fighting against this horrible disease. Then via a friend in SL (Nyte Vargas) i found out about the clothing fair and as i am also a designer i decided to join in last years event (2009).


This experience was awesome and it kinda makes you addicted to the Clothing Fair as a designer to get and stay involved as you fight together to help raise awarness for this cause all over the world.


I joined SL in nov 2006 after reading about it in a PC Magazine here in The Netherlands. Together with a close friend ( who started SL a week after me) i started a club and soon we both started designin clothing and we split ways. In 2007 i met my SL/RL Husband and we decided together to quit SL for a year and in 2008 we came back and i picked up my designin again under the name i had in 2006: Eye-Catcher. In 2009 right after the Clothing Fair my husband, me and 2 close friends started with http://slapt.me/market/index.php which is an alternative to XstreetSL and after the message from Nevar we decided to become a sim sponsor with slapt.me for the RFL Clothing Fair as this is a really good way to show how important this is to me, but also to the other owners (Lord Sullivan, Kosta Cela, Bykoff Sontze and me) of slapt.me


slapt.me is now the fastest growing independent marketplace where SL merchants and shoppers have the freedom to shop, chat on the forum, have fun and keep up to date with SL trends and info, and has an ever growing community who've discovered the delights of being slapt!


And so are both JariCat Fashions ( the new store name since 2010) and http://slapt.me involved in the RFL Clothing Fair 2010.


Constanza Amsterdam

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The Wearers

Gemma Cleanslate interviews Marmaduke Arado and Kikas Babenco, whom have come up with a unique show. They don’t set any of their props on the ground. What one would think would have to be set down is all worn by the actors.

For more, go to Community.

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An Interview with UWA Machinima Challenge Winner Cisko Vandeverre

Early in February at a much anticipated and well attended award ceremony, the winner of the University of Western Australia Machinima Challenge was announced. The machinima challenge began in December, and with a top award prize of $65,000 Lindens it had over sixty entries. Contest requirements for submitted machinima were that they “capture the four main elements that make up the heart of the University of Western Australia SIMS”. The elements specified in the contest rules were, “real life architecture, the teaching, the research and the arts.” The twelve member panel of judges, led by Professor Alan Robson (Real Name) Vice Chancellor of the University of Western Australia, awarded the top prize to Mr. Vandeverre. The winning entry was titled, “Seek” and had a sci-fi theme. A UWA blog post had this to say about the winner, “The judges thought that this was an absolute firecracker of a Machinima with a brilliant and very different approach” and that it “had wonderful humor, amazing visual effects, great quality of editing and remarkable camera control”.

Cisko Vandeverre is the head of his own production company, “The DO Group” and resides in Berlin, Germany. His production company “creates films using content from virtual worlds. “Seek” and his portfolio of Machinima can be viewed on their web site. I was introduced to Mr. Vandeverre by White Lebed, one of the judges of the challenge. Cisko and I met in Skype for this conversation. 

Nazz: You've been in second life since 2006, what brought you in and why did you stay?

Cisko: I saw the kind of business opportunities here. I always have been in future related techniques and it was clear that virtual worlds would be the next step from 2D web to 3D. Once here, it took awhile to find the focus.  I had a client in 2007, so it was easier for me to get deeper into second life. I had the project to fulfill ... it was focusing for me. I had the client for the year and had a few SIMs. The work we did covered the costs. I started doing machinima to film the event we had there. I've been in computer animation for 20 years. It’s a long process … I did trailers and short sequences. With machinima the set design is easier and the possibilities in post production ... it’s pretty fast to get results.

Nazz: Has there been any particular challenges for your business?

Cisko: Working with corporate users ... I did a machinima for a product introduction. The understanding of second life and some of its limitations weren't there. The ad agency people would ask, "Why is that happening?" … any way the company that was willing to pay decided to go to a traditional method.

Nazz: How much influence has Second Life had on your machinima since you've been here?

Cisko: It’s easy to build my sets … handle texturing, lighting. I can do some scripting, but there are people who do it better. Some ideas from computer animation have implemented themselves in Second Life … when you have the back ground it’s easier to handle then when people have to start from scratch.

Nazz: I went out to your web site to see some of your portfolio. I found the Pirate story compelling and enjoyed the sword fight scene … it had a realistic feel to it especially with the clanging of steel. Can you tell me a little about that series?

Cisko: Most machinima don’t have a story … only ten to 20 percent do. It was to have been a full feature video. I had met with a producer in Paris for half a day to develop the idea. It was freelance work and it was hard to schedule time to produce.

Nazz: Has there been anyone in Second Life that has influenced your work?

Cisko: Influences … there are a few whose techniques I like and what I've seen them do in post production … very intense and I've been amazed at how arty. I bookmark them and track to see what they're doing … how their work is evolving. I'm a moderator for a few machinima sites … it is very interesting to watch and see how they've grown.

Nazz: Where do you see your work headed in the next year or less?

Cisko: In six months to a year out … sitting on a formula for virtual TV and doing machinima and hoping for a better platform. There is a gap between machinima and computer animation and I can see that it will close one day. Voice and video is becoming more important … facial expression is limited. Puppeteer tools … head mesh will be a bridge.

Nazz: What advice would you give to aspiring machinima makers?

Cisko: My advice for those starting out … Doing it … start it, capture it and edit it … and don't forget audio. Determine what it is you want to do … for example a video of a SIM or event. You have to have an idea and then handle the techniques … once you learn them, know them … then you can focus on ideas.

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